A study on an ocean wave energy harvester made of a composite piezoelectric buoy structure

A piezoelectric buoy energy harvester made of composite structures including a vibrator, slider, and heaving buoy is developed to harness energy from ocean waves. The vibrator is made of a group of tapered piezoelectric coupled cantilevers with a magnetic brick of the same size mounted on the free end. All tapered cantilevers are fixed linearly on the inner wall of a box in horizontal and longitudinal directions. A corresponding mathematical model for the buoy harvester is developed by a governing differential equation with variable coefficients. The influences of some practical considerations on the RMS (root mean square) of the generated electric power are discussed. The results show that the RMS can reach up to 70.8 KW for a composite piezoelectric buoy harvester with a length, width, and height of 1.3 m, 1.1 m, and 3.1 m, and a wave speed of 1 m/s. This research provides a more efficient and practical method for harvesting ocean wave energy with composite piezoelectric structures.