Project Development

Proposal and Risk Assessment Report

Energy Harvesting from Piezo-electric

Materials

Ethics Declaration Checklist (to be completed by student)

Does this project involve the use of: YES/NO

(a) Human participants, No
(b) Previously collected confidential data, No
(c) Animals for scientific purposes? No

If ‘YES’ to any of the above, then the proposal will not be approved and you will not be allowed
to proceed with this project.

By submitting this report through the unit website for assessment, you certify that the
information provided above is true and correct.
Abstract

A lot of effort is being put around the globe into making the world more sustainable because
as the time passes the world is getting prone to more destructive dangers such as global
warming, global pandemics etc. The idea is to reduce the use of non-renewable energy sources
and increase the efficiency of the industrial sector. Thinking of which it was decided to work on
Energy Harvesting from Piezo-electric materials. The word Piezoelectric is derived from Greek
word “Piezo” for pressure and “electric” for electricity. The piezoelectric materials are
composed molecular ions that are positively and negatively charged, they are arranged in such
a manner that when they are disturbed, they produce a charge. The roads can be designed

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with a piezoelectric material layer under the asphalt layer which would help convert the
mechanical energy of the moving vehicles on the road to the electrical energy. The electrical
energy which in turn can be used to light up street lights or supplied for domestic and
industrial use. This proposal report provides a comprehensive insight into energy harvesting
using piezoelectric technology based on an extensive desktop review study.

1. Introduction
1.1. Motivation
The motivation behind this project was that the number of cars on the roads is increasing day
by day. If we take notice of a highway there is no time when no vehicle is being driven on that
road. There are other methods of energy production which are considered as clean and
sustainable such as wind turbines, hydropower plant and solar power. But somehow, they
have some limitations at some point such as the wind turbines require constant flow of wind
to produce electricity and they cannot be setup anywhere to produce electricity. They need
favourable conditions such as locations near the coast where there is a constant and fast blow
of wind at all the times. The biggest downside of this source is that it requires high upfront
capitol investment. Then the electricity is needed to be transported using electricity poles and
underground wires to the consumers that are often far from the production unit which adds
up to the cost of the electricity and reduces the efficiency of the system as well. This also
considered dangerous for the local bird populations. There have been reports of the death of
birds due to collision with the turbine blades. (Rinkesh, 2016)

Energy harvesting from the sunlight has taken a big leap in the past few years which is
considered one of the cheapest energy production source and government providing rebates
on the solar panel installations to encourage people. Solar panels require constant amount of
sunlight to produce electricity and their production rate decreases by 40 to 60 percent. Based
on the data from Lightgauge monitoring systems which is installed by solar polar companies in
Perth to get energy output variation or statics throughout the year. The results from which
show that the 65% of the energy is produced in summer season and only 35% of the energy is
produced during the winter season. (Lighthouse Solar, 2017). Also, solar panels have very low
efficiency with average ranging from 15 to 20 percent. The efficiency reduces drastically if area
is sandy and there is dust in the environment. Which in turn requires regular servicing of the
panel glass to wipe of dust or debris. The power generated by solar panels is in DC which then
needs to be converted into AC to be used for most appliances, which causes another loss of up
to 8 %. (Solar Panel Efficiency, 2021)

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Keeping in mind all the limitations and drawbacks of all other sources this project of energy
production from Piezoelectric materials was selected after putting thorough research and
thinking into the process. The cars have become the most imminent vehicle of transport in
today’s age. People not only use cars as a necessity but for excursion and sports as well.
Therefore, the vehicle manufacturing industries are making enormous efforts to innovate the
structure and technicality in the cars and other means of transport. The number of cars on the
roads is increasing daily with the increase of population. It was decided to use the weight and
vibrations of the cars on the road to generate power using a bed of piezoelectric material
under the asphalt layer of the road. Piezoelectric generators use the energy from the vehicles
that is going to waste and transform it into useful energy that can be used as electricity. This
was the main motivation behind the project because as an engineer we are taught not to let
the energy go to waste and always try to increase the sustainability of the system. By using this
method, we are not only saving energy but helping produce electricity without making any
harmful by-product. Even though there is huge capital investment required to install it but
there is very low or negligible running costs. This idea is highly to be liked by the people that
while using their cars for travelling between points A and B, they are also producing electricity.

1.2. Objectives
The objective of this project is to design the road that can help produce electricity using
Piezoelectric materials. Piezoelectric materials generate electrical energy using piezoelectric
crystal. That crystal produces an electrical charge when subjected to disturbance or vibration.
Our aim is to design the road with piezoelectric crystal layer under the asphalt layer placed at
the calculated distances to get the maximum charge produced by the crystal in order to get
the effective outcome. This task can be broken down into three engineering fields civil,
mechanical and electrical.
Civil
The road should be constructed using materials and methods that allow to produce maximum
vibrations to the Piezoelectric crystals layer. If the material used is so stiff or the gap between
the impact of the tyres of the vehicle and the piezoelectric crystal layer is more than required
then it can impact the production of the system. It is also thought to use tuff tiles on these
roads because if there is maintenance required the tiles can be taken out and maintenance can
be carried out.
Mechanical
There are mechanical calculations required to find out the input and output of the system. The
required load to produce the charge in the piezoelectric crystals needs to be calculated and if

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greater vibrations are required the structure of the road is need to be designed according.
Such as to increase the pressure on the road we can increase the elevation of the road from
point to point like large distance speed bums but with very little height. Also, the vibrations are
needed to be damped in order to maximise the output. The challenge lies in making the design
that contains all the requirements for the better functionality of the project.
Electrical
This is the most important engineering part in this project. The charge that is produced by the
crystal is supplied to a transducer which transforms it into electric voltage which in turn can be
consumed on spot for actuation or can be stored in batteries for later use. This process
involves the designing of a circuit that allows us to store electrical energy efficiently with
minimal voltage drop. The circuit is to be first made and tested on the simulator many times
before making one for the prototype.

Significance
As there is an energy crisis going on in the world. Some areas in the third world countries have
up to 12 hours of power outage per day. The countries which have the resources need to take
the initiative in introducing renewable energy production methods to the world so that the
countries with insufficient resources can benefit from them. Together they can make this
world more sustainable by reducing the use of non-renewable resources and avoiding power
generation methods that are harmful for the environment. Due to the increase of traffic in the
countries all of the world every country whether big or small can take advantage from this
energy production method.
Innowattech which is one of the leading companies to do the research on piezoelectricity has
proposed that if planted systematically these devices has the capacity to produce an average
of 400kWatt of power from a length of 1 kilometre of road which is enough for approximately
162 households. There is research being done to enhance the capability of the piezoelectric
devices by modifying the molecular structure of the materials that is being used. The figure 1
below shows Structure of PZT, a crystal commonly used for piezoelectric applications.
(Garland, 2013)

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 Figure 1 Structure of PZT

2. Proposed Approach
The project will be broken down into number of tasks to achieve the required objective. The
circuit simulation will be done using the LTspice software which is available in ECU labs. Circuit
simulation needs to be done in order to test the circuit using the software instead of manually
tangling with the wires and avoid any mishap which can add up to the cost of the project or
delay the process. This will also help us getting the idea about the size of the parts that are to
be used.
Selection of the piezoelectric material to be used in making the piezoelectric sheets is a very
important step. For that we have done some research and have shortlisted the materials
known as lead zirconate titanate (PZT), PMN-PT and PZN-PT which demonstrate the highest
piezoelectric properties. The PMN-PT and PZN-PT have the highest efficiency as compared to
available in the market. (Yang, 2018) They more sensitive to temperature change, more likely
to fatigue and difficult to manufacture. The group is more inclined to use PZT but till now its
undecided and the decision will be made upon which material is readily available.
The piezoelectric material layer goes under the layer of other materials that are required to
make the roads. The team is brain storming the ideas of using either the asphalt or tuff tiles as
the road bedding to get the maximum damped vibrations in order to get maximum energy
production keep in view the mechanical energy of the vehicles that is dissipated in the process
and the goal is to reduce the energy loss and the use the energy that goes wasted by the
vehicles on the road to produce power. So, it needs to be made sure that no extra energy is
lost in the process.
The equipment and parts for the protype will be ordered online either from AliBaba or eBay
due to the unavailability of some parts in Australia and the group is trying to be make project
cost effective as mush as possible to demonstrate the true meaning of engineering solution.
The group members will try their best to make use of material that is available in the home

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garage and stores by modifying them. It is proposed that the recycled batteries are used
because this project is about sustainability and reduce the use of single use materials.
In semester 1 the theoretical part of the project will be done which will include the finalised
circuit and calculations of how much energy is produced using the finalised piezoelectric
material. The parts that are going to be used in making the prototype of the project will be
ordered and CAD model will be prepared. The project is set out to be completed till the end of
semester 2 in which the prototype will be built.

3. Timeline
The project is divided technically and is subjected to the completion in three different time
periods. The work starts unofficially a few weeks before the semester starts, the project the
research is done personally and a project is selected. The team is formed using personal
connections. The project was selected in the first week of the semester that the idea is
proposed to the supervisor after getting the approval. The project was started officially.
In the first 4 weeks thorough research is done and the proposal report is submitted to the
supervisor. After that for next few weeks the literature review is done. For the coming weeks
the progress report is presented to the supervisor during weekly meetings. The conceptual
design and material selection is done by week 12 of the semester. The protype is subjected to
be completed by week 12 of semester 2. The Gantt is attached as attachment 1 for visual
representation of how the project timeline will like.

4. Risk Assessment
The risk assessment was carried out keep I view the type of the project being carried out,
keeping in mind all the factors that can be posed as risks during the completion of the project.
Considering all the factors involved in the process a risk assessment report was made which
can be viewed in attachment 2.
Although the organization's risks are deemed low, managing and controlling them remains a
top focus. This is because eliminating those risks successfully can open up a lot of doors for
future collaborations and opportunities. However, without knowing what those are, it's
difficult to say. There has to be an assumption made based on the minimum valuation for

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future occurrences. Many of the risks are intrinsically low because they have a low chance of
occurring or having a minimal impact on the project if they do.

5. Progress to Date
To this date the thorough research has been done in under standing the mechanism and
chemistry behind the working of the project. The weekly group meeting time has been setup
with the supervisor. The materials that can be used as piezoelectric has been studied and the
best materials has been shortlisted. Group members are trying to refresh the knowledge from
past semesters regarding the use of Solidworks software and the use of LTspice software which
is going to be used for the circuit simulation. Multiple hand sketches were made to get the first
look of the prototype. The group has got the idea about how the prototype should look like
and what parts are required to assemble the prototype.

6. Conclusion
The energy harvesting from piezoelectric materials is great project to showcase one’s
engineering abilities and get the hands-on experience about what it is like to work as an
engineer professionally and solve a certain problem in a given problem. The world needs more
renewable resources in order to be sustainable and piezoelectricity is good source of clean
energy production. Even though, the energy produced is very little as compared to other
sources but this project is all about recovering the energy that is being wasted by the vehicles
on the road daily. If the big companies get involve and the research is done on industrial scale
this method has shear capability of making the difference in energy sector worldwide. The
piezoelectricity sector has long to go but has the potential of getting recognition worldwide.
In a nutshell, this project is a great opportunity for students to apply the knowledge of the past
years learning into the practice. This will give students a chance to work under the supervision
and meet the requirements under the given timeline.

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7. References

Garland, R. (2013). Piezoelectric Roads in California. California: Stanford University. Retrieved

from http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph240/garland1/

Lighthouse Solar. (2017, February 08). The Seasonality of Solar Energy Production. Retrieved
from Lighthouse Solar: https://www.lighthousesolarny.com/blog/2017/february/the-
seasonality-of-solar-energy-production/

Rinkesh. (2016). Wind Enegy. Retrieved from Conserve Energy Future: https://www.conserve-
energy-future.com/Disadvantages_WindEnergy.php

Solar Panel Efficiency. (2021). Retrieved from Solar Calculator:

https://solarcalculator.com.au/solar-panel-efficiency/

Yang, Z. (2018, April 18). Joule. Retrieved from Science direct:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542435118301260

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Attachment 1 – Timeline Chart

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Attachment 2 – Risk Assessment Matrix

Current Level of Residual Level of

Risk Risk
Risk Reference

Consequence

Consequence
Current Additional
Risks Consequences

Risk Level

Risk Level
Likelihood

Likelihood

Ranking
Risk Treatments Risk Treatments

Ranking
This can ignite spark and can cause the
The risk of getting short circuit Using software simulation of
1 damage to the circuit. Also increases 5 6 6 M Using fuses in the circuit 2 2 3 L
due to wrong wiring circuit before implementation
the cost of the project
2 The delay of parts delivery Delay in completion of project Ordering parts ahead of time 2 2 1 L Nil 2 2 1 L
If the sickness level is low
3 A team member getting sick Delay in process keep working from home 3 4 3 L Nil 3 4 3 L
otherwise ask or extension
Work from home and ask
Major delay in parts delivery and university for leniency
4 Covid-19 outbreak 5 6 6 M Nil 5 6 6 M
process because situation not in your
control
6 Loss of data Have to re-do the work Create backup on flash drive 2 3 4 L Create cloud storage 1 1 1 L
Injury during the assembly of Wear PPE and take care of Understand what you are doing
7 Delay in the process of assembly 1 2 2 L 1 1 1 L
protype each others safety before execution
Make your own parts if possible,
8 Parts required are too expensive Termination of selected prototype Use alternative parts 2 3 2 L 1 2 2 L
using the materials available
Lack of communication between Not getting the required outcomes Keep in touch with them on
9 1 2 1 L Nil 1 2 1 L
the peers which shows incompetency daily basis
Difficulty managing job and Not being able to meet deadlines on Make timetable and make Reduce job if possible, given
10 3 3 4 L 1 1 1 L
project work time sure to follow it the importance of the project
Ask for help from supervisor if
11 Stress due to the project work Mental health getting depleted 4 5 4 L Get help from Co-Supervisor 3 2 3 L
finding difficulty in the process
Handle the parts carefully and
Breaking a component during the Have to re-order the part which can If you are unsure about what to
12 don’t over use the strength in 2 3 2 L 1 3 1 L
assembly process delay the process and increase the cost do ask help from the peers
the fitting process
13 Ordering the wrong parts Wastage of resources and delay Do research before buying 1 2 3 L Return the part if possible 1 1 1 L

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Activity Overall Risk Rating 0.00 L

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