Segmented impact-type piezoelectric energy harvester for self-start impedance matching circuit

Abstract

This paper proposes a segmented impact-type piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) for self-start impedance matching circuit. Generally, an oscillator in an impedance matching circuit requires a separate power supply. Considering randomness and intermittence of wind energy, a design of a smart power controller is essential for efficient and timely power supply to the oscillator. The proposed segmented impact-type PEH is designed to achieve an ultra-low power consumption for an impedance matching circuit operation. The proposed harvester consists of a main piezoelectric material (PZT1) to power the main application such as wireless sensor node, and a sub-piezoelectric material (PZT2) to power the impedance matching circuit. The size of PZT2 is determined to meet the power requirement of the impedance matching circuit, and the self-start circuit is proposed to supply the power from PZT2 to the impedance matching circuit. Experimental results indicate that the proposed self-start circuit with PZT2 successfully operates the impedance matching circuit with extremely low power consumption of 45 μW, which is 30%–70% compared to the existing impact-type PEH circuits.