Estimation of Electric Charge Output for Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting

Abstract: Piezoelectric materials (PZT) can be used as mechanisms to transfer mechanical energy, usually ambient vibration, into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power other devices. With the recent advances in wireless and micro‐electro‐mechanical‐systems (MEMS) technology, sensors can be placed in exotic and remote locations. As these devices are wireless it becomes necessary that they have their own power supply. The power supply in most cases is the conventional battery; however, problems can occur when using batteries because of their finite life span. Because most sensors are being developed so that they can be placed in remote locations such as structural sensors on a bridge or global…