Joint Modeling of Piezoelectric Transducers and Power Conversion Circuits for Energy Harvesting Applications

In this paper, we describe a reliable modeling technique for piezoelectric transducers and a procedure for fast identification of model parameters using inexpensive hardware and standard laboratory equipment. This technique is suitable for evaluating the performance of actively controlled power conversion circuits with custom input vibrations in the early phases of design. Direct measurements were taken on commercial Q220-A4-303YB cantilevered piezoelectric transducers from Piezo Systems with tip masses between 7 and 16 g and with two types of synchronized switch energy harvesters. The model describes, with a good degree of accuracy, both the response of the transducers to vibrations and their behavior with nonlinear power conversion circuits, including also the damping effects associated with the use of synchronized switch techniques.