ABSTRACT

This chapter explains briefly a fundamental understanding of energy-harvesting solutions and addresses some of the basic concerns that when overcome can enable widespread customer adoption by presenting a real-life wireless sensor application. The typical mindset regarding energy harvesting is that its specific function is to provide power, generally in the range of kilowatts to megawatts that can be put back in the electrical grid, for example, to power homes. Solar cells are an existing technology extensively used in self-powered watches, calculators, and rooftop modules for houses. An energy-harvesting solution was designed that is suitable for ground transportation applications capable of generating energy from random vibration. The development of self-powered sensors has enabled implantation of the devices into various host structures, such as medical implants and embedded sensors in buildings and bridges. The chapter looks at a simple schematic of a power generator based on conversion from vibration to electrical energy.