Piezoelectric wind energy harvesting device with resonant cavity and tuning fork reeds

Energy source and environment protection are universal concerned topics in our society. There are a series of problems caused by using traditional batteries for wireless and portable electronic products. In this paper, a novel resonant cavity with piezoelectric tuning fork reeds is proposed to scavenge wind energy as a power supplier for remote wireless sensor network nodes. Performance of the proposed piezoelectric wind energy harvesting device is studied numerically and experimentally. Structural design and working principle of the device are introduced. Working mode and frequency of the structure are analyzed with FEA simulation. Output abilities of the prototype device are tested under different working conditions. The device shows a violent resonant vibration in anti-phase mode when the wind speed is over 9 m/s. With a matching load of 83 kΩ, an output power of 6.3 mW was achieved under the wind speed of 12 m/s.