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Generating Power
by Unusual Means
By Dr David Maddison, VK3DSM
The Landesbergen biomass power plant in Germany; it generates
power by burning scrap wood. Image source: Statkraft – www.
flickr.com/photos/statkraft/49866093642 (CC-BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Energy is all around us in one form or another, but often in small
amounts. Energy harvesting, otherwise known as power harvesting or
energy scavenging, is the process of obtaining small amounts of energy
from the environment to supply low-power devices.
W
ith a few exceptions, the amounts
of power available from energy
harvesting are small, and the expense
required to obtain that power makes
these methods not competitive with
grid power, where it is available. However, these tiny amounts of energy
can be very useful for powering small
devices away from the grid; modern
efficient electronics can often run on
minimal amounts of power.
This article will cover methods
of power generation other than the
ones most people are familiar with,
like coal and gas generators, nuclear
power plants, hydroelectric plants,
solar, wind and wave power or burning biomass or waste.
With these alternative power-
generating methods, the power available is often on the order of nanowatts
to milliwatts. In some cases, it may
16
Silicon Chip
be possible to generate several watts
(or more).
The main applications for energy-
harvesting devices include powering
IoT devices such as remote sensors,
‘wearable electronics’, powering biomedical devices (like pacemakers) or
charging portable devices like mobile
phones.
Energy harvesting principles
The basic principles and technologies that energy harvesting devices
utilise include the following. We will
describe their uses when we look at
particular implementations.
• Using chemistry, such as in an
electrochemical cell.
• Using biochemistry, including the
generation of electricity using bacteria or plants.
• Using biomechanical principles,
Australia's electronics magazine
such as utilising bodily movement.
• Using an electret, a dielectric
material that maintains electric polarisation after it has been subject to
a strong electric field. It is the electrostatic equivalent of a permanent
magnet.
• Using electric field gradients,
such as causing a fluorescent tube to
glow near a power line.
• Using electromagnetic induction
to generate electricity by Faraday’s
Law, the “production of an electromotive force (EMF) across an electrical conductor in a changing magnetic
field”.
• Capturing electromagnetic radiation from radio waves via an antenna
or from light, such as in a solar cell via
the photoelectric effect.
• Using electrostatic power generation to produce high voltages at very
siliconchip.com.au
low currents. This frequently involves
materials rubbing against each other
(via the triboelectric effect).
• Using metamaterials, artificial
materials with repeating structures
that can interact with and manipulate electromagnetic waves in various ways.
• Converting motion to electricity
using electromagnetic, electrostatic or
piezoelectric effects.
• Using changes in air pressure to
expand or contract bellows.
• Using a temperature gradient,
such as with a thermoelectric device.
• Using the movement of air, like
in a wind turbine.
• Using the movement of water, ie,
hydroelectricity.
Below we will cover what energy-
harvesting devices and techniques that
we have found:
Fig.1: the first self-winding
mechanical watch that harvested
energy from the motion of the wearer’s
arm. Source: Fratello Watches –
siliconchip.au/link/abxy
Watches
Since watches are small, low-
powered devices, there has been much
interest in energy harvesting to power
them.
Self-winding automatic mechanical watches were common before the
advent of electronic quartz watches.
They had a pendulum activated by
swinging one’s arm that wound the
mainspring. The first credible report
of a self-winding pocket watch dates
to 1777.
In 1922, the first self-winding wristwatch was invented by John Harwood, and he was awarded Swiss
patent 106583 in 1924. The watch
was released to the market in 1928 –
see Fig.1.
The first solar-powered clock was
demonstrated by Patek Philippe at
the Basel Fair in 1952! Four hours of
light per day was enough to keep the
clock running indefinitely. The solar
cell drove a motor that wound the
mainspring. Patek Philippe went on
to make a range of solar clocks; see
siliconchip.au/link/abxm
The solar-powered watch was first
patented by Timex in 1969, but the first
solar watch, the Synchronar 2100, was
invented by American Roger Riehl. He
partnered with Palo Alto, California
based electronics company Ness Time
for the project.
The watch (Fig.2) was shown at the
RJA Fall trade fair in July 1973 and
remained in production until 1983;
you can see a TV ad for it at https://
youtu.be/mIwxNkGKXb4
siliconchip.com.au
Fig.2: the Synchronar Sunwatch
was the world’s first solar-powered
watch, released in 1972. Source:
https://solarmuseum.org/cells/
synchronar-2100/
In many modern solar watches, the
dial is translucent and the solar cell(s)
are hidden beneath it.
Seiko pioneered the so-called automatic quartz watch concept that used
a rotating pendulum inside the watch.
Instead of winding a spring, it drove
a highly-geared miniature generator at
up to 100,000 RPM to charge a capacitor or rechargeable battery. Seiko
unveiled the technology in 1986 and
today sells them under the Kinetic
brand.
Seiko still maintains a web page for
these watches (siliconchip.au/link/
abxn) but we have seen statements
that they are being phased out (see
siliconchip.au/link/abxo). About eight
million have been sold to date. The
generator mechanism of the Kinetic
watch has been experimentally used
to power a cardiac pacemaker in an
animal (more on that later).
The PowerWatch uses a Matrix
thermoelectric device to power it,
in addition to solar energy (www.
powerwatch.com). A review of the
Australia's electronics magazine
Fig.3: the Atmos clock mechanism:
1. Expansion chamber
2. Brass cover
3. Balance spring (counterweight)
4. Small chain
5. Mainspring
6. Pulley
7. Return spring
8. Balance wheel
9. Elinvar wire
10. Escapement
11. Winding spring
Original source: Watch Collecting
Lifestyle – siliconchip.au/link/abxs
PowerWatch Series 2 is at siliconchip.
au/link/abxp
Atmospheric & solar clocks
The Atmos is a very expensive clock
currently available from Jaeger-LeCoultre that obtains its energy from
environmental temperature and pressure changes. Expansion and contraction of liquid and gaseous ethyl chloride in a bellows as the temperature or
pressure rises and falls cause a spring
to be wound to power the mechanism
– see Fig.3.
The Beverly Clock in New Zealand (https://w.wiki/AUgH) has been
running since 1864 without winding. However, it did stop a few times,
mainly when there was insufficient
change in atmospheric pressure or
temperature to keep the mechanism
wound.
The Long Now Clock (funded by
Jeff Bezos; https://longnow.org/clock),
being built in the USA, is designed to
run for 10,000 years. It uses sunlight
falling on a chamber of air to move
September 2024 17
Fig.4: harvesting
atmospheric electricity
to run an electrostatic
motor. This type is
called a corona motor.
Original source:
Rimstar – siliconchip.
au/link/abx7
Fig.5: conventional
(a) and auxetic
(b) piezoelectric
bimorphs for
energy harvesting.
Original source:
https://pubs.
aip.org/aip/adv/
article/7/1/015104/
240312/
a cylinder, which provides enough
winding force to keep the pendulum
going. It is also used to synchronise the
clock to solar noon. So, in a sense, it
is solar powered, although it does not
use a photovoltaic panel.
Atmospheric electricity
There is a substantial electric field
gradient in the atmosphere, so an electrostatic motor can be made to turn
by having one electrode high in the
air with the other at a lower level (see
Fig.4). The power is meagre; at most
a current of a few microamps can be
drawn.
For more on this, see the panel in
this article on Hermann Plauson (page
26), the video titled “How Powering
with Atmospheric Electricity Works”
at https://youtu.be/2rVdEhyMR6A
and the web page at siliconchip.au/
link/abx7
Piezoelectric energy
Piezoelectricity involves the production of electrical energy from
mechanical strain. Examples of
sources of strain include motion,
sound and vibration. The power generated is typically minimal, milliwatts
or less. Piezoelectric materials include
ceramics like quartz crystals and, more
recently, piezoelectric polymers like
polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) – see
Fig.6.
An example of a piezoelectric
energy harvester is shown in Fig.7.
Some piezoelectric substances are
also pyroelectric. These crystals are
naturally electrically polarised and
produce a voltage when heated or
cooled. This could be used for energy
harvesting over a day by taking advantage of the natural changes in ambient
temperature.
Auxetic materials are artificially-
structured metamaterials that expand
in width rather than contract when
stretched. Conversely, when subject
to compression, they reduce in width.
It has been proposed that auxetic
materials could increase the energy-
harvesting efficiency of piezoelectric
devices, as shown in Fig.5.
In that figure, (a) shows a conventional piezoelectric bimorph, which
can generate power mainly in the
stretching direction, while (b) represents a bimorph of auxetic construction.
This can generate power simultaneously in both the stretching and
transverse directions, resulting in an
expected power increase of 176%.
That is because it has increased
power output in the transverse direction, as it can generate more stress in
that direction, and the power output
is proportional to the applied stress.
Clothing has been proposed that
incorporates piezoelectric materials
to generate power for powering or
charging devices. Such fabric utilises
nanofibres and is said to be stretchable and breathable. See siliconchip.
au/link/abxe
Thermoelectricity
Thermoelectricity involves the production of an electric current due to
a thermal gradient between two dissimilar electrical conductors. A typical example of a device that utilises
this effect is a thermocouple, although
it produces tiny amounts of power at
very low voltages.
Peltier devices (Fig.8) also utilise
this effect but with many more thermoelectric junctions. When a current
is applied, it can move heat towards
or away from an object. Alternatively,
when a temperature differential is
applied, it can generate a voltage and
current, and thus be used for energy
harvesting.
Fig.6 (left): polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), a piezoelectric material, with deposited electrodes
from a commercial supplier. Source: www.he-shuai.com/pvdf-piezo-film
Fig.7 (right): a commercial piezoelectric energy harvester,
model S118-J1SS-1808YB (from https://piezo.com). It
can produce up to 0.7mW. Source: Piezo S118-J1SS1808YB – siliconchip.au/link/abxv
Australia's electronics magazine
siliconchip.com.au
Fig.8: a Peltier
device. It uses a
combination of
p-type and n-type
semiconductor
materials to create
thermoelectric
junctions. They
are connected
electrically
in series and
thermally in
parallel. Original
source: https://w.
wiki/AUjV
Electricity can be generated from a
campfire using thermoelectric principles. Fig.9 shows a Peltier device
attached to a heatsink that can generate power from a fire. The CampStove
2 from BioLite can produce up to 3W
to power or charge USB devices (see
siliconchip.au/link/abxa).
The MATRIX Prometheus Thermal Energy Harvesting Module produces power by exploiting small environmental temperature differences,
using the thermoelectric effect. The
most powerful Prometheus device,
the PRMT02-34465, produces up
to 14mA (www.matrixindustries.
com/0234465).
This technology is used to power the
MATRIX Perceptive Health Monitor,
their Proximity Sensor and the PowerWatch (www.powerwatch.com).
Stirling engines
A Stirling engine is a type of heat
engine that can function with very
small heat differences and thus can be
used for energy harvesting from lowgrade heat sources – see Fig.10.
The Stirling engine can be connected to a generator to produce electricity. Stirling engines have been proposed by NASA to produce power on
a future mission to Mars (see page 24
Fig.9: a DIY thermoelectric generator using an off-theshelf Peltier device, heatsink and other components.
Source: https://youtu.be/x9a2rB-xWkY
of the July 2024 issue; siliconchip.au/
Article/14916).
Energy from bacteria
Some exotic bacteria exchange electrons with the environment (‘extracellular electron transfer’ [EET]), so
theoretically, they could be used to
produce electricity. Mechanisms from
these exotic bacteria have been genetically engineered into common E. coli
bacteria. Such an approach could be
used to convert wastewater effluent
streams into electricity.
However, this is very early work
and practical applications are a long
way off. The work was published at
siliconchip.au/link/abxd
Also see the video titled “Scientist
engineered bacteria to generate electricity from wastewater” at https://
youtu.be/beI_qlsmNQ8
Power from plants
A common experiment for children
is (or used to be) to use a lemon, potato
or other fruit or vegetable to make a
basic electrochemical cell (see Fig.11).
Pieces of different metals, such as zinc
and copper, are used as electrodes,
while the juice of the fruit or vegetable
acts as the electrolyte. One such cell
might produce 0.9V at 1mA. Several
lemons can be connected in series to
power one LED.
A fun experiment was once performed to see if a 1000-lemon battery
could start a car. See the video titled
“Can a battery made from 1000 lemons start a car?” at https://youtu.be/
4f2wsQkQ71o
Light can be turned into electrical
energy via the photosynthesis mechanism using bio-photoelectrochemical
cells (BPECs). This early work is
described in the scientific publication
at siliconchip.au/link/abxl
Biomechanical energy from
the human body
Raziel Riemer and Amir Shapiro calculated the energy available from the
Fig.11: a drawing
of a three-lemoncell battery
lighting one LED.
Source: https://w.
wiki/AUjy
Fig.10: the
operating cycle of
a Stirling engine,
which can run
from relatively
low temperature
differentials and
could be used as
part of a generator.
Original source:
https://youtu.be/
hbfkbcdw_OM
siliconchip.com.au
Australia's electronics magazine
September 2024 19
Fig.13: an image from the
Author’s 1989 US Patent
4798206 for “Implanted
medical system including
a self-powered sensing
system” showing an
assembly of piezoelectric
PVDF polymer as the
sensing element (#14).
Fig.12: a biomechanical energy-harvester that mounts on the knee.
Original source: www.researchgate.net/publication/51078340
motion of an 80kg human body under
various circumstances (siliconchip.au/
link/abx9) and found the following
power available:
• heel strike: 2-20W
• ankle motion: 67W
• knee motion: 36W (see Fig.12)
• hip motion: 38W
• movement of centre of mass: 20W
• elbow motion: 2W
• shoulder motion: 2W
They point out that the typical
human body consumes the equivalent
of 800 AA cells (which would weigh
20kg) by burning just 200g of fat.
Cardiac pacemakers
A rough estimate for the energy consumption of an implantable cardiac
pacemaker is around 10-100µW. Over
5-10 years, that amounts to about 0.52Ah. The low power level makes it
an ideal target for energy harvesting.
That would mean, instead of the pacemaker having to be replaced when the
battery goes flat, it could be powered
indefinitely.
Fig.13 shows one of the Author’s
US Patents from 1989 for a pacemaker
“self-powered sensing system”. It
generates electrical signals from the
heart’s motion using a polyvinylidene
fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric film.
A Seiko Kinetic watch mechanism
was also demonstrated experimentally
to generate power for a pacemaker; see
siliconchip.au/link/abxt
Another option for powering a
pacemaker is an ‘inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator’ (I-TENG), as
described at siliconchip.au/link/abxb
Triboelectricity
The triboelectric effect is electric
charge transfer due to two objects rubbing together. For example, a shoe rubbing on a carpet can result in a static
electricity shock to the wearer when
they touch a grounded object.
A ‘drinking bird’ toy can be turned
into a ‘triboelectric hydrovoltaic generator’ using two effects. A temperature differential powers the bird,
while triboelectricity is used to generate power.
Experiments demonstrated such a
generator powering items like liquid
crystal displays, temperature sensors
and calculators. For further details,
see siliconchip.au/link/abxc
A triboelectric nanogenerator
(TENG) is an energy-harvesting device
that generates an electric charge using
the triboelectric effect involving a periodic contact or sliding motion – see
Fig.16. Low currents are produced at
high voltages.
Electret power generators
Fig.16: four modes of triboelectric generators. Original source: www.
researchgate.net/publication/322251641
20
Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
An electret is the electrostatic equivalent of a permanent magnet, and a
moving electret can be used to produce power similarly to a magnet.
You would probably be familiar with
electrets in electret microphones; they
serve to bias on the FET within the
microphone capsule in the absence of
an external voltage source.
An electret-based power generator has been demonstrated using
siliconchip.com.au
► Fig.14: an energy-harvesting prototype that
converts vibration into electricity using
MEMS technology and the electret principle.
Original source: www.mesl.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
en/research/electret.html
Fig.15: the circuit of the simplest possible crystal
radio using a diode, long wire antenna and highimpedance headphones. Lacking a tuned circuit,
it will receive all stations at once, but in practice,
the strongest station will probably drown out the
rest. Original source: https://w.wiki/AUjt
microelectromechanical (MEMS) principles as described at siliconchip.au/
link/abxi (see Fig.14). The prototype
produced 6µW from an acceleration
of 13.73m/s2 at 40Hz
Power from radio waves
Crystal radios were made by children back in the day and could obtain
useful radio reception without a battery. They were powered by harvesting the energy of the radio wave itself
– see Fig.15.
RF energy can also be harvested
for other purposes using a tuned
antenna and a rectifier that works
at the desired frequency. They must
be close to a source of RF, such as a
WiFi router. Commercial modules to
harvest RF energy include the Powercast P2110B, which converts RF to
DC. It is optimised to absorb energy in
the 850-950MHz range and can provide a regulated output of up to 5.5V
– see Fig.17.
Some YouTube videos demonstrate
harvesting small amounts of power
from commercial radio stations. The
author of the following video manages
to light ten LEDs, although he is only
1.6km from the radio station: “Free
Energy From Radio Waves (https://
youtu.be/_pm2tLN6KOQ). Fig.18
shows another RF-energy-harvesting
circuit.
Peter Parker VK3YE looks at
whether you can harvest enough
power to drive a speaker with a crystal
set next to a commercial radio station
transmitter in the video titled “Crystal
siliconchip.com.au
set under a 100kW radio station: How
does it sound?” at https://youtu.be/
xglEsaNkPSA
cell) is made by inserting two dissimilar metal electrodes in the ground.
Zinc and copper are two metals that
can be used as electrodes. The soil
Würth Elektronik’s energy
must be moist for the cell to work.
harvesting evaluation kit
Multiple cells can be connected to
Würth Elektronik (www.we-online. make a battery.
com/en) offers an energy-harvesting
It is not “free” energy because, as
evaluation kit with several energy- with any cell, one or both of the elecharvesting options – see siliconchip. trodes will eventually be consumed
au/link/abxq
or deteriorate. Also, the ions in the
soil will eventually be depleted,
Earth batteries
and a new location will have to be
An Earth battery (or, more correctly, selected.
Fig.17: a P2110B
energy harvester
module on a
Powercast
evaluation
board. The
module needs a
suitable antenna
and capacitor
to operate.
Source: All
About Circuits
– siliconchip.au/
link/abxw
Fig.18: an energyharvesting circuit
for ambient radio
waves, although the
amount of energy
collected is tiny.
Original source:
https://youtu.be/
XpLCK88nVgU
Australia's electronics magazine
September 2024 21
The first Earth battery was invented
by Alexander Bain in 1841; he used
zinc and copper electrodes.
From an electrochemical point
of view, there is nothing unusual
about an Earth battery, apart from the
medium being the ground rather than
a more conventional container such as
a battery case.
Power harnessed from Earth batteries should not be confused with telluric currents. Still, telluric currents
might contribute to the overall EMF
of the cell if the electrodes are sufficiently far apart.
Telluric currents
Telluric currents are electrical currents within the Earth or sea induced
by magnetic disturbances from various sources, both natural and artificial. That includes space weather,
such as the solar wind, sunspots and
their interaction with the ionosphere.
They can be a problem for underground and undersea cables and buried pipelines. As they can be influenced by the sun, they vary during the
daily solar cycle.
In the 1800s, problems in telegraph operation were recognised to
be related to telluric currents due to
sunspots. In 1903, W. Finn reported
in Scientific American that an EMF
of 768V with a current up to 300mA
was recorded over hundreds of miles/
kilometres of telegraph lines in 1891.
Telluric currents can be utilised in
mineral exploration, to help locate
areas of changes in the electrical conductivity of rocks that may indicate
mineral deposits.
Gravity batteries
A gravity battery is a type of electromechanical battery where a mass
is raised and then lowered by gravity
to generate electricity. It can be used
as a type of energy storage, powering
a motor to raise the mass when power
is cheap (excess is available) and then
lowering it to generate power when
it is more expensive (when demand
is higher).
We discussed some of these ideas
in our article on Grid-scale Energy
Storage (April 2020; siliconchip.au/
Article/13801).
A gravity-powered light called the
GravityLight was developed for use in
less developed countries (see Fig.19).
It is ‘charged’ by raising a 10kg mass
by 1m and provides light for five minutes by delivering 20mA continuously.
Unfortunately, the project was not a
success.
Hydroelectricity for camping
A portable hydroelectric generator was produced for bushwalkers or
campers (Fig.20). You have to anticipate being in an area with reasonably
fast-running water. That is not always
possible in the Australian bush but
is more realistic in parts of the USA,
Europe or New Zealand. The device
is a bit heavy for many bushwalkers,
at 1.5kg, and appears to be no longer
available.
Electromagnetic fields around
power lines
It used to be a classic demonstration to hold a fluorescent tube under a
high-voltage power line. An electrical
Fig.23: the electric field around highvoltage power lines. The red region is
a reading of >15kV/m. Source: Quora
– siliconchip.com/au/link/abxu
current is induced due to capacitive
coupling, causing the gases in the tube
to fluoresce (see Fig.21). The electric
field around a high-voltage power line
is shown in Fig.23.
There must be a sufficient voltage
differential between both ends of the
tube for it to light. There is a sufficient
electrical field gradient to cause the
tube to glow if held vertically but not
horizontally.
There are many anecdotal accounts
(but few documented cases) from the
USA of farmers and others building
large coils or fences beneath power
lines running across their properties
to harvest power via electromagnetic
induction. It is theoretically possible,
but power theft is still illegal even
when done ‘over the air’.
Very large structures would be
required to obtain useful amounts of
power (to do more than, say, power
some LEDs). With the cost of copper
these days, the cost of the wire would
exceed any worthwhile savings in
electricity, despite the high cost of
power. It would be cheaper to buy
some solar panels and batteries.
Fig.19: the GravityLight
provides 20mA to a small
lamp for five minutes by
slowly lowering a 10kg
weight.
Fig.20: the “WaterLily Turbine”, a
portable hydroelectric generator for
charging USB or 12V devices in a
running stream.
22
Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
siliconchip.com.au
Fig.24: Alfred Traeger demonstrating
the pedal-powered radio he invented
in 1928. Source: https://w.wiki/AUk2
There is an interesting video that
explains how to use a coil and capacitor to make a resonant LC circuit to
harvest enough power to light an LED
from various sources. It is titled “Stealing Electricity (the safe way)” and is at
https://youtu.be/CLS8pbDNHbk
Also see the video titled “Fences
sucking power from under HV transmission lines” at https://youtu.be/
lDm00Ww6qE4
Human-powered generators
While pedal-powered generators
are less common today due to the low
power consumption of LED lights and
the advent of lithium-ion batteries, they
used to be a common way to power
bicycle headlights. They draw power
from the rider’s pedalling (see Fig.22).
They could be either wheel-mounted
(‘bottle dynamos’) or hub-mounted.
They can generate about 3W at 6V
Fig.25: the Author’s collection of hand-cranked devices. The red hand-cranked
torch is from the former Soviet Union and has an incandescent bulb, while the
blue one is a modern Chinese torch with LEDs and a reserve battery. The item at
upper right is a magneto from an old telephone.
(500mA), with some delivering 6W at
12V (also 500mA). Modern hub dynamos such as those from SON can also
be used to recharge batteries or mobile
devices.
In earlier times, electricity was
not readily available in the Outback,
so Alfred Traeger invented a pedal-
powered radio that was used for the
School of the Air and for calling the
Royal Flying Doctor Service (see
Fig.24). The pedal generator produced
around 200V at 100mA (20W). Transceivers from the Traeger Transceivers
company were sold to Nigeria in 1962
and Canada in 1970. For further information about Traeger Transceivers
visit siliconchip.au/link/abxf
A human on a stationary bicycle can
drive a higher-power generator, such
as to charge a laptop. Instructions to
do this are at siliconchip.au/link/abx8
There is a large variety of hand-
Electric shoes
Experimental shoes have been
designed to harvest energy for a variety of possible purposes; one example
Fig.22: a modern bicycle
hub dynamo by SON (https://
nabendynamo.de/en/): Source:
https://w.wiki/AUjW
Fig.21: a fluorescent tube glowing
under a high-voltage power line due
to capacitive coupling of the electric
field.
siliconchip.com.au
cranked devices that generate electricity for lighting or other purposes, such
as those shown in Fig.25.
Many early telephones had a hand
crank magneto that generated 50-100V
AC to ring a bell at the called party’s
end, or alert an operator. While current
for talking was supplied by batteries,
they did not have sufficient power to
ring the bell.
Dynamite plungers were similar,
although they are now obsolete. They
comprised a T-handle attached to a
linear rack gear that engaged with a
circular gear connected to a generator.
When the handle was pressed down,
they generated a brief electrical current to trigger a detonator.
Australia's electronics magazine
September 2024 23
is shown in Fig.26. That energy-
harvesting combat boot produces elecGPS Transmitter
trical power via compression of bulbs
in the sole of the boot, which drive
Power Management
Module
microturbines to produce electricity
to power a GPS tracker.
Turbine Enclosure
Children’s shoes that light up genAir Bulbs (3x)
erally have batteries and are not
self-powered, as explained in the
video titled “How Light Up Shoes
Work – See What’s Inside Sketchers
Kids Litebeams” at https://youtu.be/
IIlpRgVBDYo
On the other hand, kids’ scooter Fig.26: an energy-harvesting combat
wheels that light up do use a small boot that powers a GPS tracker.
Source: www.researchgate.net/
generator built into the hub.
Power from trains coming
down mountains
On page 79 of the April 1988 issue,
we described how regenerative braking by heavy ore- and coal-laden
trains descending the Blue Mountains in Sydney (from mines in places
like Lithgow) generated a significant
amount of power, which was used to
power passenger and empty freight
trains ascending into the mountains
at the same time.
If ore or other heavy material is
mined from mountains and carried
down to sea level by trains, which then
ascend empty, you effectively have a
publication/325211019
generator powered by the potential
energy of that ore (see Fig.31).
Fortescue is developing an iron
ore freight train in Australia that will
charge batteries as it coasts down hills,
to provide power for the return journey uphill to get more ore.
Power from roads
Energy-harvesting experiments
have been performed for roadways.
Methodologies that have been tried,
shown in Fig.27, include:
• Harvesting thermal differentials
in between pavement and lower levels underground.
• Devices exploiting Faraday’s Law
of Induction to harvest mechanical
energy (a magnetic field will interact
with an electric circuit to produce an
electromotive force).
• Piezoelectric devices to harvest
mechanical energy.
• Solar panels embedded in, around
and above roadways.
Electrodynamic tethers
An electrodynamic tether is a long
wire deployed from an Earth-orbiting
spacecraft – see Fig.28. As it passes
through the Earth’s magnetic field, a
current flow develops, according to
Faraday’s Law of Induction. It can be
used as a power source, but it results
in some drag on the spacecraft.
In 1996, NASA deployed a long
tether from the Space Shuttle Columbia, which generated a potential of
3500V. The tether was intended to be
20.7km long but an electric arc caused
the tether to break after 19.7km had
been spooled out.
It works as follows – ionospheric
electrons are collected from the
positively-
biased anode at the end
of the uninsulated tether. They flow
through the electrical load, then to
the negatively-biased cathode, where
they are discharged into the space
Fig.27: some concepts of energy harvesting from vehicles travelling on roads.
Original source: www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/7/3016
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Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
siliconchip.com.au
plasma and complete the circuit.
Electrostatic generation from
lunar soil
NASA has proposed harvesting
the electrostatic charge from lunar
soil. The charge builds up over long
periods due to the solar wind. They
propose to collect the charge using a
moving capacitor array that’s ‘raked’
through the lunar soil (see siliconchip.
au/link/abxj).
NASA estimates that a 1/3m2 collecting array could produce a maximum
theoretical power of 147W (700V <at>
0.21A) – see Figs.29 & 30.
Tiny solar cells
Inexpensive, tiny solar cells can be
used to power IoT or sensor devices,
with energy stored in a small battery or cell. Even photodiodes can be
pressed into service to generate power;
see Fig.32.
People in the developed world
might not appreciate it, but for people living in less developed countries, night-time lighting is not always
available and it is highly beneficial
if they can get it. Certain charities,
such as SolarAid (https://solar-aid.
org), produce solar lights for people in
these countries, and donors can also
Fig.31: the ARES rail car, which climbs a hill using electricity during off-peak
hours, then is released downhill during peak hours to produce energy via
regenerative braking. Source: ARES North America – aresnorthamerica.com
buy them for their own use.
Many small solar panels are available for bushwalkers and campers to
recharge devices. Some can be affixed
to backpacks, while others are set
up when camped. However, panels
that are small and light enough to be
affixed to a backpack provide only
small amounts of power. I find that
you typically get to a campsite well
after peak sun. In my experience, it is
better to carry batteries.
Micro hydroelectric schemes
New Zealand YouTuber Marty T
made a ‘microhydro’ installation on
his wilderness property using the
motor from a scrap Fisher & Paykel
Fig.29: the circuit of a theoretical capacitive charge collector with a
differential drain to harvest electrostatic charge from the negatively
charged lunar soil (regolith). Original source: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/
citations/20100032922/downloads/20100032922.pdf
Fig.30: a proposed charge
collector with an array
of electron capture blades
that can be raked through
lunar soil to harvest electrostatic
charge. Original source: https://ntrs.
nasa.gov/api/citations/20100032922/
downloads/20100032922.pdf
Fig.28: an electrodynamic tether
deployed from a spacecraft.
Original source: https://w.wiki/AUjv
siliconchip.com.au
Australia's electronics magazine
September 2024 25
Fig.32: a BPW34 PiN photodiode can be used
as a solar cell, producing up to 47µA at
350mV. The coin diameter is 24.26mm.
Source: Core Electronics PRT-09541
– siliconchip.au/link/abxz
Fig.33 (below): a wind turbine that
can be used at a campsite. Source:
Tex Energy – siliconchip.au/link/abxx
Energy harvesting is not new
In 1925, Estonian inventor Hermann Plauson obtained US Patent 1540998 for “Conversion
of atmospheric electric energy”. He proposed harvesting atmospheric electricity with a
network of balloons. H. Gernsback earlier described this idea in “Science and Invention”,
February 1922 (siliconchip.au/link/abxg).
It is unlikely this would have been practical. However, it was claimed in the description
that a single balloon at 274m altitude could provide 400V at 1.8A, which certainly would
be useful if attained! We suspect that it was under unusual atmospheric conditions and
could not be achieved regularly.
SmartDrive washing machine (similar
to how we used one as a generator on
a wind turbine in the December 2004
to March 2005 issues; siliconchip.au/
Series/84).
The motor has to be rewired to
reduce the voltage and increase the
current, to make it more suitable for
charging a battery bank. Details of
motor rewiring are at siliconchip.au/
link/abxk (or refer to our articles), but
many other resources explain how to
do it. Also see this series of videos:
1. https://youtu.be/LVoeaKCEd2o
2. https://youtu.be/lbuvTSWh50U
3. https://youtu.be/8SWq5Pskpug
A US YouTuber decided to see if
he could make a hydroelectric system
powered by rainwater collected on a
roof. He calculated that 2W could be
generated from rain falling on a house
roof and going down the downpipes,
but on his first attempt, he only got
0.19W. On his second attempt, he generated over 0.61W and, on the third
attempt, over 0.91W. Of course, it has
to be raining for this to work.
In Australia, such a system might
work best in the tropics, such as Far
North Queensland.
See the videos for more details:
1. https://youtu.be/S6oNxckjEiE
2. https://youtu.be/YLb4enCgnP4
3. https://youtu.be/vify0k2sHlQ
Portable wind generators
A wind generator can be used for
bushwalking, provided it is anticipated there will be reasonable wind
at the campsite. A model such as the
Infinite Air 5T can produce up to 5V
at 2A and weighs 1.65kg (Fig.33 shows
the larger 3.2kg Infinite Air 18 model).
As with the portable hydroelectric generator, we feel the weight is too high
for most potential use cases.
MEPAP
The energy harvesting idea of Hermann Plauson.
Source: www.reddit.com/r/Air_Fountain/comments/1cc3dx6/
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Silicon Chip
Australia's electronics magazine
The MEPAP (“Multipurpose and
source Electricity Generator with Air
Purifier”) is something Heath Robinson or Rube Goldberg might have
dreamt up. It harvests electricity using
vibration (piezoelectric materials),
electromagnetic radiation (metamaterials), electromagnetic induction
(inductive coupling), wind energy
(mini turbine with dynamo) and thermoelectric energy, all to operate an air
purifier device.
It is described at siliconchip.au/
link/abxh, but we don’t know how
well it works.
SC
siliconchip.com.au
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