Storage System for Pulsed Energy generated by a Pavement Energy Harvesting Solution

With the constant technological developments, there are nowadays (2020) the possibility of developing a Pavement Energy Harvesting solution that can harvest kinetic energy from vehicles and convert it into electricity. Harvesting kinetic energy from vehicles might be increasing road safety by reducing the vehicle´s speed without any driver action. When vehicles move across the module, an electro-mechanical system converts its surface motion into pulsed electric energy. The electric energy produced requires a storage system so it can be used in multiple electric applications locally installed. This project focus on the modelling of the electric generation behaviour of the Pavement Energy Harvesting generation module, the AC/DC energy conversion system, and its storage. At first, a comparative analysis of the different technologies for energy storage has been performed, leading to the selection of supercapacitors and ultracapacitors (LiC supercapacitors) as the strongest candidates to store pulsed energy from the generation module. Then a model of the generation module is created based on MATLAB/Simulink to test different conversion circuits and to analyse the performance of the storage system to achieve an effective and efficient combination

Energy Harvesting and Energy Storage Systems

This book discuss the recent developments in energy harvesting and energy storage systems. Sustainable development systems are based on three pillars: economic development, environmental stewardship, and social equity. One of the guiding principles for finding the balance between these pillars is to limit the use of non-renewable energy sources

Battery Technology – Use in Forestry

Technical development and system optimization during the last decades have targeted more efficient, socially acceptable and ecologically sustainable ways to use forestry machines and tools. This is supported by the development of electronics and electrical components, as well as battery technology, without which it is impossible to imagine doing some forestry work in forest areas with no permanent source of electricity. Today, we cannot imagine life without e.g. a cell phone, and also doing business in the forestry sector without a field computer. There are numerous examples in everyday life, but also in industry, where portable devices make life and business much easier, and the basis for the operation of these devices is battery technology. The importance of the development of battery technology is proven by the fact that in 2019 the Nobel Prize in Chemistry went into the hands of scientists who developed a lithium-ion battery - a lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery that is used today in numerous products from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles. This paper will outline the historical development of battery technology and the use of battery powered devices, tools and machines with their advantages and disadvantages in forestry sector

Low power energy harvesting and storage techniques from ambient human powered energy sources

Conventional electrochemical batteries power most of the portable and wireless electronic devices that are operated by electric power. In the past few years, electrochemical batteries and energy storage devices have improved significantly. However, this progress has not been able to keep up with the development of microprocessors, memory storage, and sensors of electronic applications. Battery weight, lifespan and reliability often limit the abilities and the range of such applications of battery powered devices. These conventional devices were designed to be powered with batteries as required, but did not allow scavenging of ambient energy as a power source. In contrast, development in wireless technology and other electronic components are constantly reducing the power and energy needed by many applications. If energy requirements of electronic components decline reasonably, then ambient energy scavenging and conversion could become a viable source of power for many applications. Ambient energy sources can be then considered and used to replace batteries in some electronic applications, to minimize product maintenance and operating cost. The potential ability to satisfy overall power and energy requirements of an application using ambient energy can eliminate some constraints related to conventional power supplies. Also power scavenging may enable electronic devices to be completely self-sustaining so that battery maintenance can eventually be eliminated. Furthermore, ambient energy scavenging could extend the performance and the lifetime of the MEMS (Micro electromechanical systems) and portable electronic devices. These possibilities show that it is important to examine the effectiveness of ambient energy as a source of power. Until recently, only little use has been made of ambient energy resources, especially for wireless networks and portable power devices. Recently, researchers have performed several studies in alternative energy sources that could provide small amounts of electricity to low-power electronic devices. These studies were focused to investigate and obtain power from different energy sources, such as vibration, light, sound, airflow, heat, waste mechanical energy and temperature variations. This research studied forms of ambient energy sources such as waste mechanical (rotational) energy from hydraulic door closers, and fitness exercise bicycles, and its conversion and storage into usable electrical energy. In both of these examples of applications, hydraulic door closers and fitness exercise bicycles, human presence is required. A person has to open the door in order for the hydraulic door closer mechanism to function. Fitness exercise bicycles need somebody to cycle the pedals to generate electricity (while burning calories.) Also vibrations, body motions, and compressions from human interactions were studied using small piezoelectric fiber composites which are capable of recovering waste mechanical energy and converting it to useful electrical energy. Based on ambient energy sources, electrical energy conversion and storage circuits were designed and tested for low power electronic applications. These sources were characterized according to energy harvesting (scavenging) methods, and power and energy density. At the end of the study, the ambient energy sources were matched with possible electronic applications as a viable energy source

Self-Powered Wearable Biosensors

Wearable biosensors hold the potential of revolutionizing personalized healthcare and telemedicine. Advances in chemical sensing, flexible materials, and scalable manufacturing techniques now allow wearables to detect key physiological indicators such as temperature, vital signs, body motion, and molecular biomarkers. With these systems operating on the skin, they enable continuous and noninvasive disease diagnosis and health monitoring. Such complex devices, however, require suitable power sources in order to realize their full capacity. Emerging wearable energy harvesters are attractive for addressing the challenges of a wearable power supply. These harvesters convert various types of ambient energy sources (e.g., biomechanical energy, biochemical energy, and solar energy) into electricity. In some circumstances, the harvested electrical signals can directly be used for active sensing of physiological parameters. On the other hand, single or hybrid wearable energy harvesters, when integrated with power management circuits and energy storage devices, could power additional biosensors as well as signal processing and data transmission electronics. Self-powered sensor systems operate continuously and sustainably without an external power supply are promising candidates in the next generation of wearable electronics and the Internet of Things. This Account highlights recent progress in self-powered wearable sensors toward personalized healthcare, covering biosensors, energy harvesters, energy storage, and power supply strategies. The Account begins with an introduction of our wearable biosensors toward an epidermal detection of physiological information. Advances in structural and material innovations enable wearable systems to measure both biophysical and biochemical indicators conformably, accurately, and continuously. We then discuss emerging technologies in wearable energy harvesting, classified according to their capability to scavenge energy from various sources. These include examples of using energy harvesters themselves as active biosensors. Through seamless integration and efficient power management, self-powered wireless wearable sensor systems allow real-time data acquisition, processing, and transmission for health monitoring. The final section of the Account covers the existing challenges and new opportunities for self-powered wearable sensors in health monitoring and human–machine interfaces toward personalized and precision medicine

Survey of Energy Harvesting Technologies for Wireless Sensor Networks

Energy harvesting (EH) technologies could lead to self-sustaining wireless sensor networks (WSNs) which are set to be a key technology in Industry 4.0. There are numerous methods for small-scale EH but these methods differ greatly in their environmental applicability, energy conversion characteristics, and physical form which makes choosing a suitable EH method for a particular WSN application challenging due to the specific application-dependency. Furthermore, the choice of EH technology is intrinsically linked to non-trivial decisions on energy storage technologies and combinatorial architectures for a given WSN application. In this paper we survey the current state of EH technology for small-scale WSNs in terms of EH methods, energy storage technologies, and EH system architectures for combining methods and storage including multi-source and multi-storage architectures, as well as highlighting a number of other optimisation considerations. This work is intended to provide an introduction to EH technologies in terms of their general working principle, application potential, and other implementation considerations with the aim of accelerating the development of sustainable WSN applications in industry

A User Programmable Battery Charging System

Rechargeable batteries are found in almost every battery powered application. Be it portable, stationary or motive applications, these batteries go hand in hand with battery charging systems. With energy harvesting being targeted in this day and age, high energy density and longer lasting batteries with efficient charging systems are being developed by companies and original equipment manufacturers. Whatever the application may be, rechargeable batteries, which deliver power to a load or system, have to be replenished or recharged once their energy is depleted. Battery charging systems must perform this replenishment by using very fast and efficient methods to extend battery life and to increase periods between charges. In this regard, they have to be versatile, efficient and user programmable to increase their applications in numerous battery powered systems. This is to reduce the cost of using different battery chargers for different types of battery powered applications and also to provide the convenience of rare battery replacement and extend the periods between charges. This thesis proposes a user programmable charging system that can charge a Lithium ion battery from three different input sources, i.e. a wall outlet, a universal serial bus (USB) and an energy harvesting system. The proposed charging system consists of three main building blocks, i.e. a pulse charger, a step down DC to DC converter and a switching network system, to extend the number of applications it can be used for. The switching network system is to allow charging of a battery via an energy harvesting system, while the step down converter is used to provide an initial supply voltage to kick start the energy harvesting system. The pulse charger enables the battery to be charged from a wall outlet or a USB network. It can also be reconfigured to charge a Nickel Metal Hydride battery. The final design is implemented on an IBM 0.18µm process. Experimental results verify the concept of the proposed charging system. The pulse charger is able to be reconfigured as a trickle charger and a constant current charger to charge a Li-ion battery and a Nickel Metal Hydride battery, respectively. The step down converter has a maximum efficiency of 90% at an input voltage of 3V and the charging of the battery via an energy harvesting system is also verified