What is Energy harvesting: Definition and 23 Discussions

Energy harvesting (also known as power harvesting or energy scavenging or ambient power) is the process by which energy is derived from external sources (e.g., solar power, thermal energy, wind energy, salinity gradients, and kinetic energy, also known as ambient energy), captured, and stored for small, wireless autonomous devices, like those used in wearable electronics and wireless sensor networks.Energy harvesters provide a very small amount of power for low-energy electronics. While the input fuel to some large-scale generation costs resources (oil, coal, etc.), the energy source for energy harvesters is present as ambient background. For example, temperature gradients exist from the operation of a combustion engine and in urban areas, there is a large amount of electromagnetic energy in the environment because of radio and television broadcasting.
One of the earliest applications of ambient power collected from ambient electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is the crystal radio.
The principles of energy harvesting from ambient EMR can be demonstrated with basic components.

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  1. S

    I Methods for energy harvesting in expanding universe?

    There has been much discussion about how could we (theoretically) extract energy from the accelerated expansion of the universe. However, the only gedankenexperiment I can found is the "tethered galaxies" one (e.g. https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0104349). However, has somebody proposed an...
  2. K

    Individual project on Energy harvesting using piezoelectric material

    I have two questions: 1) Is it possible to cut the material with a laser cutter or scissors or do I need to have a specific tool? 2) What is the best way to attach the PZT-5H material to the beam but it can be easily detached for using it on another beam ( so no epoxy glue)?Thank you
  3. sophiecentaur

    At last: a practical Energy Harvesting proposal?

    I was enjoying my (very short) hot shower this morning and realized that the lovely warm water was flowing over my body (sorry - too much information) only once and then disappearing down the drain. This water - and what comes out of the washing machine, dishwasher etc. could be at a seriously...
  4. K

    RF Energy Harvesting Simulation

    I want to do RF energy harvesting simulation for the measurement of Power Conversion Efficiency. So how can be simulation done on a single platform?. Kindly suggest
  5. S

    I Necessary conditions for energy harvesting

    Assume that a contraption with loosely suspended internal weights is fixed to the body of a vehicle that is moving in free 3D space without gravitational sources nearby. Given the position and orientation of the vehicle as functions of time, how can one tell whether it is possible for the...
  6. P

    B Energy Harvesting: Calculating kWh from Motorway Traffic

    Hello there :) if there were an energy converter for a motorway where 5000000 cars drive over it annually and that has an efficiency of 100 percent, how many kWh does the energy converter give me? The energy converter would generate 4000 joules / s per pass. (P = 1400 * 9.81 * 0.02 / 0.07)...
  7. nabs16

    Damping effect in piezoelectric energy harvesting systems

    Hi, I have to make a report on an energy harvesting system using piezolectric materials by comparing two methods each other which are: the standard technique (rectifier bridge+filtering capacitance) and the nonlinear technique, by adding to the standard device a switch and an inductor in...
  8. physea

    Methods of rotational energy harvesting and storage

    Hello! What are the available methods to harvest rotational energy? I was thinking to put a turbine on the shaft and compress air, but the air will get cold and the energy will be lost. I was thinking to put an electric generator, which is ok but it needs a battery. I was thinking to use...
  9. nabs16

    Weakly & strongly coupled structures in piezoelectric energy harvesting

    Hello everyone (and sorry for my average english), I have to make a report on an energy harvesting system from vibrations with piezoelectric elements. During my research, i always read that there two cases in a piezoelectric harvesting system which are : weakly coupled strucutre and strongly...
  10. P

    Piezoelectric energy harvesting systems

    Hello, I am an student of Engineering and I come a cross of a doubt that I would like to investigate a bit more. I would like some information or some directions to the right path for the following. I would like to know how could I calculate the harvesting energy of an area for a piezoelectric...
  11. G

    Energy harvesting from hot pipes in home

    Hi guys, I was just thinking about something and I'd love to get your opinion. How much energy do you think is lost from water pipes getting hot and releasing that energy into the air? In a three bedroom house there are probably a lot of hot pipes releasing heat energy. Do you think some sort...
  12. Joel Shearon

    RF Energy Harvesting Batteries

    Hey Physics Forum! So I will try to give as much detail as possible and needed without dragging on. We have an RF source at 5.8 GHz producing -17dBm and we eventually amplify it close to 27dBm (so we get as close to 30dBm out of source antenna as possible). We are using 5.8 GHz slot antennas...
  13. H

    Vibration Based Energy Harvesting

    So, personally, I'm really excited about having wireless energy harvesting. I was looking up articles on piezoelectrics, since that seems to be the leading thing these days, and I encountered an article that designed a MEMS circuit (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3958224/). It's...
  14. J

    RF Energy Harvester: Villard Circuit, Supercapacitor 3.7V 2000mAh

    I am using RF energy harvester circuit to charge mobile in my project.The rectification part is done by Villard Voltage multiplier circuit .I need to used a supercapacitor to store the harvested energy .As the battery rating of the mobile phone is 3.7V and 2000mAh.So can i use 0.33 Farad 5 Volt...
  15. J

    Can a 0.33 Farad 5 Volt Supercapacitor Charge a 3.7V 2000mAh Mobile Battery?

    I am using RF energy harvester circuit to charge mobile in my project.The rectification part is done by Villard Voltage multiplier circuit .I need to used a supercapacitor to store the harvested energy .As the battery rating of the mobile phone is 3.7V and 2000mAh.So can i use 0.33 Farad 5 Volt...
  16. Orthokid

    Possible Way to Measure Dark Energy?

    Hello everyone. I'm pretty new here, and I kinda joined this forum just to post this question. I have read many books on physics and cosmology, and although I have no scholastic training in it currently, I plan to study physics in college. Anyway, I get all sorts of ideas in my head, but this...
  17. Alfredo722

    Piezo and solar charge controller

    Can I coax a solar charge controller to accept output from 16 piezo transducers, (20mm buzzer type disk piezo elements). The charge controller has an LCD display with readouts for voltage and amps.
  18. S

    Modeling of Piezoelectric with using Abaqus

    Hi, I am a beginner user in the Abaqus software. I am trying to model the load on a piezoelectric to find the output voltage (EPOT). The model consists of the a load on the top surface of piezoelectric, the piezoelectric, and fixed condition in the bottom in the direction of Z. The problem is...
  19. J

    Re: Piezoelectric dimensions problem in energy harvesting

    hi I am doing project on piezoelectric energy harvesting which is a cantilever structure using COMSOL. I have some doubts related to my project. I designed cantilever structure having three layers substrate (SiC), piezo (ZnO) and electrode (Al). My doubt is that when piezoelectric layer...
  20. D

    Electromagnetic induction for energy harvesting

    Hi there, I'm currently working on a project that harnesses vertical motion via electromagnetic induction for the purpose of energy harvesting. I have built a prototype to confirm it's operation but haven't been able to figure out how to do the emf calculations. The device consists of a...
  21. M

    Revolutionize Charging with RCA Airnergy: Harness WiFi Energy Harvesting!

    A little gizmo with one heckuva claim was demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) recently. The Airnergy by RCA claims to be able to scavenge enough energy from WiFi (and presumably the 2.4GHz band) to juice up its own internal battery and allow a user to charge up devices on the...
  22. N

    Wind turbine energy harvesting

    Hi all, I just looked at a thread involving a wind turbine on a car or something of that sort and I have a similar idea... but it does not involve a car. It is similar in the aspect of something creates energy , and you add something else to it to get more energy, but I'm not sure if the...
  23. M

    Exploring Fresh Ideas for Wind Energy Harvesting

    There is a lot of talk about big projects to gather energy from wind. I have two ideas I don't see used that I was wondering about. 1. Using large stretches of canvas to redirect wind from a large cross sectional area to a smaller outlet, like some kind of wind nozzle. It would also form...
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