- Home
- Products
- Piezoelectric Transducers
- Piezoelectric Sensors
- Piezoelectric Actuators
- Flexible Piezoelectrics
- Piezoelectric d33 effect
- Piezoelectric Fan
- Piezoelectric Energy Harvester
- Other Products
- Vibration Energy Harvester
- High Voltage Piezo Amplifier
- Smart Materials Starter Kit
- Piezoelectric Accessories
- Control Forge Software
- Dynamod Software
- Custom Products
- Technology Development
- Expertise Services
- Contact
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters
The wireless Volture™ Piezoelectric Energy Harvester converts vibrations into electrical energy
Volture System
Converts mechanical vibrations into useable electrical energy.
Find out more
Your Volture System includes;
+ Vibration Energy Harvesting Piezo
+ Enclosure
+ Electronics
Raw Voltures
A packaged piezoelectic energy harvester with pre-routed mounting holes and connector. Find out more
Your Raw Volture includes;
+ Vibration Energy Harvesting Piezo
+ Mounting Holes
+ Connector
Volture Solar
Converts vibrations & solar energy into useable electrical energy.
Find out more
Your Volture Solar includes;
+ Vibration Energy Harvesting Piezo
+ Enclosure & Electronics
+ Rugged encapsulated solar-panel
Volture Electronics
Coverts raw piezo AC output to either unregulated or regulated DC.
Find out more
+ Converts AC to DC
+ Optional capacitive storage
+ Active power conditioning
available (EHE002)
| PRODUCT Click for Details |
Frequency Range* (Hz) |
Band Width* (Hz) |
Size (inches) |
Power Electronics* Included |
Enclosure* Included |
Prices | Buy Online |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10+ | |||||||
 |
80-175 | 3 | 3.625 x 1.75 x 0.39 | YES | YES | $399 or $299 Untuned | Quote |  |
 |
60-140 | 3 | 3.625 x 1.75 x 0.39 | YES | YES | $399 or $299 Untuned | Quote | |
| PRODUCT Click for Details |
Frequency Range* (Hz) |
Band Width* (Hz) |
Size (inches) |
Power Electronics* Included |
Enclosure* Included |
Prices | Buy Online |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10+ | |||||||
 |
80-175 | 3 | 2.00 x 1.50 x 0.03 | NO | NO | $79 | Quote | |
 |
60-140 | 3 | 2.00 x 1.50 x 0.02 | NO | NO | $79 | Quote | |
 |
80-205 | 3 | 2.74 x 0.67 x 0.032 | NO | NO | $65 | Quote | |
 |
45-155 | 3 | 3.6 x 0.67 x 0.032 | NO | NO | $65 | Quote | |
 |
120 - 360 | 2 | 1.4 x 0.24 x 0.025 | NO | NO | $49 | Quote | |
 |
26-110 | 2 | 2.5 x 0.24 x 0.025 | NO | NO | $49 | Quote | |
| PRODUCT Click for Details |
Frequency Range* (Hz) |
Band Width* (Hz) |
Size (inches) |
Power Electronics* Included |
Enclosure* Included |
Prices | Buy Online |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10+ | |||||||
 |
80-175 | 3 | 3.625 x 1.725 x 0.56 | YES | YES | $499 or $399 Untuned | Quote | |
 |
60-140 | 3 | 3.625 x 1.725 x 0.56 | YES | YES | $499 or $399 Untuned | Quote | |
| PRODUCT Click for Details |
Capacitor | Piezo Wafers Supported |
Size (inches) | Prices | Buy Online |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10+ | |||||
 |
YES | 2 | 1.60 x 0.70 x 0.063 | $35 | Quote | |
 |
NO | 2 | 1.60 x 0.70 x 0.063 | $35 | Quote | |
 |
NO | 2 | 1.60 x 0.70 x 0.275 | $200 | Quote | |
| PRODUCT Click for Details |
Length (in) |
Width (in) |
Thickness (in) |
Mass (g) |
For Use With |
Prices | Buy Online |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10+ | |||||||
 |
0.5 | 0.25 | 0.025 | 1.0 | v22b and v22bl | $5 | Contact | |
 |
0.625 | 0.5 | 0.025 | 2.4 | v21b and v21bl | $10 | Contact | |
 |
0.625 | 1.5 | 0.025 | 7.8 | v20w and v25w | $20 | Contact | |
Click here to send your specifications for a custom Volture?
What is a Volture Vibration Energy Harvester?
What are it's vibration energy scavenging advantages?
The Volture is a robust, reliable and inexpensive means to harvest vibration energy for you application! The Volture vibration energy harvester device harvests otherwise wasted energy from mechanical vibrations. The Volture accomplishes this by using piezoelectric materials to convert mechanical strain into useable electrical energy. The Midé Volture energy harvester is unique because it incorporates Midé's patented QuickPack Piezoelectric transducer technology. Through a proprietary manufacturing process, the QuickPack transducer packages piezoelectric materials in a protective skin with pre-attached electrical leads, producing a highly reliable component with no soldered wires. The QuickPack actuator's protective skin also provides electrical insulation and defense against humidity and harsh contaminants.
What is a Volture Solar Energy Harvester?
Vibration is not the only source of ambient energy available to be harvested. Other sources of energy such as light, heat and radio frequency energy can also be harvested.
While some applications will have only one source of energy to harvest from, other applications may have multiple sources of energy. To take advantage of applications where both solar and vibration energy are available, Midé has combined the Volture™ Vibration energy harvester with the Volture™ Solar Energy Harvester
This hybrid energy harvester (HeH) is made possible by incorporating a rugged encapsulated solar-panel into the Volture™ enclosure. Currently, the solar panel is integrated with the standard electronics offered for the Volture™; however, Midé is developing the next generation electronics that will add solar and piezoelectric power in a method that will enable intelligent battery charging.
Midé's Director of Engineering, Chris Ludlow, stated; "Midé is launching the first Volture™ Hybrid product in Fall '08. It will provide night and day power production, and long-term battery storage. You could say the Volture™ Solar Hybrid Energy Harvesting module shines another light on Midé's energy harvesting capabilities".
What is a Raw Volture Vibration Energy Harvester?
Mide currently offers six energy harvesting products. Both the PEH20W and PEH25W include power conditioning electronics as well as an anodized enclosure with integrated clamp. When you order a raw energy harvester, the V20W, V25W, V21B, or V21BL, you will just receive the packaged piezo energy harvester with pre-routed mounting holes and connector. You will NOT receive the power conditioning electronics or anodized case with integrated clamp. This product is good for "testing" the technology and seeing how it will fit into your application.
What are Energy Harvesting Electronics?
Rectifier Boards - EHE001c & EHE001nc
The output from a cantilevered piezo element in the presence of a vibration is sinusoidal or AC (alternating current). This dual full-wave rectifier board connects directly to any Volture connector to provide an unregulated DC output, simplifying product evaluation. Midé currently offers two forms of this rectifier board, the ehe001c has a 10uF capacitor for output smoothing, and the other, the ehe001nc, has no capacitive storage element. On the ehe001c, the output voltage is limited to 15VDC by an onboard Zener diode.
Pulse Power Board - EHE002
The EHE-002 Pulse Power Electronics are designed to maximize total piezo harvester output and mechanical-to-electrical conversion efficiency with medium to heavy loads (below 10K-ohms).
The circuitry ensures efficient power transfer by isolating the load from the piezoelectric element, providing it an optimal reference load. A high-efficiency switching converter then produces a pulsed, voltage-regulated output. This circuit is ideal for charging batteries or supercapacitors, or directly powering small, intermittently-operating sensors. Reverse voltage up to 30VDC is blocked, allowing the Pulse Power Board to be used in parallel with batteries, solar or other power sources. Nominal output is 3.5V - please contact us for custom voltages.
This circuit requires a minimum open-circuit voltage (approx. 9VDC) from the piezo in order to produce an output.
Energy Harvester Specification Definitions
*Frequency Range - This refers the range in which the energy harvester can be tuned. The upper limit of the range is where the piezo element has no tip mass. The lower limit has a large tip mass.
*Harvesting Bandwidth - This value refers to the frequency range over which the energy harvester will produce at least 50% of its peak power. For example if the harvester was tuned to 100 Hz with a bandwidth of 3 Hz, it would produce 50% of its peak power (at 100 Hz) at 98.5 Hz and 101.5 Hz.
*Power Electronics - The power electronics involve a simple rectification circuit that changes the AC output of the piezo to a variable DC output dependent upon load.
*Enclosure - If a product includes an enclosure it comes with a anodized aluminum enclosure with integrated electronics and power output cable. The clamp is integrated into the enclosure. If a product does NOT come with an enclosure only the piezo pack is included.
For more information:
Please contact Chris Ludlow (Products), or call: 781-306-0609 x227
