An efficient self-powered synchronous electric charge extraction interface circuit for piezoelectric energy harvesting systems

Abstract

Harvesting ambient vibration energy using piezoelectric elements is a popular energy harvesting technique. Energy harvesting efficiency is the research focus. Using synchronous electric charge extraction technology in piezoelectric energy harvesting systems can greatly improve the energy harvesting efficiency. This article presents a self-powered efficient synchronous electric charge extraction circuit for piezoelectric energy harvesting systems, in which four self-powered switch circuits are used to optimize the time sequence of charge extraction so that the rectifier bridge circuit used in traditional synchronous electric charge extraction can be saved. The effect of phase lag on extraction efficiency, system energy, and loss of overall circuit is analyzed. A piezoelectric vibration experimental platform is built for testing the power generation performance of the self-powered efficient synchronous electric charge extraction and those published energy harvesting circuits. The experimental results accord with the theoretical analysis. Moreover, the harvesting energy of the proposed self-powered efficient synchronous electric charge extraction is about three times more than those of the standard energy harvesting circuit under its maximum power point and the self-powered synchronized switch harvesting on inductor in most cases. The energy harvesting efficiency of self-powered efficient synchronous electric charge extraction remains at a high level (>80%) in most cases, and the maximum energy harvesting efficiency is up to 85.1%.