Design and development of hybrid energy harvesters

Abstract

Hybrid energy harvesters (HEHs) targeting multiple energy forms have been drawing increasing interest in recent years. While large scale photovoltaic power plants are capable of providing energy for domestic usage, research has also been focused on kinetic energy harvester with less power output which can be integrated into self-powered electronics such as implantable device, remote wireless sensor, wearables, etc. A number of successful designs of hybrid energy harvesters have been demonstrated which could scavenge solar and kinetic energy simultaneously. However the structures remain complicated; the majority of the designs involve different types of energy harvesters connected in series, which involves complex fabrication processes. Here, a simple structure based on a p-n junction piezoelectric nanogenerator (NG) was designed. The utilization of columnar piezoelectric n-type ZnO nanorods coated with light absorber layer enabled the device to harvest both kinetic and solar energy. This was adapted to either form a N719-based dye-sensitized solar cell (N719-HEH), or a perovskite solar cell (PSC-HEH). To allow high processing temperatures while maintaining mechanical flexibility, Corning© Willow™ (CW) glass substrate was used and compared to the more common ITO/PET. CW showed 56% lower charge transfer resistance and a related 4 times fold increase in power conversion efficiency for N719-HEHs. Oscillation (NG effect) and illumination (PV effect) testing indicated that both N719-HEHS and PSC-HEHs operated as kinetic and solar energy harvesters separately, with the current generated by the photovoltaic orders of magnitude greater than it from mechanical excitation. In addition, under illumination, both N719-HEHs and PSC-HEHs demonstrated further current output enhancement when oscillation was applied. The fact that the current output under NG+PV condition was higher than the summation of current output achieved under NG and PV conditions individually, suggests the piezoelectric potential originated from ZnO affected the charge dynamics within the devices. Thus, HEHs with enhanced output were successfully designed and developed.