Energy Harvesting Device

About

Advances in low-power electronics and distributed systems have generated interest in small-scale power supply systems that harness energy from ambient sources. Low-power and distributed systems have also added to the portability of electronic devices, lessened dependency on wiring, and emphasized the search for reliable in-situ power generation. Harvesting useful power from ambient energy sources has shown great potential for powering wireless electronics in a wide range of applications, but current methods suffer from inefficiencies that often stem from low rates of energy extraction and circuitry complexity. Researchers at the University of Hawaii have developed a system capable of effectively and efficiently extracting useful power from low-level ambient sources. This is achieved with: A charge-carrying moveable electrode, A reference electrode, and Multiple dielectric regions. These dielectric regions differ in capacitance and therefore also surface charge density. Low-power ambient energy (such as vibrational) causes the moveable electrode to oscillate between the dielectric regions, resulting in effective and efficient energy accumulation.