Wave Energy Converter Using a Compressed Type of Flexible Piezoelectric Device

In our previous works, we have developed a way of harvesting electrical energy from ocean power, e.g. tide, current, breaking wave and vortex, using a Flexible Piezoelectric Device (FPED) consisting of a piezoelectric material and an elastic material such as rubber, silicon and resin. The FPED can be easily deformed by a bending moment caused by wave force and it can generates electric power. In this study, a new type of wave energy converter has been developed using a compressed type improving FPED. In vibration test and wave energy experiment, we verified that the compressed type of FPED can generate electric power from wave force acting on a breakwater and the electric power can be also increased by wave breaking phenomena.