An Energy Harvesting System with Reconfigurable Piezoelectric Energy Harvester Array for IoT Applications

This work presents the novel integration of a reconfigurable piezoelectric energy harvester array (RPA) with a parallel synchronized switch harvesting on inductor (P-SSHI) rectifier. The proposed design realizes maximum power point tracking (MPPT) by adjusting RPA with changes in vibration amplitude. Compared with the traditional interface systems based on monolithic piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH), this design can operate in a wider range of input voltage, removing the need for a DC-DC converter, essential in the traditional design. This adaptability eliminates the need for extra-passive components and reduces switching loss. RPA can be also configured in series to reduce the inherent capacitance of PEHs, effectively improving the extraction efficiency of P-SSHI rectifier. Simulations of this system show that the efficiency of the RPA/P-SSHI combined system can be kept above 66% within an input voltage range from 0.03V to 4.39V.