Laboratory characterization of a footstep energy harvest piezoelectric device for mobile phone charging

Abstract

Today, energy has become a necessity for everyone around the globe. The ever-growing number of electronic devices has increased the rate of energy consumption. In a bid to meet this demand, all sources of renewable energy must be maximized. This paper aimed at generating electrical energy by converting mechanical energy from human footsteps or vibration from machinery into electricity using piezoelectricity. This energy was collected in the form of ac electricity and stored in batteries; which was then used to charge a mobile phone. A piezo tile comprising 16 piezo crystal was constructed via series-parallel combinations. The piezo tile showed different reactions to varying weights. These reactions were apparent in the plot of average voltages generated versus weights as well as analytical formulation and thus concluded that more weight produces more power and vice versa.