Using piezoelectric generation to harvest energy from turbulent air flow

The tasks of generating, harvesting, and converting energy have long been ones crucial to the human race. As such, environmental concerns, population increase, personal energy consumption, and diminishing resources have led to a focus on new methods and possibilities. A set of factors has influenced this research, among which was a desire to steward resources better, the inefficiencies of many current generation technologies, and the rising cost of fuel. Although piezoelectric generation (PEG) has been researched and used to power small devices, this generation technique is undeveloped, especially on a large scale. This research focuses on the conversion of air turbulence to electrical energy via a piezoelectric generator. After a literature review was conducted, calculations were performed to determine energy potential. Bench tests were performed to determine the characteristics of the material. Road tests were then carried out utilizing a thin-film piezoelectric material. Data such as air velocity and voltage were collected. It was found that the piezoelectric effect can be used to harvest energy from turbulent air flow. However, with the method and material used, this is not an efficient means of energy harvesting; power generated was less than 1 microwatt