A setup for the performance characterization and traceable efficiency measurement of magnetostrictive harvesters

This paper addresses the assessment of the performance and efficiency of magnetostrictive harvesters. A suitable test rig is presented, and its characteristics are discussed. Moreover, this work illustrates the harvester parameters able to influence the measurement results. The setup measures the electromechanical energy conversion properties of harvesters, with a relative expanded uncertainty in the 10^-3 range for the output power, and 6×10^-2 for the efficiency. The system has been employed to characterize a novel harvester with a specific power output higher than 5 mW/cm³ and a maximum efficiency of 20%.