Performance analysis of maximum power transfer in piezoelectric energy harvesting

Using piezoelectric materials to harvest energy from ambient vibrations to low power required systems such as wireless and sensor for purpose of non-battery utilization, which leads to reduce production of global warming gases, has become increasingly interested. Due to rather low power output of the piezoelectric transducer and relatively high cost per watt of piezoelectric materials, simulation and performance analysis to find maximum power point of the variation of its parameters are considered. This paper presents the modeling of Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) employed in low frequency application using mechanical force and simulated in Capture OrCAD environment. The parametric studies are also carried out in order to identify the point that provides the highest performance allowing making decision for choosing proper piezoelectric material characteristics to match to specific tasks.