Experiment and analysis of a piezoelectric energy harvester based on combined FEM modeling and spice simulation

This paper presents modeling and simulation of a cantilever-type piezoelectric energy harvester based on a combined FEM (Finite Element Method) and spice circuit. The PEH having dimension of 61 mm × 37 mm × 0.4 mm provides the maximum output power of 8 mW at resonant frequency of 127 Hz. The fabricated cantilever-type PEH (Piezoelectric Energy Harvester) has been characterized with variable resistor, which reveals that maximum power transfer is achieved at 10 kΩ. The modeling and simulation have beenperformed to study the effect of piezoelectric layer thickness on PEH output power in case of load resistance. FEM modeling and simulations have been carried out to extract electrical elements such as Rm, Lm, Cm, Cp and Γ. Those electrical elements have been included into a spice model to find optimal load resistance for maximum power transfer as well as. frequency response as function of piezoelectric layer thickness. Experiment and simulation show a good agreement on optimal load resistance.