Solar Road Energy Recovery

This project is to advance the use of free energy. The solar piezoelectric system is collecting two energy sources. The solar panel is connected on top of the piezoelectric. The energy is taken from the sun's rays through the solar panel and from the compression through the piezoelectric. Then the free energy is stored in a battery.

Background
The purpose of this project is to establish the feasibility of a roadside hybrid energy collection/recovery system that can then be used for running nearby street utilities such as lights/signals. The hybrid sources are solar energy (harvested by a commercially available solar cell located next to roadway) and piezoelectric energy (harvested by an array of piezoelectric elements in the roadway). Each of these systems will have its own component level controller. A practical ratio of cost-effective energy recovery from these two sources will be sought in the design of the supervisor controller. It should be possible to monitor system performance via a wireless display located a safe distance from the energy harvesting equipment.

Piezoelectric System
The piezoelectric elements produce alternating current (AC) which need to be converted to direct current using a diode to make the current flow in one direction. Then store the voltage in a small capacitor. After that, transfer the voltage by a DC-DC boost converter to step up voltage. In the end, the voltage is stored in a battery.

Switching between sources
The switch is controlled by a microcontroller where the switch will be temporary on the solar source. The switch is on the solar side until the time difference between the battery charge and the capacitor discharge reaches the ideal time range and then it switches to the piezoelectric source.

Communication wireless part
Two Arduinos are used. The first Arduino collects the data from the circuit and sends it to the second Arduino by using wireless transmitter and receiver. The data will be sent from the first to the second Arduino in asynchronous serial communication style. The sent data will be displayed on the LCD that is connected to the second Arduino.

Solar Panel
Solar panels are devices that convert light into electricity. They are called "solar" panels because most of the time, the most powerful source of light available is the Sun, called Sol by astronomers. Some scientists call them photovoltaics which means, basically, "light-electricity."

A solar panel is a collection of solar cells. Lots of small solar cells spread over a large area can work together to provide enough power to be useful. The more light that hits a cell, the more electricity it produces, so spacecraft are usually designed with solar panels that can always be pointed at the Sun even as the rest of the body of the spacecraft moves around, much as a tank turret can be aimed independently of where the tank is going.

Charger Controller
According to the voltage of the battery, the controller will adjust the charging current and decide if necessary to supply power to the load, keeping the battery on full voltage condition. Also prevents the battery from over-charging or over-discharging and prevents re-flow of current back to panels at nighttime. According to the voltage of the battery, the controller will adjust the charging current and decide if necessary to supply power to the load, keeping the battery on full voltage condition. Also prevents the battery from over-charging or over-discharging and prevents re-flow of current back to panels at nighttime. A solar charge controller is a very important component of a solar panel power system and should be used on systems over 15 Watts. A charge controller protects your rechargeable batteries from overcharging as well as discharging at night. We recommend our 12-volt battery for your off-grid solar power system.

Piezoelectric
Piezoelectricity, also called the piezoelectric effect, is the ability of certain materials to generate an AC (alternating current) voltage when subjected to mechanical stress or vibration, or to vibrate when subjected to an AC voltage, or both. The most common piezoelectric material is quartz. Certain ceramics, Rochelle salts, and various other solids also exhibit this effect.

A piezoelectric transducer comprises a "crystal" sandwiched between two metal plates. When a sound wave strikes one or both of the plates, the plates vibrate. The crystal picks up this vibration, which it translates into a weak AC voltage. Therefore, an AC voltage arises between the two metal plates, with a waveform similar to that of the sound waves. Conversely, if an AC signal is applied to the plates, it causes the crystal to vibrate in sync with the signal voltage. As a result, the metal plates vibrate also, producing an acoustic disturbance.

Full Wave Rectifier
Piezoelectric element provide AC alternating current which needs to be converted to direct current (DC). A bridge rectifier is an arrangement of four or more diodes in a bridge circuit configuration which provides the same output polarity for either input polarity. It is used for converting an alternating current (AC) input into a direct current (DC) output.

DC DC Converter
A boost converter (step-up converter) is a DC-to-DC power converter steps up voltage (while stepping down current) from its input (supply) to its output (load). It is a class of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) containing at least two semiconductors (a diode and a transistor) and at least one energy storage element, a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination. To reduce voltage ripple, filters made of capacitors (sometimes in combination with inductors) are normally added to such a converter's output (load-side filter) and input (supply-side filter).

Arduino Mega
The Mega 2560 is a microcontroller board based on the ATmega2560. It has 54 digital input/output pins (of which 15 can be used as PWM outputs), 16 analog inputs, 4 UARTs (hardware serial ports), a 16 MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset button. It contains everything needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB cable or power it with a AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. The Mega 2560 board is compatible with most shields designed for the Uno and the former boards Duemilanove or Diecimila

Document Archive
[[Media: All_Meeting_Minutes1.pdf|All Meeting Minutes]]