Efficiency Evaluation of a MOSFET bridge rectifier for Powering LEDs using Piezo-electric Energy Harvesting Systems

Abstract

Harvesting energy from the renewable energy sources plays a very important role in recent days. Researchers are using various methods to capture the energy for different sources. One of the most prominent methods of energy harvesting from vibrations is by using piezo-electric material. Piezo-electric vibration harvesting is smart mainly due to the simplicity of piezoelectric transduction and the piezoelectric systems can be easily implemented into a wide variety of applications. Due to wide range of AC output voltage and low power, the piezo-electric generator cannot directly prop up the AC or DC electrical appliances. Hence in the majority applications the AC signal created by this generator needs to be rectified. In this paper a new highly efficient MOSFET full bridge AC to DC converter for piezoelectric energy harvesting is planned, which enhances the power extracted from the piezo-electric crystal. The proposed AC to DC converter reduces the voltage drop along the conduction path and thereby increases the power extraction and conversion capability. The proposed circuit is replicated in PSpice software package and then in the experimental setup. The performance is evaluated and compared.