NON-CONVENTIONAL ENERGY SOURCE

HARNESSING ENERGY FROM BUSY CITY TRAFFIC

BY
Indrajit Mandal
Sambhram Institute of Technology
Vidyaranyapura post, MS Palya
Bangalore – 560097
Email: INDRAJIT_MANDAL2007@YAHOO.CO.IN
Mobile: 09986635735

ABSTRACT: We have been depending on fossil fuels over the past decades. The existing
sources of fossil fuels are going to last for another hundred years or so. Surely, we are going to
face energy crisis in near future. Therefore, scientists all over the globe are pondering in search
of new sources of energy. The ultimate source of energy that is going to support human
civilization is tidal, wind, geothermal, solar energy and other conventional sources of energy.

IDEA: Solar energy is harnessed using solar panels. Each solar panel consists of so many units
called solar cells connected to each other. The energy absorbed by the panel is stored in the form
of chemical energy in a battery. This stored energy is used for various purposes like lighting
street lamps and other household purposes.
Just like solar panels, we can also make piezoelectric panels which will be constituted of
a number of piezoelectric capsules. These piezoelectric capsules are made of a number of units
made of piezoelectric materials. These will use energy from the weights of human beings
(walking), moving vehicles etc. These panels can be used in a very busy roads or staircase which
is walked by lakhs of people in a day or on which large number of vehicles traverse in a day.
Piezoelectric panels will be laid down on the roads at a level of the road only. So it won’t
produce any inconvenience to the tyre. The energy generated can be used to light street lamps &
for other purposes. By this project, people will be able to generate energy at their feet knowingly
or unknowingly.
Gravitational force acts on every body that is present on earth, whether it’s stationary or
moving. Here we are trying to utilize that force which is acting on every body that is moving on
earth, may be moving vehicles or walking human beings. When this force is associated with
displacement, it gets converted to energy (mechanical). This mechanical energy is being
converted to electrical energy.

OBJECTIVE
To generate energy from non-conventional source (Piezoelectric materials)
of energy & reduce the use & dependency on fossil fuels. Normally a busy
traffic is a source of tension and irritation for all of us. This idea gives
us the opportunity to generate energy from busy city traffic.

Proposed applications: 1. Self powered street lamps.

2. Self powered traffic signals.
3. Domestic uses.
ORIGIN OF IDEA
One day, I was cooking in my kitchen. And I was about to light my gas stove using my
gas lighter. As soon as I pressed my gas lighter, unexpectedly I got an electric shock from it. I
was surprised at this……..
This incident made me to think about the lighter. Then I noticed that the spark produced
is the cause of that shock. I thought that I am applying pressure and in lieu of that spark is
produced. I continued thinking like this-
If there is electric spark, there is electrical energy- if this energy can be harvested on a large scale
– it could be used for practical purpose – therefore the dependency on coal and petroleum could
be reduced to a greater extent – then I decided to work on this idea.
Moreover, it’s a non-conventional source of energy which doesn’t create
pollution. It requires only initial cost of implementation and maintenance cost just like solar
energy investing.

DESIGN & BRIEF WORKING METHODOLOGY OF THE MODEL

BLOCK DIAGRAMS
 BUSY ROAD

PANEL

STREET LAMP
 DESIGN DETAILS
1. A panel consists of many sub-panels called capsules.
2. Each capsule consists of piezoelectric crystals units depending upon the requirements.
3. When vehicles or human pass over these panels, energy is generated and it’s stored into a
battery for future use.
4. Each panel is designed in such a way that it is protected from rain and dust.
5. Each panel is kept just 5-6 mm above the road level, so that it does not create any kind of
inconvenience to vehicles.
6. Each panel is designed in such a way that it will resist Wear and tear due passing of
vehicles over it.

METHODOLOGY OF WORKING

Through out the globe, people are working on piezo crystals. Piezo crystals have different
applications like transducers, actuators, generators etc. Here I am concentrating on harvesting
energy from piezo crystals. I am trying to utilize the gravitational force (F) that acts on every
body around us. When this force is subjected to a small displacement (D), then work done is
given by:

Work (w) = Force (F) X Displacement (D)

This work is done on piezo panels which are laid down at the level of road at busy city traffic,
which get converted into electrical energy. This energy is stored into a battery through an
electronic circuit. This store energy is used for various purposes. The block diagram of the
electronic circuit is given below:

PRESSURE

PIEOZO
ELECTRONIC
CRYSTALS CELL
CIRCUIT

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION.

I HAVE DESIGNED A PROTOTYPE MODEL FOR THE PROJECT AND I AM
SUCCESSFUL IN CHARGING A CELL. SO THIS IDEA CAN BE EXTENDED ON A
LARGE SCALE AND SURELY IT’S GOING TO WORK FOR HARVESTING ENERGY
FROM BUSY TRAFFIC.

1. ON HITTING THE MATERIAL, A VERY HIGH D.C. VOLTAGE IS OBTAINED.

2. THE VOLTAGE IS OF THE ORDER OF THOUSAND VOLTS.
3. IT LASTS FOR A FRACTION OF SECOND.
4. ITS WAVEFORM IS IN THE FORM OF DISCONTINUOUS SPIKES.
4. IT IS PULSATED DC VOLTAGE PRODUCED.
5. READINGS (AVERAGE):
MINIMUM VOLTAGE: 250-400 VOLTS.
MAXIMUM VOLTAGE: 800-1000 VOLTS.
6. CURRENT IS OF ORDER OF MICRO AMPERES.
7. POWER IN THE RANGE OF MILLI-WATTS.
8. SINCE THE VOLTAGE IS VERY HIGH, HEAVY DUTY WIRES HAVE TO BE USED.
9. THE VOLTAGE PRODUCED DEPENDS ON THE PRESSURE CREATED AND THE
KIND OF PIEZO MATERIAL USED.
10. INTERNAL IMPEDANCE OF THE MATERIAL IS VERY HIGH IN THE ORDER OF
MEGA OHMS.
11. INCREASING OR DECREASING PRESSURE ON A PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIAL
CAUSES ELECTRICAL CURRENT TO FLOW.
12. ELECTRICAL CURRENT FLOWS OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS DEPENDING
ON WHETHER PRESSURE IS INCREASING OR DECREASING.
13. PARALLEL CONNECTIONS HELP TO REDUCE THE SOURCE IMPEDANCE.
14. FROM “MAXIMUM POWER TRANSMISSION THEOREM”, WE KNOW THAT IF
THERE IS A MAXIMUM POWER TRANSFER FROM SOURCE TO LOAD IF THERE IS
PROPER IMPEDANCE MATCHING OF SOURCE AND LOAD.