Engineering Mechanics

Proceedings Vol. 17 (2011)

ENGINEERING MECHANICS 2011

Copyright © 2011 Institute of Thermomechanics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Prague

 

Hadas Z., Singule V.
pages 167 - 170, full text

This paper deals with energy harvesting principles, current and future applications of these devices. The paper critically evaluates opportunity of such power supplies for future remote applications (wireless sensing, autonomous electronics, mobile technologies etc.) and makes an effort to describe advantages of energy harvesters against traditional power supplies. The definition of energy harvesting describes these technologies as the use of an ambient energy to provide electrical power for small electronic and electrical devices making them self-sufficient. The technologies employed variously convert human power, body fluids, heat differences, vibration or other movement, ultraviolet, visible light or infrared to electricity and there are more options coming along. The progress in wireless technologies on start of new millennium made demands on inexhaustible power source for wireless applications and the ambient energy seems like the suitable power source. The surrounding of most engineering systems contains some form of an ambient energy. Currently most of energy harvesting applications is tested in the laboratory and practical applications of some energy harvesting technologies (photovoltaic, thermoelectric generators, vibration energy harvesters etc.) have been used in several engineering applications. The aim of this paper is brief state of art and review of these technologies.

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