Electrostatic vibrational energy harvesting using a variation of Bennet's doubler

Abstract

A capacitive electrostatic generator with a structure suitable for a vibrational energy harvester is described. The device is a variation of the classical “doubler of electricity”. The device has only one moving part, only diodes as electronic components, and can generate any voltage, limited only by a nonlinear loading device. A simple version suitable for recharging a battery is discussed, and the results of a practical demonstration implementation are shown.