Performance of a speed bump piezoelectric energy harvester for an automatic cellphone charging system

Abstract We propose a piezoelectric energy harvesting technology installed in a roadway speed bump. We have installed a module that can charge mobile phones utilizing a speed bump piezoelectric harvester (SBPH), which is easy to apply to roads. A highly integrated module with 40 piezo-generators was fixed and installed at the center of the speed bump. When a medium-sized vehicle passed the module at a speed of 30 km/h, an output voltage of 144 V max , output current of 45.2 mA max , and output power of 4086.08 mW max (6.81 W/m 2 ) were measured at a load resistance of 2 kΩ. When the vehicle passed over the SBPH nine times, it charged a capacitor (10,000 μF) to provide 6 V for about 200 s, and the charged electrical energy was enough to operate a cellphone. The self-controlled battery charging system via electricity generated by the piezoelectric module could be applied to a speed bump installed on an actual road.