Industrial Design and Piezoelectricity

[DesignSCI]

Hello everyone. I'm an industrial designer based in New York City and I'm interested in harvesting human energy for my next design endeavor. I'm primarily doing research in Piezoelectricity and its applications in the small electronics industry i.e. cell phones, mp3s. I'm trying to design a better alternative to having to charge your electronics daily. I am concerned with understanding the more technical aspects of the technology- size of the technology as applied to small electronics, and the ratio of mechanical energy input to electrical energy output. Do you guys think it's feasible to harvest energy through piezoelectricity as applied to electronics? Are there better alternatives to piezoelectricity that are more practical and available? I appreciate any information you guys are willing to share. Thanks.

 

[anorlunda]

There are many threads on Pf with similar questions.

Yes it can be done. I think you can buy sneakers with LED lights powered by triboelectricity.

No it is not attractive, especially in competition with solar PV panels.

Do you understand that there is no free lunch? A human powered piezo device always makes the human work harder.