Parametric study of pyroelectric based thermal energy harvester (PYEH)

Abstract

Piezoelectric materials can be categorized into either pyroelectric or non-pyroelectric materials. PZT-5A is one of the piezoelectric materials that also functions as a pyroelectric material. In the piezoelectric materials, electrical energy is generated by the coupling of mechanical and electrical energy when stress is applied onto it. However, for pyroelectrics, temperature changes are the mechanism used to generate energy in the energy harvester. Unlike devices that utilize the thermo-electric principle, pyroelectric works based on temporal temperature gradients that lead to power generation. This paper investigates the capability of an optimized vibration based piezoelectric energy harvester to harvest thermal energy using its pyroelectricity effect. With the temperature varies within the range of 293.15 to 323.15 K, the pyroelectric energy harvester (PYEH) capable to generate 0.42581 mJ energy with the wind blows at the speed of 30.48 m/s.