A Realisation of Synchronous Buck Power Converter for Energy Harvesting from Vibrations

The paper presents the implementation of a synchronous “buck” power converter that is used to energy harvesting from vibrating structures that oscillate in the 1Hz-1kHz range. This range is the most common in real cases. In addition to the frequency, a very important parameter is also the amplitude of the vibrations. Usually, low frequencies (< 10Hz) are associated with larger oscillatory masses and larger oscillation amplitudes, while higher frequencies (1kHz >f > 100Hz) refer to larger oscillatory masses and smaller oscillation amplitudes. The realized power converter is based on the integrated circuit LT3588-1, in which it integrates a low-loss full-wave bridge rectifier with a high efficiency synchronous “buck” converter to form a complete energy harvesting solution optimized for high output impedance of mechanic/electric converter such as piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics or polymer based on polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), or other composite. The paper presents experimental results obtained on the vibration platform as vibration source, in order to testing of the proposed power converter in laboratory conditions.