RRSs

A feasibility study conducted by Adnan Mohamed Elhalwagy Mahmoud Yousef M. Ghoneem, and
Mohamed Elhadidi (2017) focused on the acquiring a method of getting the maximum benefits from
piezoelectric energy. The study integrated piezoelectric technology on the floors in the interior spaces of
a building. It was the objective of the researchers to spread piezoelectric energy harvesting floor
applications by facilitating on how to appease and harmonize the challenging requirement of usage
factors and also the application of possibilities using a proposed tool. As presented in the abstract of the
study, piezoelectric floors generate a number of microwatts which ranges up to several watts per step
and that this depends on the space pedestrians’ frequency and piezoelectric technology. The
researchers concluded that, low pedestrian spaces such as apartment cases can utilize harvesting floors
in an alternate way in order to generate and save energy, whereby the use of high generated power
tiles, which were like the ones used in the study, as power source generators can be used to operate LED
lighting system due to the fact that such lighting systems uses less energy. Further, the output electrical
energy is sufficient to power wireless data transmitting devices such as Wi-Fi, li-fi, Z-Wave, etc. Piezo
sensors generate electricity whenever pressure is applied, and as these sensors are connected in series
and parallel connections, integrated in a tile, the tile then can be utilized in various places wherever
pressure or force is applied. Battery is used a storage for the harvested energy and are used for AC and
DC loads. According to the researchers, sensors transducer, frequency controlling, devices high voltage
and power sources are the most common uses of different piezoelectric floors.

Elhalwagy, A.M., Ghoneem, M.Y.M., & Elhadidi, M. (2017). Feasibility study for using piezoelectric
energy harvesting floor in buildings’ interior spaces. Energy Procedia. 115. 114-126.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.05.012

The feasibility and the capability of piezoelectric to be utilized for street lighting was experimented by S.
Thanakodi, N.S.M. Nazar, A.M.A. Zaidi, A. Miskon and M.H.M. Idrus (2016). The research conducted by
the researchers focused on the objective of producing voltage output more than 24 Vdc for the usage of
battery bank of the light emitting diode (LED) street lighting. In the study, piezoelectric was presented as
a device which has been widely used and that the energy harvested in such materials are considered as
environmental energy which is used as a power supply in order to generate voltage. With the utilization
of piezoelectric sensors, as pressure or force form the vehicles is applied on these, an electric field is
generated and, thus, allowed the generation of voltage to be used on the lighting system on the street.
The experiment has made the street lighting rechargeable and has reduced the energy demand. The
piezoelectric nave type II from Morgan Ceramics with thickness of 0.4-inch, outer radius of 1.65 inch and
inner radius of 0.75 inch is feasible to charge the battery of the lighting system on the street where the
voltage output generated surpassed the amount of 24 Vdc as observed during the simulation. Further,
the researchers concluded that the smaller the outer radius with the thickest piezoelectric element of
piezoelectric yields to a higher voltage output. This is also true for piezoelectric ceramic crystal that is
thick and has smaller outer radius.

Thanakodi. S., et al. (2016). Feasibility studies of piezoelectric as a source for street lighting. IDOSI
Publications. World Applied Sciences Journal 34 (3): 363-368. 10.5829/idosi.wasj.2016.34.3.15667.
Retrieved from https://www.idosi.org/wasj/wasj34(3)16/14.pdf
RRLs

According to Gayashan Gunathilaka and Duminda I. B. Randeniya (2013), a special crystalline is

possessed by piezoelectric materials which provides such materials the capability of converting
mechanical strain into electrical energy and vice-versa. As such, when mechanical strain due to externals
forces such as pressure is applied on the piezoelectric material, an output voltage is generated.
However, piezoelectric materials have drawbacks and one of which is the limitation of the energy that
can be harvested by the materials which generates restrictions on the usage of piezoelectric materials
on various applications where electrical energy is required.

A number of energy harvesting materials are now existing which are unique in terms of the method on
how these converts ambient energy into useful energy, and of which includes photovoltaics such as
solar panels which are primarily used to convert solar energy form the sun into electrical energy,
thermo-electrics such as thermoelectric generators which converts temperature differentials into
electrical energy, and electromagnetic transducers such as piezoelectric materials, and electrostatic
generators which converts mechanical strains such as vibrations into useful electricity (Safaei, Sodano, &
Anton, 2019).

According to Moshen Safaei, Henry Sodano, and Steven Anton (2019), Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting is
the conversion of dynamic mechanical energy into electrical energy through piezoelectric materials.
These involves the harvesting of energy from ambient vibrations which focuses on harvesting low-level
energy on the order of microwatts to milliwatts in order to power low-power electronics. However,
advantages of piezoelectric transduction over thermal and solar harvesting is that the mechanical
energy input, such as ambient vibrations and other wasted mechanical energy, are persistent
everywhere due to operational conditions of a system, unlike the unsteady and unpredictable
environmental conditions which can fluctuate anytime bringing disadvantageous position for thermal
and solar harvesting systems.

REFERENCES:

Gunathilaka, G. & Randeniya, D.I.B. (2013). Energy harvesting from pressure forces.
10.1109/ICIInfS.2013.6732029. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271557056_Energy_harvesting_from_pressure_forces

Safaei, M., Sodano, H.A, & Anton, S.R. (2019). A review of energy harvesting using piezoelectric
materials: state-of-the-art a decade later (2008–2018). IOP Publishing Ltd. 28 (11). Retrieved from
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-665X/ab36e4
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS

The researchers will perform an experimentation through a performance evaluation which will test the
capabilities of the project and will serve as the main procedure the will measure specific variables such
as the maximum amount of stress that the project can withstand, the maximum amount of energy that
can be harvested and also investigate the resulting effects on the design of the project after the applied
amount of load.

The mechanical design for the research will be illustrated using Solid Works 2020 application. In the
application, testing of the materials to be used for the main design of the project will be tested, this is to
ensure the durability and also the efficiency of the prototype.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Renewable Energy. A form of energy that is generated from natural resources that are replenished
constantly such as sunlight, wind, tides, geothermal heat, water, and biomass.

Energy Harvesting. It is a method of harnessing energy, also referred to as energy scavenging, by

converting energy from the environment into useful energy in the form of electricity.

Piezoelectricity. A phenomenon where there is a coupling of the electrical and mechanical states of a
material. Such involves the usage of crystals to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Piezo Materials (PMs). A material having a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure which posses that
ability of generating displacement between anions and cations such as quartz and zinc which are both
piezoelectric crystals.

Ambient Energy. An energy which includes mechanical and thermal energies that are generated
naturally or non-naturally and sources of which includes sunlight, wind, mechanical vibrations, and
thermal gradients.

Electrostatic Generator. Equipment which produces electrostatic charges to an extreme potential to

generate electrical energy.

Transducers. An electronic device that is utilized to convert one form of energy into another form or into
a readable form. Examples of transducers include microphones, loud speakers, and thermometers.