Half-day Insight Forum 4
Energy Harvesting: Technologies, Markets
Currently Unavailable Honored VIP speakerDr Yuji Suzuki
The University of Tokyo
Recent Progress in MEMS
Electret Generator
for Energy Harvesting.
Prof. Yuji Suzuki received Dr. Eng. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, in 1993. After spending one year at the Nagoya Institute of Technology, Nagoya, Japan, as an Assistant Professor, he joined the Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. He is currently with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tokyo, as a Professor. He serves as an Editorial Board Member of JMM, and Chair of JSME Micro-Nano Science & Technology Division. His research interests include MEMS-based energy harvesting, micro energy conversion such as microscale combustion, and optimal design/control of micro heat and fluid flow.
Energy Harvesting (EH) is the creation of electricity off-grid where it is needed. EH uses ambient energy such as light, infrared, movement, temperature change, temperature difference and friction. By 2025 the market for the EH transducers and power conditioning will be over $12 billion and growing very rapidly.
This session reflects the fact that EH is now one subject from microwatts to megawatts because the same technologies, suppliers and users are increasingly involved. For example, Witt Energy expect to electrodynamically gather energy from milliwatts to a megawatt by capturing both linear and rotational energy in 3D. Magnetostrictive previously used at microwatts is now being trialled for hundreds of kilowatts of wave energy. New forms of photovoltaics span all power levels. Thermoelectrics, traditionally very low power, is now trialled at 1.5 kW output in giant construction vehicles. Will 1kW be generated from heat of conventional engines and range extenders in cars as some believe?
In this session we first cover the biggest market - that for high power energy harvesting (HPEH) at 10W to 100 kW or more. That is newly achieved by "Airborne Wind Energy AWE" involving tethered aircraft, helium-filled turbines in the air and kite power. HPEH is seen in solar wings on planes aloft for years and photovoltaics on boats that go around the world on sunshine alone. It is achieved by the planned energy harvesting shock absorbers powering active suspension in vehicles and by planned reversing alternators with torque assist in conventional cars. There are already high-speed low-weight flywheels generating electricity from vehicles slowing down and much more. There are even solar, piezoelectric and electrodynamic road and other surfaces coming along.
Learn why Google, Facebook, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Airbus, Komatsu, Caterpillar, Toyota, Ricoh and other famous names are heavily involved, often with several technologies. We cover multi-mode energy harvesting coming in. It started with the small wind turbine for bad weather coupled to photovoltaics PV for good weather on boats and road signs. More sophisticated versions are on the way, particularly in electric land, air and water vehicles. "Structural electronics" will see load-bearing structures acting as energy harvesting and storage in buildings ("Building Integrated Photovoltaics BIPV") and in vehicles. This reduces weight and cost of ownership and increases reliability.
The second part of this session concerns low-power energy harvesting such as provision of milliwatts for sensors and their telematics. Here there are many new formats for such applications including transparent, stretchable, flexible versions, weavable e-fiber and large-area printed versions. Consider the newly announced EH from stretching of special elastic tape and cloth. It involves two types of piezoelectric and one type of capacitive harvesting. The three options are being developed by different research teams seeking milliwatts rather than the current microwatts.
EH issues are clarified such as the quest for replacing lead, bismuth, cadmium and other toxins in photovoltaics, piezoelectrics and thermoelectrics and avoiding potentially expensive rare earth magnets in electrodynamics. The burgeoning variety of electrodynamic options is explained and the segments of the market are forecasted to 2025. The competition between primary and rechargeable batteries and EH is explored. We examine why EH is not a widely popular answer in the short time for charging of mobile phones and wearable electronics and contactless charging from AC mains is currently more attractive.
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29 September | AfternoonRoom: Next 1, UDX Gallery
IDTechEx Japanese Analysts Yasuo Yamamoto and Mayumi Kozakai,
will be available at this Insight Forum for further discussion.
Agenda
13:30 - 14:00
Registration
14:00 - 14:15
Introduction to Energy Harvesting (EH)
Compiled by Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx.
Definition and primary features including off-grid, zero emission at point of use, scope and uses. Brief summary of types of ambient energy harvested - types of electromagnetic radiation including light, types of movement, types of heat, friction etc. History of EH uses. How it is sometimes kept but sometimes abandoned. Unsolved problems that are opportunities.
14:15 - 15:00
Energy Harvesting Technologies and Systems
Compiled by Dr Harry Zervos, Principal Analyst, IDTechEx and Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx.
»The system - transducer >power conditioning >power storage
»EH tolerant low power electronics and electrics. The transducer repertoire: photovoltaic, electrodynamic, electromagnetic (radio frequency, IR, light, UV), thermoelectric, piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, triboelectric, pyroelectric, capacitive (electrostatic) other.
»Benefits, problems, uses including reducing need for energy storage and potential uses such as self-powered ships.
»The most important commercially are identified for now and 2025.
»Why piezoelectric low and high power EH is often replaced by electrodynamic EH and never the other way round.
»Market forecasts to 2020 by primary technology.
15:00-15:25
Recent Progress in MEMS Electret Generator
for Energy Harvesting
Honored VIP speakerDr Yuji Suzuki
The University of Tokyo
15:25-15:45
Networking Break
15:45 - 16:15
Low Power Energy Harvesting (microWatts to Watts) Compiled by Dr Harry Zervos, Principal Analyst, IDTechEx
Microwatts to milliwatts and some at watts.
»Needs. Successes such as wireless sensor networks, failures such as mobile phone EH, prospects and progress.
» Vibration harvesting. EnOcean harvesting for sensors and actuators without need for energy storage.
»New formats such as flexible, stretchable or transparent. New materials such as perovskite PV, skutteridite thermoelectric
»Integration including e-textile PV/ supercapacitor e-fiber.
» EH by stretching advances from microwatts to milliwatts - Ricoh piezo, Fraunhofer capacitive etc.
»Successive generations of multi-mode - side by side? in the same box
»Integrated materials eg University of Bolton PV + piezo weavable fiber.
16:15 - 16:55
High Power Energy Harvesting (10W to 1MW) Compiled by Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman, IDTechEx.
10W to 1MW off-grid.
» Needs. Importance of vehicles -s land, water and air, remote buildings, outdoor signage and equipment.
»Successes such as buildings in Third World, road furniture, reversing boat propellers, regenerative braking.
»Different emphasis in future including solar and multi-mode EH sails and EH roads, pavements and even carpets. Caterpillar and Witt Energy six dimensional movement harvesting at watts to megawatts?
»Other important new initiatives including Airborne Wind Energy AWE (why tethered multirotor aircraft harvest better than kites), energy harvesting shock absorber active suspension (Levant with major car companies soon), torque-assist reversing vehicle alternators, Komatsu and automotive high power thermoelectrics.
»New forms of off-grid wave power including Oscilla magnetostrictive metal and SRI electroactive polymer, off-grid tidal power, photovoltaics etc and new formats - stretchable, conformal, transparent etc.
16:55 - 17:10
Overview Compiled by Raghu Das, CEO and Principal Analyst, IDTechEx
»Significance of more and more land vehicles, boats and aircraft using sunshine alone or with other EH such as wave power eg activities at Facebook and Boeing. Progress towards much more multiple energy harvesting even as smart materials - structural electronics.
»Toxicity concerns with new and old EH. Alternatives.
»Will
off-grid DC systems replace AC for more efficient use of EH?
17:10 - 17:30
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