A high density piezoelectric energy harvesting device from highway traffic — System design and road test

Abstract Massive dissipated kinetic energy of roadway traffic is a sustainable energy source that can be harvested via piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric energy harvesting technology provides a robust and reliable solution of roadway power generation. However, it remains challenging to achieve high energy density in order for the harvested energy to be of utility value. Here, we demonstrate an innovative roadway piezoelectric energy harvesting system, which reaches an energy density as high as 15.37 J/(m.pass.lane) based on the open-circuit voltage measurements in road tests. The high energy density is achieved by incorporating a compression-to-compression force amplification mechanism as well as an optimized system configuration to take full advantage of dynamic load from vehicles. To the best of our knowledge, the prototype system has achieved the highest energy density reported in the literature, and holds the great potential to be part of the smart highway.