This book focuses on the numerous energy harvesting techniques and their system implementation towards the fulfilment of energy requirements in compact electronic devices. These cover a wide range of applications in portable devices, bio-medical services, agriculture needs, mechanical systems, sensor networks, automobiles, food sector, home appliances, industry needs, etc. The authors detail energy harvesting methods using the latest technologies in acoustics, bio-chemical, thermal, artificial light, fluid flow, vibrations, EM energy, RF energy, piezoelectric, electrostatic, photovoltaic, thermoelectric, hybrid harvesting, ultrasonic, infrared, light, wind, and solar. The book is intended for researchers, academics, professionals, and students in energy harvesting.

Energy Harvesting Technologies provides a cohesive overview of the fundamentals and current developments in the field of energy harvesting. In a well-organized structure, this volume discusses basic principles for the design and fabrication of bulk and MEMS based vibration energy systems, theory and design rules required for fabrication of efficient electronics, in addition to recent findings in thermoelectric energy harvesting systems. Combining leading research from both academia and industry onto a single platform, Energy Harvesting Technologies serves as an important reference for researchers and engineers involved with power sources, sensor networks and smart materials.

With its inclusion of the fundamentals, systems and applications, this reference provides readers with the basics of micro energy conversion along with expert knowledge on system electronics and real-life microdevices. The authors address different aspects of energy harvesting at the micro scale with a focus on miniaturized and microfabricated devices. Along the way they provide an overview of the field by compiling knowledge on the design, materials development, device realization and aspects of system integration, covering emerging technologies, as well as applications in power management, energy storage, medicine and low-power system electronics. In addition, they survey the energy harvesting principles based on chemical, thermal, mechanical, as well as hybrid and nanotechnology approaches. In unparalleled detail this volume presents the complete picture -- and a peek into the future -- of micro-powered microsystems.

In the early 21st century, research and development of sustainable energy harvesting (EH) technologies have started. Since then, many EH technologies have evolved, advanced and even been successfully developed into hardware prototypes for sustaining the operational lifetime of low?power electronic devices like mobile gadgets, smart wireless sensor networks, etc. Energy harvesting is a technology that harvests freely available renewable energy from the ambient environment to recharge or put used energy back into the energy storage devices without the hassle of disrupting or even discontinuing the normal operation of the specific application. With the prior knowledge and experience developed over a decade ago, progress of sustainable EH technologies research is still intact and ongoing. EH technologies are starting to mature and strong synergies are formulating with dedicate application areas. To move forward, now would be a good time to setup a review and brainstorm session to evaluate the past, investigate and think through the present and understand and plan for the future sustainable energy harvesting technologies.

The transformation of vibrations into electric energy through the use of piezoelectric devices is an exciting and rapidly developing area of research with a widening range of applications constantly materialising. With Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting, world-leading researchers provide a timely and comprehensive coverage of the electromechanical modelling and applications of piezoelectric energy harvesters. They present principal modelling approaches, synthesizing fundamental material related to mechanical, aerospace, civil, electrical and materials engineering disciplines for vibration-based energy harvesting using piezoelectric transduction. Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting provides the first comprehensive treatment of distributed-parameter electromechanical modelling for piezoelectric energy harvesting with extensive case studies including experimental validations, and is the first book to address modelling of various forms of excitation in piezoelectric energy harvesting, ranging from airflow excitation to moving loads, thus ensuring its relevance to engineers in fields as disparate as aerospace engineering and civil engineering. Coverage includes: Analytical and approximate analytical distributed-parameter electromechanical models with illustrative theoretical case studies as well as extensive experimental validations Several problems of piezoelectric energy harvesting ranging from simple harmonic excitation to random vibrations Details of introducing and modelling piezoelectric coupling for various problems Modelling and exploiting nonlinear dynamics for performance enhancement, supported with experimental verifications Applications ranging from moving load excitation of slender bridges to airflow excitation of aeroelastic sections A review of standard nonlinear energy harvesting circuits with modelling aspects.

The harvesting of energy from ambient energy sources to power electronic devices has been recognized as a promising solution to the issue of powering the ever-growing number of mobile devices around us.Key technologies in the rapidly growing field of energy harvesting focus on developing solutions to capture ambient energy surrounding the mobile devices and convert it into usable electrical energy for the purpose of recharging said devices. Achieving a sustainable network lifetime via battery-aware designs brings forth a new frontier for energy optimization techniques. These techniques had, in their early stages, resulted in the development of low-power hardware designs. Today, they have evolved into power-aware designs and even battery-aware designs.This book covers recent results in the field of rechargeable sensor networks, including technologies and protocol designs to enable harvesting energy from alternative energy sources such as vibrations, temperature variations, wind, solar, and biochemical energy and passive human power.

The use of energy it is argued started about two million years ago when humans started cooking their food using firewood. As humans developed new skills with increased activities, energy interaction and usage emerged. Energy was used not only for domestic functions but also for space applications. With industrialization, humans realized that energy was needed to move machines and do other things as well. In this quest, and without understanding the consequences of using fossil fuels extensively, many problems arose. Researchers in energy embarked on a journey to study different forms of energy. To understand different needs, researchers have tried to come up with ways in which small-scale energy harvesting can be adapted to different needs that do not require heavy-duty energy production.This book attempts to present a number of ideas regarding a few selected small-scale energy harvesting methods and techniques as well as theories and products that may be helpful in improving the quality of life. Some of the new products are still in the prototype stage, while others are already being utilized. Many researchers in small-scale energy harvesting and those aspiring to follow this path of research will find this book not only motivating but also a useful guide in their endeavors.