Design Article
10 energy harvesting solutions for 2012
Anne-Francoise Pele
12/14/2012 12:15 PM EST
PARIS – Biomechanical energy harvesting from human motion offers a promising clean alternative to electrical power supplied by batteries for mobile electronic devices.
Energy harvesting is the use of ambient energy to provide electricity for small and mobile equipment, whether electrical or electronic. Four main ambient energy sources are present in our environment: mechanical energy (vibrations, deformations), thermal energy (temperature gradients or variations), radiant energy (sun, infrared, RF) and chemical energy (chemistry, biochemistry).
In a recent report, titled "Energy Harvesting in Action -2012", market researcher IDTechEX noted that $700 million was spent on the energy harvesting component itself in 2011, rising to just under $5 billion in 2022.
The proliferation of mobile electronic devices has resulted in the development of new power sources. One alternative is human power, which has the advantages of being always available, requiring no chemical fuel or logistical measures.
Indeed, the human body is very flexible in generating applicable power from sources of heat dissipation, joint rotation, enforcement of body weight, vertical displacement of mass centers, as well as elastic deformation of tissues and other attachments. This opens up opportunities for harvesting energy to power mobile or implantable medical devices which could be used for a long time or be recharged permanently.
What follows are ten different human motion energy harvesting devices and technologies, in different stages of prototyping and application.
Next: Ear-powered batteries
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Pratham Bhat
12/17/2012 2:55 AM EST
gud idea...please provide related review papers
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GREAT-Terry
12/17/2012 4:13 AM EST
Very interesting ideas. It would be good to see them commercialised.
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iniewski
12/17/2012 12:24 PM EST
Ann-Francoise, great article...would you be interested in expanding it to a short book chapter for the energy harvesting book I am editing? kris.iniewski@gmail.com
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chanj
12/17/2012 12:34 PM EST
Wearable human motion energy harvester
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fortus.rtu.lv%2Fscience%2Flv%2Fpublications%2F12703%2Ffulltext.pdf&ei=EVfPUIXlLOzriQKg5YDgBg&usg=AFQjCNEFYDLM1v8-FadBNfV0bENghV0Lbw&bvm=bv.1355325884,d.cGE&cad=rja
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chanj
12/17/2012 12:41 PM EST
Energy harvesting seems to be one of the next big thing in 2013. I wonder whether the energy is being harvested is actually needed elsewhere. Harvesting from breathing and body heat would probably has no side effect to the person. I would like to understand more about "Harvesting vibrations from heartbeats", etc.
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elPresidente
12/18/2012 2:42 AM EST
These slide show, multipage, formats are ANNOYING
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horta1212
12/19/2012 3:46 PM EST
The amount of energy harvested thru these methods is ridiculously small except for the green wheel. You're better off putting a rechargable watch battery into devices along with wireless charging circuitry than use these methods. The exception being research into implantable pacemakers that never need removing.
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DR.PAUL
12/20/2012 6:20 AM EST
a good device for the ears. Thanks to the Engineers. by Dr.Paul
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thinkndo
12/20/2012 11:38 AM EST
In olden days, human energy was used for various purposes.We had slaves at that time :)
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martin.rowe
12/23/2012 1:17 AM EST
We have a blog about piezoelectric technology being used for human energy harvesting. See "Human Energy" as The Connecting Edge.
http://www.theconnectingedge.com/author.asp?section_id=2602&doc_id=254826
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Wegatech
3/25/2013 10:43 AM EDT
Wegatech Electronic has designed a circuit which can harvest energy from piezoelectric to power small microcontroller successfully.
For more information, please visit
http://www.wegatech.com
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