Cost effectiveness of piezo electric energy harvesting

The need of the hour is for cleaner power generation methods better known as renewable resources that include electricity from solar panels, wind or materials that have the properties to generate the same. This brings us to piezoelectric materials, which have the property to generate electricity once mechanical stress has been applied on them. In this paper, we have attempted to prove this fact by the usage of available literature on these materials and extensive calculations to project the probable vibrational energy harvesting. Benders made of PZT (lead zirconate titanate) attached to a tire have also been used but only to supply energy to pressure sensors in a tire that function sporadically. Here, to obtain energy from this process and use it with batteries for vehicles, it is crucial to cover as much of a tire's inner surface area as possible with PZT benders. The output power that is generated from the stress applied on the material is thus sufficient to contribute to motion of the vehicle because of its high-power generation. Until now, piezo-electric sensors have only been used to generate voltages or harvest power on a small scale in limited environments but now it can be utilized for driving a vehicle's energy needs or advanced applications alongside a conventional source of power. The energy generated here is very less and hence, may be used in the modern environment like baffle gates.