Abstract

Energy harvester device for charging capacitors and low capacity NiMH batteries

Author(s): A.R.Akande, A.Nechibvute, P.V.C.Luhanga

Piezoelectric energy harvester devices have attracted much attention recentlymainly because they present a realistic opportunity to power wireless sensors and low power sensor devices. The harvested energy has to be stored either in a capacitor or a lowcapacity rechargeable battery before it is availed to the sensor or the device to be powered. Presented in this work is the fabrication of PZT energy harvesting device that was used to experimentally investigate the storage of harvested energy in electrolytic capacitors and in lowcapacity rechargeable batteries.Other than the work of a few researchers, there is little published work on the demonstrated potential of charging batteries using piezoelectric devices. This research gives experimental results that show the feasibility of charging capacitors using PZT energy harvesters. Specifically, it gives some insight into the variations of harvested voltage, energy, and power as functions of charging time.