The latest issue of the newsletter from the Metrology for Energy Harvesting EMRP project is now available from our homepage.
It includes all the latest project news, research updates, and an interview with Dr Tomasz Zawada, Engineer and Research Manager at Meggitt Sensing Systems.
The latest issue of the newsletter from the Metrology for Energy Harvesting EMRP project is now available from our homepage. It includes all the latest project news, research updates, and an interview with Frederic Pimparel, Technical Manager at Morgan Advanced Materials.
28th-29th August 2013
Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, Germany
A free one-off event aimed at anyone interested in the technological and commercial advancement of energy harvesting technologies. Please contact energy-harvesting@npl.co.uk to register
The latest issue of the newsletter from the Metrology for Energy Harvesting EMRP project is now available from our homepage. It includes all the latest project news, research updates, and an interview with Bill MacDonald, Business Research Associate at DuPont Teijin Films.
NPL, PTB and IDTechEx to present Energy Harvesting Masterclass on 16th April at IDTechEx Energy Harvesting and Storage event in Berlin.
Metrology for Energy Harvesting project partners from the National Physical Laboratory and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt will be presenting a masterclass workshop at Energy Harvesting and Storage Europe 2013 in Berlin in April.The Masterclass is being developed in association with IDTechEx and will give industry specialists a much needed grounding in metrology to underpin the development of new materials and devices with increased energy output.
It’s also a great opportunity for project partners to come into contact and engage with relevant industry users.NPL’s Dr Paul Weaver will present a module on a piezoelectrics whilst PTB’s Dr Ernst Lenz will look at thermoelectric energy harvesting from a metrological point of view.
As part of our involvement, project partners have been offered a 30% delegate discount to promote the event and our Masterclass workshops in particular to our supporters and their own communities. In order to get this discount, please use the promotional code – MET3 when signing up.
Electronic devices are increasingly being integrated into clothing and connected together. Harvesting energy from the environment is being used to power equipment, links, and even provides some fashion elements. One exciting area of development for energy harvesting is wearable technology.
More and more electronics are being integrated into clothing, either for functional or fashion reasons. For example, music players are being integrated into coats and fashion designers are using electroluminescent and LED displays, often linked to music, to create active clothing. Much of this requires power, and being able to harness vibration, thermal or solar energy to power displays and wireless links directly or to recharge thin, light lithium polymer batteries provides a key step forward for the technology.
No one wants to have to plug their shirt into the mains to recharge it, and providing that power from the environment can significantly extend the charging cycle. The drive to wearable electronics is also creating new approaches to the underlying technology. Space researchers at NASA have created a switching memory out of copper that can be weaved and so integrated directly into the fabric of clothing.
Scientists working as part of the Metrology for Energy Harvesting Project have developed a new model to deliver the maximum power output for piezoelectric energy harvesters.Piezoelectric energy harvesters utilise energy from unwanted mechanical vibrations at the micro scale, such as the rattling of an air conditioning duct or the movement of a bridge with passing traffic.
The technology could make industrial processes more efficient and open up applications in areas such as wireless sensor networks.
Systems usually comprise of vibrating cantilevers covered with a piezoelectric layer that converts mechanical strain into an electrical charge. Most developers cover the entire length of the cantilever with piezoelectric material in an attempt to maximise the conversion efficiency.However, scientists at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), one of seven national measurement institutes involved in project, have discovered that this approach is counter productive.
Their research shows that due to the charge redistribution across the cantilever there is an internal loss of power of up to 25% of potential output. To counter this, the team has developed a model to show that more energy can be converted if the beam is only covered with piezoelectric for two thirds of its length.
As well as developing wireless sensor networks, researchers are targeting applications that range from the predictive maintenance of moving machine parts, to electronic devices that harvest their own wasted operational energy.
Markys Cain, Knowledge Leader at NPL, said: “The energy harvesting market was worth $605 million in 2010 but is predicted to reach $4.4 billion by the end of this decade. For the market to reach its true potential we need to develop the products that can guarantee a greater energy yield and drive industrial adoption of energy harvesting products.”
DTechEx finds that the money spent on piezoelectric energy harvesting investments will grow to US$145 million in 2018. Thereafter, it will create a US$667 million market by 2022.
The number of units will rise from 100 million this year – predominately used in cigarette lighters – to 300 million units in 2022. These will be at a higher average price point compared to those used today because the versions used to power wireless sensors and portable electronics are more sophisticated than the version used on lighters.
By Dr Harry Igbenehi
Piezoelectric energy harvesters generate electricity depending on the amount of force used in compressing or deforming the material, the amount and type of deformation of the material’s crystal structure and the speed or frequency of compressions or vibrations to the material. There are more than 200 appropriate materials which need careful selection for the particular application.
This report is the first to assess the progress, applications, players, challenges and forecasts of piezoelectric energy harvesters. Many companies are developing piezoelectric energy harvesters to power consumer electronics, sensors and much more. Already the huge success for this type of energy harvester is in creating the electrical arcs in cigarette lighters, but the future for this technology is much more exciting. Piezoelectric energy harvesters offer among the highest efficiency and power output by size and cost and are therefore very appealing. However, there are also challenges of reliability and broad band performance that need to be addressed.
