Vibration energy harvesting using a piezoelectric circular diaphragm array

This paper presents a method for harvesting electric energy from mechanical vibration using a mechanically excited piezoelectric circular membrane array. The piezoelectric circular diaphragm array consists of four plates with series and parallel connection, and the electrical characteristics of the array are examined under dynamic conditions. With an optimal load resistor of 160 kω, an output power of 28 mW was generated from the array in series connection at 150 Hz under a prestress of 0.8 N and a vibration acceleration of 9.8 m/s², whereas a maximal output power of 27 mW can be obtained from the array in parallel connection through a resistive load of 11 kω under the same frequency, prestress, and acceleration conditions. The results show that using a piezoelectric circular diaphragm array can significantly increase the output of energy compared with the use of a single plate. By choosing an appropriate connection pattern (series or parallel connections) among the plates, the equivalent impedance of the energy harvesting devices can be tailored to meet the matched load of different applications for maximal power output.