A Waste-produced Floor with Solar and Mechanical Energy Harvesters to Power Charging Stations or OLED Lighting Systems

This paper aims to describe the design of a smart floor prototype that includes innovative tiles based on inert, odourless, and sanitized material, achieved through the recycling and transformation of organic and inorganic wastes. Moreover, the smart floor is designed to scavenge energy from solar and mechanical sources by integrating solar panels (on the tile top) and piezoelectric harvesters (on the bottom). The smart tile robustness allows being employed in outdoor environments, where the harvested and stored energy can be used in e-charging stations to power consumer electronic devices or OLED-based street lightings. During a 12
$h$
long working cycle, a 10 m
²
smart floor can provide a 160 Ah charge from solar panels with an average daily illuminance of 35000 Ix and up to 250–300 mAh from piezo-harvesters (trampling rate of 0.4 Hz).