Publications

Abstract : Clean and efficient way of generating electricity has been a hot topic ever since humans realized how the conventional sources of energy has been degrading our environment. As an effect of that reducing the carbon footprint due to vehicular pollution has also been a major research field because of which Electric Vehicles came into existence. A vehicle that is completely dependent on electricity has less efficiency because after a few kilometers the charge of the battery dies out and it needs to get charged for a long time to get back on the road. Over here, a new method of a self-charging vehicle is proposed which charges the battery of the vehicle itself while the vehicle is in motion using PVDF films layered on the wheels of a vehicle which increases the efficiency of an Electric Vehicle. A high efficient energy harvesting technique from laminated Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films for driving a self-charging vehicle is demonstrated here. The PVDF films are rolled around the wheels of a vehicle (4-wheeler) using redox films as adhesive. Due to the piezoelectric properties of the PVDF film, an AC voltage is generated due to friction when the car is in motion. Red-ox films are used primarily to reduce the wear and tear of the PVDF film without compromising the frictional energy. This energy generated is harvested efficiently through multiple stages of voltage multiplier, voltage boosters and regulators in order to recharge the battery which is used to drive the motor of the car. Ultra capacitors are used for regenerative braking. This regenerative braking energy is used for acceleration of the vehicle. The simulation results shows that the proposed technology can be implemented to run a four wheeler electric vehicle using a 24V battery for its motor. © 2012 Cape Peninsula University.