Abstract
Piezoelectric energy harvesters are promising devices for powering nodes in a wireless sensor network. For reliable supply of electric power, these devices should be designed to operate in a wide frequency band, in consideration of actual physical environments. In this study, we demonstrate cantilever-based wide-band piezoelectric energy harvesters which operate by shifting their resonant frequencies. Devices were modelled using the finite element method prior to experimental verification for optimising the resonant frequency range. Based on our simulations, we devised a method for preventing destructive voltage superpositioning (voltage cancellation) by adjusting the location of piezoelectric generators based on expected changes to the phase angle of the vibrating cantilevers. We observed that the electrical output of a device was increased by ~5.8% by changing the attachment position of the piezoelectric element (105.5 mW at 1.5 G). In addition, we investigated a “single-substrate” model in which the piezoelectric elements were mechanically-coupled by mounting the cantilevers to the same base. With this model, we noted an approximate three-fold increase (321 mW at 1.5 G) in the total power generated in comparison with the power generated by conventional cantilever array devices.
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