ASSIGNMENT 1

SEB711-MANAGING AND DEVELOPING INNOVATION

Topic: Power generating clothes

INTRODUCTION:

As the current world is experiencing higher values in both research and technology especially in
harvesting power from different sources. Most percent of the world, heavily relied on electronic
devices such as cell phones. As they need batteries as a source and they have limited life. But in
future that will not be a big deal because you can produce power by yourself. The main idea is to
harvest energy from the movement of body by using triboelectric method. In addition to that solar
components can also be added to the fabric to capture the sunlight and convert into electricity for
charging minor devices like headphones, watches, to glow LED, batteries etc.

CONCEPT DESCRIPTION:

The increasing demand for electronic devices in recent times they are still facing lack of power
supply, particularly the devices which require to run daily with heavy battery loading. Some examples
are electronics for environmental monitoring and medical purposes, wireless monitoring systems and
personal devices. So, providing additional power to these devices increases the flexibility and these
devices can be used in remote areas too.

The main idea of this current innovation is to generate power by triboelectric method and solar
technology with fabrics. Triboelectric means when a person rubs her hand with a plastic material, her
hair stands. That is because the plastic material steals negatively charged particles these are known
as electrons from her hair and remains positive charge. This principle is known as triboelectricity.
And, it refers to electricity generated by friction. By using the same principle, we can develop smart
clothes which generate electricity by combining new fabrics with different materials. The two layers
of the shirt are clothed with silver and in between zinc oxide layer is introduced and clothed like a
polymer. So, when there is movement in the fabric the clothed rods will move back and forth by
rubbing against the silver. This movement is same to the reaction of plastic material and hair
example. In this innovative concept the clothed zinc oxide polymer layer attracts electrons from the
silver material. As the solar technology is advancing we can cloth solar components on clothes which
will be exposed by the sunlight and can convert this light source into electrical energy and it can be
used to power up small screens, wireless remotes and earphones etc. So, the energy that is created
through these fabrics will be stored continuously and provide additional backup for charging
electronic devices.
CONCEPT ANALYSIS:

Desegregating a power source with fabrics is really a hopeful solution to powerup electronic devices.
Ideally, wearable clothes which not only generates electrical energy, it is easy to wear, light weight,
non-venomous, washable and it can be used many times. This innovative concept will compete with
the current Li-ion batteries which came into existence for providing additional power backup for
electronic devices. As these power banks requires electricity for charging up and when the batteries
drain up so fast there will no solution for the user to charge up. So, by using these wearable clothes it
is easy to store the power and you can create your power by yourself. This innovative idea will
sustain in the current market because it is user friendly, power is generated with no additional costs,
one-time investment, unlimited source of energy, etc.

In the recent publication, the method that is used is called vapour deposition, it is used to cloth
fabrics by adding conducting polymers to make it plain-woven, so conducting fabrics can be
tolerative for stretching and they will be stable after ironing and washing. The thickness of the
clothing they put is about 500nano-meters, which can be felt as normal as natural clothes. Therefore,
one important problem arises using power shirts that is zinc oxide material that is sandwiched
between the silver layers should not be exposed to moisture while washing or while moving. The
alternative method to protect that layer is to cover it with air packed while there is a rain and it
should be properly washed with dry cleaning method to remove unwanted dirt on it. And these
power clothes can’t be used by old people as they will not incur in such activities but, there will be no
problem because they will always be under energy provident sources.

SKILLS AND TEAM REQUIRED:

The important part of this is the skills required to accomplish the task. Because the smart clothes
which we are developing, needs very high technical expertise like fabric designer, material science
engineer, electrical engineer, chemical engineer, production manager, marketing manager, etc.
Firstly, material science engineer tells which type of cloth fabrics should be used and he includes
conducting polymers to the fabrics. In this we have taken zinc-oxide and silver as the source of power
generation, and sometimes it may vary, and we should look for alternative methods of any better
elements can be added. The power generated should be stored in the product itself so for this, proper
techniques should be used to make it less weight and be comfortable to the user.

After the production the main part is to promote and sustain in the market. The promotion can be
done through advertisements and the new products enter in to the market we should educate people
abut the product in which way our product is useful. Marketing manager, production manager,
finance manager all should collaborate and recruit skilled persons and technical experts for the
production, development and promotions.

CONCLUSION:

In conclusion, desegregation of power from clothes through triboelectric method and solar
technology really improves the new trends of smart techniques. Designed fabrics with smart
techniques to power up personal devices, also it helps in monitoring the environment and medical
issues. Moreover, additional features like temperature respondent sensors can make our body warm
in cool areas. The advantages of this innovation is quite high and the main drawback is consuming
cost and it can be easily negotiable. So, there is a great hope and great demand for this product in
future days which can replace many additional power backup sources.
References
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energy harvesting applications. Applied Physics Letters.

Grazel, M. (2001). Photoelectrochemical cells. Nature Energy.

Kalogirou, S. A. (2013). Solar Energy Engineering. Cyprus: Academic Press.

michaelides, E. E. (2012). Alternative Energy Sorces. Springer.

Pence, S. N. (1994). Effect of surface moisture on contact charge of polymers containing ions.
Langmuir, 592-596.

Wang, Z. L. (2016). Triboelectric Nanogenerators. China: Springer.

Yang, W. e. (2013). Harvesting energy from the natural vibration of human walking. ACS Nano,
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