Energy Harvesting Model Research Articles

Modeling and Optimization of Energy Harvesters for Specific Applications Using COMSOL and Equivalent Spring Models

Energy harvesting from natural sources, including bodily movements, vehicle engine vibrations, and ocean waves, poses challenges due to the broad range of frequency bands involved. Piezoelectric materials are frequently used in energy harvesters, although their effectiveness depends on aligning the device’s natural frequency with the frequency of the target energy source. This study models energy harvesters customized for specific applications by adjusting their natural frequencies to match the required bandwidth. We evaluate commercially available piezoelectric transducers and model them using COMSOL Multiphysics alongside an equivalent spring-mass schematic approach, enabling precise adjustments to optimize energy capture. The proposed system achieves a maximum power output of 160 µW and a power density of 187.35 µW/cm3 at a natural frequency of 65 Hz. Furthermore, the theoretical maximum power density is calculated as 692.97 W/m3, demonstrating the system’s potential for high energy efficiency under optimal conditions. Simulations are validated against experimental data to ensure accuracy. Our findings provide a design framework for optimizing energy harvester performance across diverse energy sources, leading to more efficient and application-specific devices for varied environmental conditions.

AoI Optimization in Multi-Source Update Network Systems Under Stochastic Energy Harvesting Model

AoI Optimization in Multi-Source Update Network Systems Under Stochastic Energy Harvesting Model

Enhanced energy harvesting in low-velocity water by downstream interference for piezoelectric energy harvester

The vibration of a single-degree-of-freedom bluff body positioned in water is intensified by the positive excitation, which is affected by the upstream interfering body and also by the downstream obstacles. This paper investigates the effect of downstream interference on galloping piezoelectric energy harvester performance. A mathematical model of the piezoelectric energy harvester under disturbance is established based on the extended Hamilton’s principle, and the theoretical output is further derived. The accuracy of proposed model is verified by the results of circulating water channel experiment. The effect of interference shape and approximate spacing (L/D) on system output is further analyzed, and the results show that the harvester performance is substantially improved when the distance between the bluff body and downstream interference is sufficiently small, and the interference is an elliptical cylinder with an aspect ratio of 0.6, i.e., the output power is 0.624 mW, which is improved by 24.39 % when L/D=1.8 and U=0.5m/s. Precise numerical calculations are further utilized to indicate that the harvester’s output performance is optimal when the downstream interference angle is 30°.

Scotch yoke structure inspired piezoelectric-electromagnetic hybrid harvester for wave energy harvesting

This paper presents a piezoelectric-electromagnetic hybrid harvester for wave energy harvesting inspired by a scotch yoke structure for obtaining energy from irregular and low-frequency waves. Through simplification of the energy harvester model, the kinematic equations of the scotch yoke are established. One of the advantages of the harvester is that the wave energy can be harvested by an up-conversion mechanism, The piezoelectric transducer (PZT) and electromagnetic generator (EMG) transform the wave excitation into electricity, and by utilizing the frequency up-conversion mechanism, the PZTs’ harvesting efficiency is increased, the influencing factors of the output power of the harvester are explored by simulation and experimental studies, The results of the experiment demonstrate that this harvester could generate an ultimate output power of 286.36 mW at ultra-low frequency (1.4 Hz) operating frequency. This study offers a practical solution for harvesting low-frequency and disordered wave energy and makes significant progress in harvesting low-frequency and irregular wave energy.

Complex Multi-nonlinearity for piezoelectric energy harvesting systems based on an accurate higher-order perturbation method

A theoretical model of a complex nonlinear coupling energy harvester under hybrid excitations is established with analytical and numerical solutions. Different orders of the method of multiple scales are derived to approximate and analyze the equation of motion for the electromechanical coupling system, thus obtaining higher-order approximate analytical solutions for its operating status and output performance indicators. The significant effects of external excitation, linear and nonlinear damping coefficients, as well as impedance on the transverse displacement, voltage, and power of higher-order and lower-order methods are analyzed. The results show that higher-order solution methodology are more sensitive to parameter excitation. For a large damping, the higher-order analysis has more excellent performance in capturing energy. The higher order method shows more pronounced nonlinear softening phenomenon and it is more suitable for low frequency environments. The higher order methods improves solution accuracy of piezoelectric energy harvesting systems. Consequently, it is easier to derive the nonlinear performance of the harvesting systems, and thus improves the average output power.

Broadband and high-efficiency acoustic energy harvesting with loudspeaker enhanced by sonic black hole

It is well-known that acoustic energy sources can be seen as a promising alternative energy resource by using acoustic energy harvester (AEH) which can transform sound energy into usable electrical power. However, the current AEHs have been restricted by their narrow bandwidths and low energy conversion efficiencies. In this study, a broadband and high efficient AEH is presented. The proposed AEH comprises an open-end sonic black hole (SBH) structure and an electrodynamic loudspeaker. The sound pressure is amplified through the open-end SBH structure, then the loudspeaker is used as electricity generator to convert acoustic energy into electric energy. The open-end SBH is a cylindrical tube with an array of regularly-spaced rigid-walled thin rings. The inner radii of the SBH rings are quadratically decreasing and the SBH effect can be obtained. The model for energy harvesting and sound absorption performance of the proposed AEH is then presented. Finally, the open-end SBH is fabricated by 3D printing apparatus. A prototype of the AEH is designed and tested by using an impedance tube. The energy conversion efficiency and absorption coefficient from calculation and experiment show a reasonable agreement. The proposed AEH can convert 11 % of total incident sound energy from 50 Hz to 800 Hz. The maximum energy conversion efficiency can achieve 65 % at 425 Hz under optimal resistance load. Furthermore, the broadband sound absorption can also be achieved by using the proposed AEH.

Performance analysis of shared relay CR-NOMA network based on SWIPT

With the development of wireless communication technology, the number of devices accessing the communication network is increasing. This paper addresses critical issues such as low spectrum resource utilization and the energy constraints of devices. The investigation focuses on the system performance of the shared relay Cognitive Radio Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (CR-NOMA) network based on Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT) network model. Unlike the existing CR-NOMA model in which the secondary network user do not participate in the transmission of information from the primary network, we consider the secondary network near user as shared relay. The shared relay utilizes SWIPT technology to harvest energy using a nonlinear energy harvesting model. Additionally, the shared relay assists in transmitting information from the primary network base station to primary user, as well as from the secondary network base station to far user of the secondary network. Subsequently, we conduct a series of simulations to analyze the effects of Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), power distribution factor, interference threshold, and time-switching (TS) factor on system performance. Furthermore, we compare and analyze the performance of our proposed network model against CR-NOMA network across three dimensions: outage probability, throughput, and energy efficiency. Our results demonstrate that the proposed network model exhibits superior outage performance and enhances user throughput compared to the CR-NOMA network. Additionally, it demonstrates improved energy efficiency compared to the shared relay CR-NOMA network, leading to an overall improvement in network performance.

A Novel Medium Access Policy Based on Reinforcement Learning in Energy-Harvesting Underwater Sensor Networks.

Underwater acoustic sensor networks (UASNs) are fundamental assets to enable discovery and utilization of sub-sea environments and have attracted both academia and industry to execute long-term underwater missions. Given the heightened significance of battery dependency in underwater wireless sensor networks, our objective is to maximize the amount of harvested energy underwater by adopting the TDMA time slot scheduling approach to prolong the operational lifetime of the sensors. In this study, we considered the spatial uncertainty of underwater ambient resources to improve the utilization of available energy and examine a stochastic model for piezoelectric energy harvesting. Considering a realistic channel and environment condition, a novel multi-agent reinforcement learning algorithm is proposed. Nodes observe and learn from their choice of transmission slots based on the available energy in the underwater medium and autonomously adapt their communication slots to their energy harvesting conditions instead of relying on the cluster head. In the numerical results, we present the impact of piezoelectric energy harvesting and harvesting awareness on three lifetime metrics. We observe that energy harvesting contributes to 4% improvement in first node dead (FND), 14% improvement in half node dead (HND), and 22% improvement in last node dead (LND). Additionally, the harvesting-aware TDMA-RL method further increases HND by 17% and LND by 38%. Our results show that the proposed method improves in-cluster communication time interval utilization and outperforms traditional time slot allocation methods in terms of throughput and energy harvesting efficiency.

Energy-efficient maximization algorithm for energy harvesting under imperfect channel information

In this paper, we propose a novel energy-efficient resource optimization scheme in non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) networks with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). In this system, we consider practical imperfect channel information that accounts for random channel delays and channel estimation errors. Additionally, the small cell users (SCUs) in a heterogeneous network (HetNet) can harvest energy from the small base station (SBS) signal by energy harvesting. Based on the non-linear energy harvesting (NEH) model, the problem of maximizing energy efficiency with imperfect channel state information (CSI) is formulated. Since the formulated problem is a probabilistic mixed non-convex optimization problem, a two-stage algorithm is developed to jointly optimize sub-channel matching and power allocation. In particular, the problem is first transformed into a non-probabilistic problem through the relaxation method. For the sub-channels matching problem, a low-complexity many-to-many matching algorithm is designed to achieve dynamic matching based on the preference lists. For the power allocation problem, the closed-form transmission power of SCUs can be derived by the Dinkelbach method and Lagrangian dual approach. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve higher energy efficiency than existing linear energy harvesting (LEH)-NOMA and NEH-OFDMA schemes, with improvements of 37.99% and 84.69%, respectively.

Effect of scandium concentration on the performances of cantilever based AlN unimorph piezoelectric energy harvester with silicon nitride substrate

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) offer its ability to sense, control and actuate on sub-micron scale and exhibit its effect on macro scale. To implement any specific MEMS system, small, efficient and long-lifespan micro power sources are required. Piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) along with radioactive source is one of the most promising approaches to harness electrical energy at micro to millimeter range. In this report, a scandium (Sc) doped Aluminium Nitride (AlN) unimorph piezoelectric energy harvester has been demonstrated. Unimorph piezoelectric layer is built on Silicon Nitride (Si3N4) substrate platform that act as cantilever beam and that can be vibrated by inbuilt radioactive system. In particular, Si3N4 as cantilever material and the impact of Sc doping concentration on electrical and mechanical properties of AlN piezoelectric thin film materials have been studied in MATLAB simulation platform. Results obtained from numerical study suggests that the proposed energy harvester model composed of AlScN unimorph piezoelectric (with 10% Sc doping concentration, Sc-10%) layer and Si3N4 cantilever can yield a maximum power output of ~ 19.33 μW and overall mechanical energy conversion efficiency of ~ 91.07%. These are the maximum output power and mechanical energy conversion efficiency numerically obtained from Sc doped AlN piezoelectric energy harvester systems to the best of our knowledge.

On the role of sliding friction effect in nonlinear tri-hybrid vibration-based energy harvesting

This work aims to develop an experimental investigation into the effectiveness of the sliding-mode approach for hybrid vibration-based energy harvesting. A proposed sliding-mode triboelectric-electromagnetic-piezoelectric energy harvesting model involves a cantilever beam with a tip mass exposed to magnetic and frictional forces. The experimental findings indicate that the system can achieve its peak inter-well oscillation output within a low-frequency range of 4Hz–6Hz. Friction has a lesser impact on the open-circuit voltage output at an excitation acceleration of 1.5g compared with 1g. The distribution of tri-stability changes with the presence of friction. This model provides a deeper understanding of the influence of the dry friction coefficient (0.2–0.5) on the interactive behaviors of different generator units.

A semi-analytical electromechanical model for energy harvesting of plate with acoustic black hole indentations

Acoustic black hole (ABH) has been proved to be helpful for the energy harvesting of beam. Since thin plates are more widely used in practical engineering, it is of great significance to explore the energy harvesting with ABH effect applying to thin plate. Therefore, a piezoelectric plate with ABH indentations is designed and a standard full-wave rectifier circuit connected to the energy harvester in this paper. A semi-analytical electromechanical model is proposed for the energy harvesting system and Gaussian basis functions are used to solve the coupled electromechanical equations. The harvested power is calculated with the proposed method and the acceptable accuracy could be found through the validation against finite element simulation. Finally, a comprehensive analysis has been performed and numerical results show the system parameters (such as piezoelectric layer parameters, ABH parameters, and circuit parameters) have a significant influence on the energy harvesting.

Nonlinear energy harvesting system with multiple stability

The nonlinear energy harvesting systems of the forced vibration with an electron-mechanical coupling are widely used to capture ambient vibration energy and convert mechanical energy into electrical energy. However, the nonlinear response mechanism of the friction induced vibration (FIV) energy harvesting system with multiple stability and stick-slip motion is still unclear. In the current paper, a novel nonlinear energy harvesting model with multiple stability of single-, double- and triple-well potential is proposed based on V-shaped structure spring and the belt conveying system. The dynamic equations for the energy harvesting system with multiple stability and self-excited friction are established by using Euler-Lagrangian equations. Secondly, the static characteristics of the nonlinear restoring force, the friction force, and the potential energy surfaces are obtained to show the nonlinear stiffness, multiple equilibrium points, discontinuous behaviors and multiple well responses. Then, the equilibrium surface of bifurcation sets for the autonomous system is given to show the third-order quasi zero stiffness (QZS3), fifth-order quasi zero stiffness (QZS5), double well (DW) and triple well (TW). The co-dimension bifurcation sets of the self-excited vibration system are analyzed and the corresponding phase portraits for the coexistent of multiple limit cycles are obtained. Furthermore, the analytical formula of amplitude frequency response of the approximated system are obtained by the complex harmonic method. The response amplitudes of charge, current, voltage and power of the forced electron-mechanical coupled vibration system for QZS3, QZS5, DW and TW are analyzed by using the numerically solution. Finally, a prototype of FIV energy harvesting system is manufactured and the experimental system is setup. The experimental works of static restoring forces, damping forcse and the electrical outputs are well agreeable with the numerical results, which testified the proposed FIV energy harvesting model.

A hybrid energy harvesting approach for transmission lines based on triboelectric nanogenerator and micro thermoelectric generator

To effectively detect faults in transmission lines, monitoring the operating status of these lines is imperative. However, providing power to monitoring devices for transmission line status presents a significant challenge. In this research, a hybrid energy harvesting approach based on micro thermoelectric generator (MTEG) and triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is proposed, and a theoretical model for MTEG-TENG hybrid energy harvesting is established. This study develops an integrated energy harvesting prototype, which incorporates oscillating-TENG (O-TENGs), MTEGs, and a power management control unit. This prototype not only harvests energy from the vibrations of transmission lines but also converts the lines thermal energy into electricity. The Experiment results show that the maximum open-circuit voltages of O-TENG and MTEG reach 80.3 V and 1.094 V, respectively. Compared to a single MTEG energy harvesting device, the prototype of the MTEG-TENG hybrid energy harvesting device demonstrates a 5.36% improvement in energy harvesting and battery charging performance. Consequently, this approach achieves self-powered monitoring with excellent stability and lower manufacturing costs. It provides an efficient and durable power approach for transmission line status monitoring devices.

Advances in Organic Multiferroic Junctions

Typically, organic multiferroic junctions (OMFJs) are formed of an organic ferroelectric layer sandwiched between two ferromagnetic electrodes. The main scientific interest in OMFJs focuses on the magnetoresistive properties of the magnetic spin valve combined with the electroresistive properties associated with the ferroelectric junction. In consequence, memristive properties that couple magnetoelectric functionalities, which are one of the most active fields of research in material sciences, are opening a large spectrum of technological applications from nonvolatile memory to elements in logic circuits, sensing devices, energy harvesting and biological synapsis models in the emerging area of neuromorphic computing. The realization of these multifunctional electronic elements using organic materials is presenting various advantages related to their low-cost, versatile synthesis and low power consumption functioning for sustainable electronics; green disintegration for transient electronics; and flexibility, light weight and/or biocompatibility for flexible electronics. The purpose of this review is to address the advancement of all OMFJs including not only the achievements in the charge and spin transport through OMFJs together with the effects of electroresistance and magnetoresistance but also the challenges and ways to overcome them for the most used materials for OMFJs.

Nonlinear Dynamic Response of Galfenol Cantilever Energy Harvester Considering Geometric Nonlinear with a Nonlinear Energy Sink

The nonlinear energy sink (NES) and Galfenol material can achieve vibration suppression and energy harvesting of the structure, respectively. Compared with a linear structure, the geometric nonlinearity can affect the output performances of the cantilever beam structure. This investigation aims to present a coupled system consisting of a nonlinear energy sink (NES) and a cantilever Galfenol energy harvesting beam with geometric nonlinearity. Based on Hamilton’s principle, linear constitutive equations of magnetostrictive material, and Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, the theoretical dynamic model of the coupled system is proposed. Utilizing the Galliakin decomposition method and Runge–Kutta method, the harvested power of the external load resistance, and tip vibration displacements of the Galfenol energy harvesting model are analyzed. The influences of the external excitation, external resistance, and NES parameters on the output characteristic of the proposed coupling system have been investigated. Results reveal that introducing NES can reduce the cantilever beam’s vibration while considering the geometric nonlinearity of the cantilever beam can induce a nonlinear softening phenomenon for the output behaviors. Compared to the linear system without NES, the coupling model proposed in this work can achieve dual efficacy goals over a wide range of excitation frequencies when selecting appropriate parameters. In general, large excitation amplitude and NES stiffness, small external resistance, and small or large NES damping values can achieve the effect of broadband energy harvesting.

Sum-rate maximization for a distributed space-time block code-aided cooperative NOMA with energy harvesting

AbstractIn this paper, we exploit the spatial and transmission diversities in cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (C-NOMA) networks to improve the system sum-rate. To achieve this, we propose a user-pairing scheme where near-field user pairs serve as relays for user pairs in the far-field region. Based on this pairing scheme, we incorporate a space-time block code transmission technique at the near-field user pairs to maximize the transmission diversity in the cooperative phase. Moreover, we consider a non-linear energy harvesting model at the near-field user pair to alleviate the problem of energy consumption during the cooperative transmission phase. Further to this, we formulate a sum-rate maximization problem that is addressed from the viewpoint of joint power allocation factor and power splitting ratio optimization. We develop a low-computational iterative algorithm based on the concepts of the Stackelberg game and the Nash bargaining solution. We benchmark our findings with different scenarios, such as energy harvesting C-NOMA with a fixed power allocation factor and power splitting ratio, energy harvesting C-NOMA without STBC, non-cooperative NOMA, and orthogonal multiple access. The results obtained via simulations outperform the benchmark schemes.

Design and test of liquid sloshing piezoelectric energy harvester

The energy harvester based on the piezoelectric effect can convert the vibration energy in the environment into electricity to power the network nodes. In order to broaden the effective frequency bandwidth of the piezoelectric energy harvester and reduce the resonant frequency of the system, a liquid slosh-type piezoelectric energy harvester is proposed in this paper. Based on the theory of the piezoelectric effect, the mechanical model and electromechanical coupling model of the piezoelectric energy harvester were established, and the dynamic characteristics of the liquid slosh piezoelectric energy harvester were analyzed. Based on theoretical model and experimental test, the liquid slosh piezoelectric energy harvester is studied. By making a prototype and building a vibration experiment platform, the energy capture characteristics of the piezoelectric energy harvester were tested experimentally. The experimental results show that when the external excitation frequency is close to the first resonant frequency, the maximum output power of the liquid sloshing piezoelectric energy harvester is 0.068 mW, and the optimal matched impedance is 440 kΩ. When the external excitation frequency is close to the second resonant frequency, the maximum output power of the liquid sloshing piezoelectric energy harvester is 0.178 mW, and the optimal matching load resistance is 600 kΩ. Compared with the traditional cantilever beam piezoelectric energy harvester, the liquid slosh piezoelectric energy harvester has a lower resonant frequency and achieves two resonant peaks in the range of 1–20 Hz, which greatly widens the effective frequency bandwidth and improves the energy capture efficiency of the piezoelectric energy harvester.

Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) Using a Nonlinear Energy Harvesting Model

This paper derives and optimizes the throughput of NOMA with nonlinear energy harvesting. The Base Station (BS) harvests energy from the received Radio Frequency signal. Then, the BS uses the nonlinear harvested power to diffuse packets to N users. We suggest to optimize harvesting time and the powers of users to optimize the data rate. The optimization of NOMA powers and the harvesting process were not yet performed with a non linear energy harvesting model. The study is performed for Rayleigh channels in the presence of nonlinear energy harvesting model. Furthermore, the theoretical results were confirmed using MATLAB computer simulations.

Mathematical Analysis of the Electromotive Induced Force in a Magnetically Damped Suspension

This study explores the advanced mathematical modeling of electromagnetic energy harvesting in vehicle suspension systems, addressing the pressing need for sustainable transportation and improved energy efficiency. We focus on the complex challenge posed by the non-linear behavior of magnetic flux in relation to displacement, a critical aspect often overlooked in conventional approaches. Utilizing Taylor expansion and Fourier analysis, we dissect the intricate relationship between oscillation and electromagnetic damping, crucial for optimizing energy recovery. Our rigorous mathematical methodology enables the precise calculation of the average power per cycle and unit mass, providing a robust metric for evaluating the effectiveness of energy harvesting. Further, the study extends to the practical application in a combined system of passive and electromagnetic suspension, demonstrating the real-world viability of our theoretical findings. This research not only offers a comprehensive solution for enhancing vehicle efficiency through advanced suspension systems but also sets a precedent for the integration of complex mathematical techniques in solving real-world engineering challenges, contributing significantly to the future of energy-efficient automotive technologies. The cases reviewed in this article and listed as references are those commonly found in the literature.