Piezoelectric energy generating surfaces

December 17, 1:02 PMProgressive Politics ExaminerJay McDonough

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Piezoelectric crystal material's energy producing characteristics have been known for about 150 years.  Certain materials, notably crystalline substrates, will generate an electric potential when the material is stressed.  These crystalline substates have been used over the years in applications from high voltage generation to sound generation to electronic frequency generation.

Now, given the push to identify new and clean energy sources, piezoelectric crystals are being considered for some unique applications:

When the East Japan Railway Company (JR East) decided to invest in alternative energy sources, it only had to look to its users for the perfect source of energy. Recently the company decided to update their Tokyo Station with a revolutionary new piezoelectric energy generating floor. The system will harvest the kinetic energy generated by crowds to power ticket gates and display systems!

Piezoelectric flooring is a technology with a wide range of applications that is slowly being adopted in the race to develop alternative energy sources. After all, human power is readily available in pretty much any area with heavy foot traffic, such as a dancefloor, or a tourist attractions.

JR East has been trialing these systems for the past year. They have recently improved and expanded the system by changing the floor covering from rubber to stone tiles, and have improved the layout of the mechanisms to improve energy generation. The total amount of floor-space will add up to around 25 square meters, and they expect to obtain over 1,400kw per day - more than enough to power their systems. (Link)

And another very interesting application:

Engineers at Innowattech in Israel recently created a new type of road that generates electricity as vehicles pass over it! The supercharged surface is embedded with piezoelectric crystals, which transform kinetic energy from passing vehicles into an electrical current. With widespread adoption, the technology could feed energy back into the nation’s burgeoning electric vehicle grid, transforming congested roadways into a clean green source of energy.

The energy-generating roadway works thanks to piezoelectric crystals embeded in the asphalt. As vehicles pass over them, the vibrations generate a small amount of electricity that travels to a larger transformer which then distributes the energy. The generators can be as thin as a few centimeters or can cover large expansive surfaces, and can be easily adapted for a variety of different transit systems including roadways, railways and even airplane runways.  (Link)

One might suspect the cost of embedding millions of piezoelectric crystals into million of miles of roadways is prohibitive.  But it does allow one to imagine how power might be generated by taking advantage, for example, of the wind generated by passing automobiles or using roadways as giant solar power generators.

Cool stuff, indeed.