Vibration-based energy harvesting with stacked piezoelectrets

Vibration-based energy harvesters with multi-layer piezoelectrets (ferroelectrets) are presented. Using a simple setup with nine layers and a seismic mass of 8 g, it is possible to generate a power up to 1.3 mu W at 140 Hz with an input acceleration of 1g. With better coupling between seismic mass and piezoelectret, and thus reduced damping, the power output of a single-layer system is increased to 5 mu W at 700 Hz. Simulations indicate that for such improved setups with 10-layer stacks, utilizing seismic masses of 80 g, power levels of 0.1 to 1 mW can be expected below 100 Hz. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.