Towards a piezoelectric vibration-poweredmicrogenerator

Abstract

As MEMS and Smart Material technologies advance, embedded and remote applications are becoming more widespread. Powering these systems can be a significant engineering problem, as traditional solutions such as batteries are not always appropriate. An inertial generator is developed that uses thick-film piezoelectric technologies to produce electrical power from vibrations in the environment of the device. The device validates the concept, and produces an output of 3 µW. Predictions show that orders of magnitude increase in power output are possible.