화학공학소재연구정보센터
Applied Energy, Vol.194, 212-222, 2017
Harvesting ambient wind energy with an inverted piezoelectric flag
The paper describes an experimental study of wind energy harvesting by self-sustained oscillations (flutter) of a flexible piezoelectric membrane fixed in a novel orientation called the "inverted flag". We conducted parametric studies to evaluate the influence of geometrical parameters of the flag on the flapping behavior and the resulting energy output. We have demonstrated the capability for inducing aero-elastic flutter in a desired wind velocity range by simply tuning the geometrical parameters of the flag. A peak electrical power of similar to 5.0 mW/cm(3) occurred at a wind velocity of 9 m/s. Our devices showed sustained power generation (similar to 0.4 mW/cm(3)) even in low-wind speed regimes (similar to 3.5 m/s) suitable for ambient wind energy harvesting. We also conducted outdoor experiments and harvested ambient wind energy to power a temperature sensor without employing a battery for energy storage. Moreover, a self-aligning mechanism to compensate for changing wind directions was incorporated and resulted in an increase in the temperature sensor data output by more than 20 times. These findings open new opportunities for self-powered devices using ambient wind energy with fluctuating conditions and low speed regimes. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.