EnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivision

FINALPROJECTREPORT

ASSESSMENTOFPIEZOELECTRIC
MATERIALSFORROADWAYENERGY
HARVESTING

CostofEnergyandDemonstration
Roadmap

Preparedfor: CaliforniaEnergyCommission
Preparedby: DNVKEMAEnergy&Sustainability

J A N UA R Y2014
C EC 500 2013 007

PREPARED BY:
Primary Author(s):
Davion Hill, Ph.D., DNV
Arun Agarwal, Ph.D., DNV
Nellie Tong, KEMA Inc., Project Manager
DNV KEMA Energy & Sustainability
155 Grand Avenue, Suite 500
Oakland, California 94612
www.dnvkema.com
Contract Number: 500-11-029

Prepared for:
California Energy Commission
Jesselyn Rosales
Contract Manager

David Chambers
Project Manager

Fernando Pina
Office Manager
Energy Efficiency Research Office

Laurie ten Hope

Deputy Director
ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT DIVISION

Robert P. Oglesby
Executive Director

DISCLAIMER
This report was prepared as the result of work sponsored by the California Energy Commission. It
does not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Commission, its employees or the State of
California. The Energy Commission, the State of California, its employees, contractors and
subcontractors make no warranty, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the
information in this report; nor does any party represent that the uses of this information will not
infringe upon privately owned rights. This report has not been approved or disapproved by the
California Energy Commission nor has the California Energy Commission passed upon the
accuracy or adequacy of the information in this report.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
DNVKEMAwouldliketoacknowledgethefollowingpeopleandorganizationsforaidingin
theresearchforthisassessment:

MikeGatto,MemberoftheCAStateAssembly,43rdDistrict,forhisleadershipandsupport
MikeGravely,CaliforniaEnergyCommission
DavidChambers,CaliforniaEnergyCommission
KaterinaRobinson,CaliforniaAssemblymanGattosOffice
RandyCopperman,ChannelTechnologiesGroup
EnderKuntsal,ChannelTechnologiesGroup
EricWeaver,FederalHighwayAdministrationOfficeofInfrastructureResearchand
Development
JonLazarus,OregonDepartmentofTransportation
ElizabethRedmond,POWERleapInc.
CharlesMilgrom,Innowattech
CraigNear,Genziko

PREFACE
TheCaliforniaEnergyCommissionEnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivisionsupports
publicinterestenergyresearchanddevelopmentthatwillhelpimprovethequalityoflifein
Californiabybringingenvironmentallysafe,affordable,andreliableenergyservicesand
productstothemarketplace.
TheEnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivisionconductspublicinterestresearch,
development,anddemonstration(RD&D)projectstobenefitCalifornia.
TheEnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivisionstrivestoconductthemostpromisingpublic
interestenergyresearchbypartneringwithRD&Dentities,includingindividuals,businesses,
utilities,andpublicorprivateresearchinstitutions.
EnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivisionfundingeffortsarefocusedonthefollowing
RD&Dprogramareas:

BuildingsEndUseEnergyEfficiency

EnergyInnovationsSmallGrants

EnergyRelatedEnvironmentalResearch

EnergySystemsIntegration

EnvironmentallyPreferredAdvancedGeneration

Industrial/Agricultural/WaterEndUseEnergyEfficiency

RenewableEnergyTechnologies

Transportation

AssessmentofPiezoelectricMaterialsforRoadwayEnergyHarvestingisthefinalreportforthePiezo
BasedEnergyHarvestingTechnologyproject(ContractNumber50011029,Work
AuthorizationNumber1)conductedbyDNVKEMAEnergyandSustainability.The
informationfromthisprojectcontributestoEnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivisions
EnergySystemsIntegrationProgram.

FormoreinformationabouttheEnergyResearchandDevelopmentDivision,pleasevisitthe
EnergyCommissionswebsiteatwww.energy.ca.gov/research/orcontacttheEnergy
Commissionat9163271551.

ii

ABSTRACT
TheCaliforniaEnergyCommissionseekstobetterunderstandthecurrentstatusof
piezoelectricbasedenergyharvestingtechnologyinroadwayandrailwayapplications.This
projectassessedthevalueofpiezoelectricbasedenergyharvestingtechnologytodetermineif
theearlyresultsfromprototypedemonstrationswarrantamoredetaileddemonstrationin
California.Piezoelectriccrystalsgiveanelectricaldischargewhenmechanicallystressed.If
piezoelectricbasedtechnologyhasthepotentialtomatchtheperformance,reliability,andcosts
ofexistingoremergingrenewableenergysources,thenitcanpotentiallydiversifyCalifornias
resourceportfolio,andultimatelyincreasegridreliabilityandreducecoststoratepayers.This
reportassessesthecommercialstatusandfuturepotentialofpiezoelectricbasedenergy
harvestingtechnologyinroadwayandrailwayapplications.Thereportreviewsdatafrom
recentdemonstrationsandcalculatesthelevelizedcostofenergy.Althoughthecostofenergyis
computedusingvendorsuppliedinformation,simplifiedtrafficmodelsareusedtocrosscheck
vendorclaimsanddeterminewhichfactorscontributetouncertaintyaboutthecostofenergy.
Usingvendorsupplieddata,theanalysisshowsthattheestimatedrangeoflevelizedcostof
energyforpiezoelectricsystemisbetween$0.08$0.20/kWh,dependingontrafficconditions
andvehiclecharacteristics.Simplifiedtrafficmodelsandknowndemonstrationdatarevealthat
somevendorclaimsaremutuallyexclusive.Thislikelyindicatesthepresentationofbestvalues
frommutuallyexclusiveconditions.Untilthepoweroutputpermoduleistransparently
quantified,costofenergyestimateswillcontaininherentuncertainty.Withtheinformation
currentlyavailable,itappearsthatpowerdensitiesof300W/ft 2ormoreareneededtoapproach
theeconomicviabilityclaimedbyvendors.Theresultsofthisresearchindicateademonstration
andfurtherevaluationofthetechnologyshouldattempttoquantifythepoweroutput,
durability,andlifetimeofthesysteminadditiontoitsperformanceasafunctionoftraffic
volumeiswarranted.

Keywords:Piezoelectric,energyharvesting,wastevibration,highway

Pleaseusethefollowingcitationforthisreport:
Hill,Davion,NellieTong,(DNVKEMA).2013.AssessmentofPiezoelectricMaterialsfor
RoadwayEnergyHarvesting.CaliforniaEnergyCommission.PublicationNumber:
CEC5002013007.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements...................................................................................................................................i
PREFACE...................................................................................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................................iii
TABLEOFCONTENTS.........................................................................................................................iv
LISTOFFIGURES..................................................................................................................................vi
LISTOFTABLES..................................................................................................................................viii
EXECUTIVESUMMARY........................................................................................................................1
Introduction............................................................................................................................................1
CHAPTER1:BasicsofPiezoelectricMaterials...................................................................................3
1.1

WhatArePiezoelectricMaterials?...........................................................................................3

1.2

BenefitsofEnergyHarvesting..................................................................................................3

1.3

WhatArePiezoelectricMaterialsCommonlyUsedfor?......................................................4

1.4

WhatAreSomeRelevantCostandEnergyMetrics?............................................................5

1.5

TwoWaystoHarvestEnergyWithPiezoelectricMaterials................................................9

1.5.1

EnergyDensityofaCompressionBasedSystem........................................................10

1.5.2

EffectofWheelbaseonCapacityFactoronkW/km....................................................13

1.5.3

IncreasedCapacityFactorThroughLongerPowerDuration...................................17

CHAPTER2:CostAnalysisofaPiezoelectricRoadwayEnergyHarvestingSystem................19
2.1

VendorClaimsandDemoData.............................................................................................19

2.2

RelationshipBetweenTrafficParametersandHarvesterCharacteristics.......................22

2.3

WhatIsthePowerOutputRequiredperHarvester?..........................................................24

2.4
CostofElectricityofaCompressionBasedPiezoelectricRoadwayEnergyHarvesting
SystemVendorClaims.....................................................................................................................27
2.4.1

ComparisonWithTrafficModel....................................................................................30

2.5
CostofElectricityFromVibrationBasedRoadwayEnergyHarvestingSystemBased
onVendorClaims................................................................................................................................31
2.5.1
2.6

ComparisonWithTrafficModel....................................................................................32

DNVKEMAEstimatesBasedonRestrictedAssumptions................................................34
iv

2.7
ComparisonoftheProjectedLCOEtoDistributedRenewableEnergyGeneration
Sources...................................................................................................................................................35
2.8

AddedValue:DataandReducedInspectionCosts............................................................39

2.9

RoadwaysversusRailways....................................................................................................39

CHAPTER3:ConclusionsandRecommendations...........................................................................42
3.1

StageGateEvaluation.............................................................................................................42

3.1.1

PhaseI:LabScaleTests...................................................................................................43

3.1.2

PhaseII:AcceleratedTests..............................................................................................44

3.1.3

PhaseIII:FieldTests........................................................................................................46

3.1.4

SuggestedTestStructure.................................................................................................47

3.1.5

ApproximateCostofaDemonstrationProject............................................................47

3.1.6

PotentialPartnersandFunctions...................................................................................48

GLOSSARY..............................................................................................................................................50
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................52
APPENDIXA:PiezoelectricEnergyHarvestingDemonstrations...............................................A1
Innowattech........................................................................................................................................A1
PiezoPower,PiezoelectricFloors.....................................................................................................A1
POWERleapInc..................................................................................................................................A2
KCFTechnologies..............................................................................................................................A3
OregonDepartmentofTransportation...........................................................................................A3
ChannelTechnologiesGroup...........................................................................................................A3
VirginiaTech.......................................................................................................................................A4
Genziko................................................................................................................................................A4
APPENDIXB:LiteratureEvaluation.................................................................................................B1
APPENDIXC:DataSummary............................................................................................................C1
APPENDIXD:EvaluationCriteria...................................................................................................D1
WhatWouldanEvaluationoftheTechnologyLookLike?.........................................................D1
ModulePowerOutput..................................................................................................................D1
DurationofHit(PowerPulseDuration).................................................................................D2
v

EnergyTransferandVehicleWeight..........................................................................................D3
DurabilityandLifetimeofthePiezoelectricCeramic...............................................................D3
DurabilityofSystemandComponents.......................................................................................D4
TrafficVolume................................................................................................................................D5
VehicleSpeed..................................................................................................................................D6
InstallationMethods......................................................................................................................D6
ValueofAdditionalDataandAvoidedInspectionCosts........................................................D7
EnergyStorageVersusNetMetering..........................................................................................D7
APPENDIXE:Railways.......................................................................................................................E1
APPENDIXF:CalculationDetails.....................................................................................................F1
CompressionBasedHarvesters,VendorClaims..........................................................................F1
Case1:MaximumFiveYearLifetime.........................................................................................F2
Case2:MaximumTenYearLifetime..........................................................................................F3
Case3:MaximumThirtyYearLifetime.....................................................................................F5
TrafficBasedLCOETechnologyAgnostic..................................................................................F6
APPENDIXG:ADDENDUM:ReviewerandStakeholderCommentsandResponsesFrom
DraftReport..........................................................................................................................................G1

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure1:EnergyHarvestingofVibrationsIsPossibleTypicallyintheLowerFrequencyRange
From11,000Hz.........................................................................................................................................5
Figure2:PowerandEnergyScaleforPiezoelectrics,Photovoltaics,andConventionalPower....6
Figure3:EnergyDensityDependsonFootTrafficforthePiezoelectricFloor.................................7
Figure4:PiezoelectricDevicesHaveVoltageandPowerCapabilitySimilartoLiIonBatteries..9
Figure5:DifferenceinPerformanceCharacteristicsofCompressionBasedEnergyHarvesters
andCantileverEnergyHarvesters........................................................................................................10
Figure6:ConfigurationofStacksintheVirginiaTechPiezoelectricHarvester.............................11
Figure7:PowerOutputFromaSingleInnowattechEnergyHarvesterDuringtheVirginiaTech
Demonstration..........................................................................................................................................12

vi

Figure8:Ten(red)Outof222PiezoelectricUnitsCanBeExcitedatAnyGivenTimeWitha
SinglePassingTractorTraileratLowSpeeds......................................................................................15
Figure9:EstimationofPowerOutputasaFunctionofWeightontheVehicleWheel(Virginia
TechBasis).................................................................................................................................................16
Figure10:TheMajorityofVMTComposedofPassengerCarsandLightDuty(Noncommercial)
Trucks........................................................................................................................................................17
Figure11:VehiclesWithShorterWheelbasesAreAlsoLighter,butHaveHigherEstimated
CapacityFactors.......................................................................................................................................17
Figure12:GenzikoClaimsSignificantPowerDensityOverCompetingTechnologies................18
Figure13:ActualOutputper1kmofRoadwayVersusRelevantOutputs....................................24
Figure14:RegressionCoefficientsfortheNPV(at60months)fortheTrafficModelLCOE
Calculation................................................................................................................................................27
Figure15:SensitiveFactorsAffectingtheLCOE.................................................................................28
Figure16:CapitalCostoftheSystemBasedonStatedPowerCapabilityandCapitalCostsFrom
theLiteratureReview..............................................................................................................................29
Figure17:ComparisonofCapitalCostsforVariousEnergySources..............................................36
Figure18:EstimatedLCOEforVariousEnergySystems..................................................................36
Figure19:ElectricityCostsNearSacramento,California..................................................................37
Figure20:CapitalCostsforEnergySystemsComparedtothePiezoelectricSystem....................38
Figure21:ComparisonoftheLCOEforthePiezoelectricSystemComparedtoOtherEnergy
Systems......................................................................................................................................................39
Figure22:CrossSectionalDiagramoftheRoadwayInstallationofPiezoelectricEnergy
Harvesters.................................................................................................................................................40
Figure23:AboveGroundInstallationofPiezoelectricEnergyHarvestingDevicesforRailways
....................................................................................................................................................................41
Figure24:SchematicofanAcceleratedAgeingPlatformforaPiezoelectricEnergyHarvester
Application...............................................................................................................................................45
Figure25:EfficientRoadTestingJigDesignedtoCycleConcreteUnderRoadWearConditions
....................................................................................................................................................................45
Figure26:InstallationofFieldDemonstrationinVirginiaUsingInnowattechEnergyHarvesters
(left)andSchematicofInstallationWithDataCollection(right)......................................................46

vii

LIST OF TABLES
Table1:ComparisonofCalculationResultsAcrossMultipleThirdPartyInvestigatorsIntothe
CompressionBasedEnergyHarvestingTechnology.........................................................................13
Table2:TwoDifferentEnergyHarvestingTechnologiesComparedfora600Vehicle/hrFlow
Rate.............................................................................................................................................................20
Table3:DataSummaryforPiezoelectricMaterialsandInstallations..............................................20
Table4:DataSourcesFromLessObjectiveReferences......................................................................21
Table5:CorrelationBetweenTrafficandHarvesterMetricsandSystemPowerOutput.............23
Table6:EstimationofKeyPerformanceCharacteristicsofPiezoelectricSystemsBasedonTraffic
ParametersWitha1020YearLife........................................................................................................25
Table7:ExternalFactorsThatAffectSystemLevelPerformance.....................................................26
Table8:SummaryoftheLCOEAnalysisforThreeCases.................................................................28
Table9:CrossCheckofTrafficModelAgainstWhatWasDeterminedFromInnowattech
Numbers....................................................................................................................................................30
Table10:LCOEfortheGenzikoTechnologyBasedonVendorInformation.................................32
Table11:CrossCheckofTrafficModelAgainstWhatWasDeterminedFromInnowattech
Numbers....................................................................................................................................................33
Table12:ATestofMutuallyExclusiveLCOEandCapitalCostsfortheInnowattechTechnology
....................................................................................................................................................................34
Table13:AStagedGateApproachtoEvaluateVariousPiezoelectricTechnologies.....................43
Table14:OutlineofSuggestedDemonstrationProject......................................................................47

viii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
TheCaliforniaEnergyCommissioncontractedDNVKEMAtoinvestigatetheviabilityof
deployingpiezoelectricmaterialsinCaliforniaroadwaysforthepurposeofharvestingelectrical
energy.Piezoelectricmaterialsgenerateelectricitywhensubjectedtomechanicalstress.The
purposeofthiseffortwastoassessthevalueofpiezoelectricbasedenergyharvesting
technologytodetermineiftheearlyresultsfromprototypedemonstrationswarrantamore
detaileddemonstrationinCalifornia.Thisreportdescribesthepresentstateoftheartin
piezoelectricmaterials,assessesdemonstrationdatathatarepresentlyavailable,andconductsa
technoeconomicanalysisofthesedatatoassessthecostofenergyforpiezoelectricenergy
harvestersinroadways.Inthesamewaythatahybridvehiclerecaptureskineticenergywhilea
vehicleslows,piezoelectricdevicesembeddedinroadwaysmayrecaptureenergyintheformof
vibrationandcompressionunderthevehicletires.DNVKEMAisanindependentthirdparty
consultancyanddoesnotendorsethetechnologiesdescribedinthisreport.Thefollowing
summarizesthereportfindings:

DNVKEMAreviewedthreevendors.Thevendorbasedlevelizedcostofenergy(LCOE)
rangesfrom$0.03$0.18/kilowatthour(kWh)forcompressionbasedsystemswitha
meanof$0.11/kWh.Acompressionbasedsystemhasastackofpiezoelectricmaterials
thatiscompressedtogenerateenergywitheachcompressioncycle(suchasthepassage
ofavehicletireoverthestack).Vibrationbasedsystemsclaim$0.06$0.08/kWh.A
vibrationbasedsystemhasanarrayofcantileverorbentbeampiezoelectricenergy
harvestervibratingasaresultofexternalstimulus(suchasthepassageofavehicletire
overhead).DNVKEMAindependentlyestimatestheLCOEtobebetween$0.07
$0.20/kWhwith90percentofvaluesat$0.20/kWhorless,providedthatinstalled
nameplatepowerdensitiesgreaterthan300Watts/squarefoot(W/ft 2)arepossible(a
criticalvalidationmetric).

AUCBerkeleyreviewofthetechnologywasmorecriticalthanotherreviews.The
Berkeleycritiquemakesacompellingargumenttoshowthatenergydensityisa
challengeforthistechnology,butitdidnotconsiderrecentengineeringinnovationon
mechanismstomaximizepowerdensity.Inthesamewaythatphotovoltaic(PV)
systemscanemploymirrorsandlensestoconcentratelightonactivemodules,the
piezoelectricmodulescanusemechanicaladvantageandnovelpackingofmaterialsto
thesameeffect.Forexample,ademonstrationatVirginiaTechhasmeasuredpower
outputgreaterthantheUCBerkeleyestimation.

Usingacomputationaltrafficmodel,itwasfoundthatsomeperformancemetrics
appeartobemutuallyexclusiveandrequirefurthervalidation.Poweroutputper
moduleisthepreferredmetrictovalidatethevendorclaims.

Importantfactorsthatdeterminethecosteffectivenessofthepiezoelectricroadway
energyharvestingsystemare(1)poweroutputperinstalledmodule,(2)lifetimeofthe

system,and(3)totalinstalledcost.Powerdensity(W/m2)andtrafficflowrate
(vehicles/hr)affecttotalpower.Systempoweroutputdependsonvehicleweightand
powerpulseduration.

Powerdensityisincreasedbymeansofhighdensitypackingofmaterialsand
mechanicaldesign.Piezoelectricenergyharvestingsystemsarebestplacedinareaswith
hightrafficflowratestomaximizeenergygeneration.Trafficflowconditionssuchas
vehicleweightandspacingbetweenvehiclesarelocationdependent(interstatehighway
versuscountyroad)andcriticaltosystemeconomicviability.

Thetechnologyisinearlystagesofproductdevelopment.Mostvendorsquotesystem
levelmetricssuchaskW/kmwhichcontaincontingencydatathataredifficultto
compareacrossregions.Publicdemonstrationstodatelackdataforcommercialdesigns.

Duetotheintermittencyofthepowergenerated,thereisaneedforenergystorageor
netmetering.Onlyoneofthethreevendorsevaluatedacknowledgesenergystorage
costs.

TheresultsofthisresearchindicateafuturedemonstrationinCaliforniaiswarrantedto
assessactualenergyprovidedinaroadwayorrailwaydemonstration.

Furtherconsiderationofrailwaysisneeded.Theinstalledcostofrailwayharvestersis
likelylessthanroadwayharvesters.Therailwayharvesterscanbeinstalledbetweenthe
railtieandthesteelrailanddoesnotrequirerailwayexcavation,whichlowersthelabor
requiredforinstallationandoverallefficiencyandcostofenergycanbeimprovedin
thisapplication.However,thereislittlepublicdataonrailwayinstallation.

Intheeventofanindependentevaluation,theassessmentshouldinclude:
o

Independentverificationofpoweroutputperpiezoelectricmodule.

Lifetimeanddurabilityasafunctionofunevenwearinthesystem,and
downtimeassociatedwithfailingmodules,maintenance,andreplacement.

Costsassociatedwithinstallationmethods,downtimeassociatedwith
installation,andmaintenanceofthesystem,aswellasverificationofother
balanceofsystemcostssuchasenergystorageornetmetering.

Addedvalueandpotentialmarketingrevenuefromadditionalinformation
collectedfromthepiezoelectricsystem,andpotentialrealtimestatusofthe
roadwayorrailwaycondition,thusavoidingunnecessaryinspectioncosts.

CHAPTER 1:
Basics of Piezoelectric Materials
1.1

What Are Piezoelectric Materials?

Simplystated,piezoelectricmaterialsarecrystalsthatgenerateelectricitywhencompressedor
vibrated.Theyhavetheuniqueoppositepropertyofgeneratingastresswhenvoltageisapplied
tothem.
Piezoelectricmaterialsfallwithinaclassofmultiplesolidstatematerialsthatcangenerate
electricitywiththeapplicationofsomestimulussuchasheat,stress,orlight.Photovoltaic
materialsgenerateelectricitywiththeapplicationoflight(thebasisofsolarpanels),and
thermoelectricmaterialsgenerateelectricitywiththeapplicationofheat.Piezoelectricmaterials
generateelectricitywiththeapplicationofstress.Thesematerialsareallsemiconductors,
meaningtheyaremuchlikeconventionalelectronics,generallyconstructedofSilicon(Si)or
Germanium(Ge)withadditionalelements.
Usingpiezoelectricstoharvestvibrationenergyfromhumanswalking,machineryvibrating,or
carsmovingonaroadwayisanareaofgreatinterest,becausethisvibrationenergyisotherwise
untapped.Sincemovementiseverywhere,theabilitytocapturethisenergycheaplywouldbea
significantadvancementtowardgreaterefficiencyandcleanerenergyproduction.

1.2

Benefits of Energy Harvesting

Inthesamewaythatahybridvehiclerecaptureskineticenergywhileavehicleslows,
piezoelectricdevicesembeddedinroadwaysmayrecaptureenergyintheformofvibrationand
compressionunderthevehicletires.
Thetopicofenergyharvestinggenerallyreferstothecaptureandstorageordirectuseof
ambientenergyforhumanpurposes.Assolarpanelsharvesttheenergycontainedinsunlight
andconvertittoelectricalenergy,otherformsofenergyharvestingalsocaptureambient
energy,usuallyintheformofvibrationorheat,andconvertittoausefulenergymediumsuch
asmechanicalorelectricalenergy.
Energyharvestingmayormaynotcapturerenewableenergy.Inthecaseofsunlight,theenergy
isrenewablebecauseitissourcedfromthesun,asourceofnearlyinfiniteenergyfortheplanet
andthesolarsystem.Wasteheatinanindustrialfacilitymaynotberenewablesincethe
processesgeneratingthewasteheatmaynotberenewable,however,wasteheatmaybea
significantsourceofenergytobeharvested.Generally,thetermrenewabletendstobepaired
asinexhaustibleinthecontextofenergy,sotheclassificationofharvestedenergydependson
thisdefinition.Inthesensethatallprocessesareinherentlyinefficient(asstatedinthesecond
lawofthermodynamics),thereistheoreticallyaninexhaustiblesupplyofwasteenergyand
fractionsofitmaybeharvestedfrominefficientprocesses.
Generally,ifwasteenergyinasystemisharvested,theoverallefficiencyofthesystemis
increased.Wastevibrationenergymaycomefromrotatingmachinery,manufacturingprocesses
3

withhydraulicmachinerypresses,conveyorbelts,electricmotors,orengineswhichmayor
maynotbefueledbyrenewableenergy.Inthiscaseofthisstudy,wastevibrationenergyin
roadwaysisthedesiredenergytobeharvested.
ThesubjectofthisinvestigationistoexaminetheharvestingofenergyfromCalifornia
roadways.Informationaboutrailwaysissparse,butitisprovidedwithinthisreportifitis
available.Vehiclesdrivingalongthehighwayorcitystreetgeneratevibrationasthevehicle
treadencountersthetextureofthepavementandthevehiclesuspensionundulatesfrom
variationsinheightalongtheroadway.Thekineticenergycontainedinthesemovementsgoes
unusedonasystemlevel,althoughtheseprocessesarepartofthephysicsincreatinga
comfortableandfunctionalrideinavehicleandmaintainingtraction.Themainsourceof
energyinapiezoelectrichighwayenergyharvestingeventistheimpactofthevehicletire(and
theweightitbears)asittransitionsoverapiezoelectricdevice.Thisenergyiskineticenergy
thatgoesotherwiseunused,andisanacceptedinefficiencythatcomeswiththeuseofvehicles
asatransportationmode.Harvestingafractionofthisenergymaybeasourceforincreasingthe
overallefficiencyoftransportationinfrastructure.

1.3

What are piezoelectric materials commonly used for?

Themajorityofliteratureforpiezoelectricmaterialsisdirectedtowardvibration,ultrasonic
sensors,andtransducers.Apiezoelectricdevicerequiresastresstofunction,suchas
compressionfromoutsideforces.Thefirstapplicationofstresswillgeneratevoltageand
current(power)withinthematerial,butthestressmustberelaxedinorderforthematerialto
generatepoweragain.Inthisway,piezoelectricmaterialsrequirealternatingstressor
vibrationtofunctionpseudocontinuously.
Thefieldofacousticsdeployspiezoelectricmaterialsforawiderangeofsensorsandactuators.
Thesesensorsvibrateatveryhighfrequenciesabovetherangeofhumanhearingwhichallows
themtobeverysensitivetomicroscalephysicalfeatures.Ultrasonicacousticpiezoelectric
transducersareoftenusedtoinspectweldsinpipelines,forexample,tolookforvoids,cracks,
orotherdefectsthatmightmaketheweldincapableofholdingpressure.Inthecontextof
energyharvesting,piezoelectricsareoftenconsideredassmallscaleenergyharvestingsources
topowerasensornetworkorsensorarray.
Forthepurposeofenergyharvesting,thevibrationfrequenciesaretypicallymuchlowerthan
whatisrequiredforultrasonics.Recallthatpiezoelectricmaterialscanbestressedor
compressedtocreatecurrent,orcurrentcanbeappliedtogenerateastress.Ahumanwalking,
forexampleisalowfrequencyeventthatcanbecapturedintheformofstressonapiezoelectric
platform.Apersonwalkingacrossaroommaycomplete12stepspersecond.Eachstep
introducesastressintheflooroftheroom,andthefrequencyof that alternating stresswouldbe
about12vibrationspersecond,andthiswastevibrationalenergycanbeharvested.
Vibrationspersecondareameasureoffrequency,oftenstatedinHertz(Hz).Onevibrationper
secondisequalto1Hz.Twovibrationspersecondareequalto2Hz.ThecommonUnited
Stateshouseholdselectricalcircuitcarrieselectricityoscillatingat60cyclespersecond,or60
Hz,whichisevidencedbythelowfrequencybuzzofanelectricshaver.Anultrasonicsensor,
4

however,mayvibrateatthousandsortensofthousandsofcyclespersecondandthismaybe
abovetherangeofhumanhearingwhichrangesfrom20Hzto20,000Hz.Ultrasonicsvibrate
abovethehumanrangeofhearing,ashighas100,000Hz.Oneofthemostcommonultrasonic
technologiesthatmostpeopleexperienceistheultrasoundusedtoimageunbornbabiesin
thewomb.Thescanisperformedbyanultrasonicdevicewhichprocessesreflectionofthe
soundwavestoproduceanimageofthebaby.Thisultrasoundequipmentoperatesaround1
millionHzto18millionHz(MHz).TherangeofthesefrequenciesisillustratedinFigure1.
Whyisfrequencyimportant?Oneneedstounderstandthatthetypeofpiezoelectricthatbest
harvestsenergyshouldhaveafrequencyresponsesuitableforthevibration.Piezoelectrics
designedforultrasonicswouldhaveverylittlesuccessiftheywereputintoanapplicationto
harvestenergyfromwalking.Theywouldalsolikelybetooexpensive.Thepiezoelectric
materialsrelevanttothisapplicationaredesignforlowfrequencyvibrationharvestinginthe
rangeof100120Hz 1 .

Figure 1: Energy Harvesting of Vibrations is Possible typically in the Lower Frequency Range
from 1-1,000 Hz

Source: DNV KEMA

Harvestingthevibrationenergyfromhumanswalkinghasbeenapasttargetofpiezoelectrics.
Therehavebeenstudiesfocusedonfutureenergyefficientcitiesthathavesolarpanelsonthe
rooftopsofbuildingsandpiezoelectricsinthesidewalkstoharvestenergyfromfoottraffic.

1.4

What are some relevant cost and energy metrics?

Todeterminehowmuchenergypiezoelectricscanproduce,afewmetricsneedtobedefined
priortodiscussion.

CookChennault.PiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting:AGreenandCleanAlternativeforSustainedPower
Production.BulletinofScience,Technology,&Society,Vol28,No6Dec2008pp496509.

Thefirstispower.PowerisdefinedinWatts(W),whichisdefinedasunitsofenergyper
second.Powerisanindicationofhowquicklyenergycanbedelivered.Apowerfulair
conditionercancoolaroomquickly,whereasaweaklypoweredheatermayrequirealongtime
toheataroom.Otherexamplesincludeasolarpanelwhichmayberatedat200Winpeak
sunlightatnooninthemiddleofasummerCaliforniaday.Anaturalgaspowerplantmay
produceasmuchas200millionwatts(megawatts,orMW)topoweracityanditssurrounding
neighborhoods,onemilliontimesmorepowerfulthanasinglesolarpanel.
Thesecondmetricisenergy.Energyisdefinedinmanyunits.Instandardunits,energyis
statedinJoules(J),butforelectricityitisoftenmostusefultodefineenergyintermsofwatt
hours(Wh),forexample,howmanywattsareproducedinanhour.Intheexamplesabove,the
solarpanelwouldproduce200Whfromnoonto1PM.Thenaturalgaspowerplantwould
produce200millionwatthours(200megawatthours,orMWh)inthesamehour.Again,the
twoexamplesaredifferentbyafactorofonemillion.
Whendiscussingpowerandenergysystems,itishelpfultotalkabouthowmuchpoweror
energycanbemadewithinafootprint(area)orbox(volume).Thesearestatedasmetricssuch
aspowerdensityandenergydensity.Forsystemsthatareflatlikesolarpanels,powerdensity
mightbeinunitsofwattspersquarefoot(orsquaremeter).Considerthesolarpanelexample
fromabove,producing200Wor200Whinanhour.Atypicalsolarpanelmightmeasure2ftx3
ft,orsixsquareft(6ft2).Itspowerdensitywouldthenbe200wattsinsixsquarefeet,or
200/6=33W/ft2.Thenaturalgaspowerplantmightoccupyaspaceof100,000squarefeet,
perhapsfencedoffinaremoteplaceoutsideofthecity.Itspowerdensitywouldbe200million
wattsin100,000squarefeet,or2,000W/ft2.Similarly,theenergydensityofthesesystemsis33
Wh/ft2forthesolarpaneland2,000Wh/ft2forthepowerplant.Thesemetricsaredescribedona
scalebarinFigure2below.

Figure 2: Power and Energy Scale for Piezoelectrics, Photovoltaics, and Conventional Power

Source: DNV KEMA

Thesenumbersbecomeinterestingwhenappliedtopiezoelectrics,particularlyinpowerand
energydensity.ConsidertheDigitalSafariGreenbizCompanyproduct.Itestimatesthata3x5
feetpanelwillgenerate17.5wattsperstep.Humanfoottrafficoverthispaneloccursat
approximatelytwostepspersecond(2Hz).However,notethatthepoweroutputisnot
continuous,becausepowerisgeneratedonlywhenahumanstepsonthepanel.Thepower
densityoftheflooringproductis17.5Wper15ft2,or1.2W/ft2,about30timessmallerthana
solarpanel.Theenergydensityisdifferentbecauseitdependsonhowoftenpeopleare
steppingonthepanel.Atbestthereisnearlycontinuousfoottrafficonthepanelresultingina
nearlycontinuous17.5Wgeneratedwhichwouldresultin17.5Wheveryhour,oranenergy
densityof1.2Wh/ft2.Therefore17.5Wisthemaximumpowerthepanelgenerates,anditwill
belessiffoottrafficisless.Infact,energydensityislinearlyproportionaltothefoottraffic,as
showninFigure3.Thesameruleappliestoasolarpanel;itsenergydensityvarieswith
sunlightandithaszeroenergydensityatnight.
Anothermetricworthdiscussingiscapacityfactor.Therelationshipoftrafficvolumeto
capacityfactorisimportantfortheconsiderationofpoweroutputforaroadwayenergy
harvestingsystem.Powerequipmentusuallyhasanameplateratinglikethegasturbine
mentionedabove,forexample:a1.5MWwindturbine,a200Wattsolarpanel,ora100kWgas
microturbine.Thesenameplateratingscarryunspokenqualifiersassociatedwithpeakoutput
andhaveanimpactontheenergygenerated.Inreality,thewindturbinelikelyspinsabout30
percentofthetimewhenwindconditionsarefavorable.Thereforeitmayberatedat1.5MW,
butthisdoesnotmeanitproduces1.5MWhperhour.Instead,itproduces0.3*1.5MWh/h,or
about0.5MWh/h.Thefractionoftimethatthepowerequipmentproducespoweristhe
capacityfactor.
Figure 3: Energy Density Depends on Foot Traffic for the Piezoelectric Floor

Source: DNV KEMA

ThelessonlearnedfromFigure3appliestoaroadwaymodelalso,andimmediatelyimplies
thatanenergyharvestingsystemwillbenefitthemostfromroadswithhightrafficvolumesin

thesamewaythatapiezoelectricfloorwillbenefitfromhighfoottraffic.Amajorfocusofpast
researchandanessentialpartofanyUnitedStatesbaseddemonstrationswillbeastudyof
energyproductionversustrafficvolume,averagevehiclespeed,andevenvehicleweight.This
willbeexplainedfurtherinChapter3:ConclusionsandRecommendations.Energyandpower
densityareexpressedbyvendorsintermsofkWh/kmandkW/km,respectively.Howeveritis
alsousefultodiscusspowerdensityintermsofW/moduleorW/ft2ofdevices.
Thecostofthesesystemsisdisparateacrosstheliterature,buttwocostmetricsareofuse.Floor
basedpiezoenergyharvestingsystemssuchasthoseadvertisedbyPiezoPoweruseaRochelle
saltpanelmeasuring1500ft2inareafor$2,250,or$1.50/ft22 .TheInnowattechroadwaysystem
hasbeenquotedtocost$650,000fortheinstallationofonekmofroadway,whichgenerates100
kW.Thiscorrespondstoanovernightcapitalcost 3 of$6,500/kW.Thesetwotechnologiesplacea
widerangeonthecostpersquarefootandthiscanbeattributedtotheinstallationneeds.
Innowattechhasoptimisticallystatedinpressreleasesthattheinstalledcostcanbecutbytwo
thirds.
Efficienciesofpiezoelectricmaterialscanrangefrom2030percentforsomedevicesandaslow
as 1015 percent for low cost devices. These roadway piezoelectric devices are engineered
towardlowcostandthereforehaveefficiencyatthelowerendofthespectrum.
Becausetheapplicationofpiezoelectricmaterialsasbulkenergyproducingdeviceshasonly
recentlybeendemonstrated,thereisawiderangeofliteratureconcerningpowerandenergy
densitycharacteristicsofthesematerials.Somematerialsarelikelybettersuitedformicro
harvestingapplications(suchasinsensornetworks)whileothersaremoresuitableforbulk
powerharvestingandproduction.AscanbeseeninFigure4,piezoelectricdevicescanbe
comparedtothepowerdensityofLibatteriesinsomecases,buttherangeofpowerdensitiesis
quitelarge 4 .Thisilluminatesthefactthatthetechnicaldatabaseonthesematerialsislargeand
diverseandthereforeastudyoftheirapplicationtowardroadwaysrequiresafocusedstudyof
thespecificmaterialsanddevicesavailable.

Walsh,etal.PiezoPower.DigitalSafariGreenbizzCompanyBusinessPlanCompetition,2011.

3Overnightcapitalcostisanestimateforthematerialsandinstallationforenergysystems,anddoes

notincludethesometimesimmeasurablecostsofpermitting,constructiondelays,andotherdelayswhich
addtothecostofconstructionprojectsthatarespecifictothelocation,thecontractors,andthe
technology.Overnightcostsareagenerallyacceptedcomparisonforenergysystemsandareoftenquoted
inthisfashioninDOE,EIA,andIEAdocuments.
CookChennault.PiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting:AGreenandCleanAlternativeforSustainedPower
Production.BulletinofScience,Technology,&Society,Vol28,No6Dec2008pp496509.
4

Figure 4: Piezoelectric Devices have Voltage and Power Capability Similar to Li-ion Batteries

Source: Cook-Chennault, et al

1.5

Two Ways to Harvest Energy with Piezoelectric Materials

Asmentionedaboveinthesectiontitled1.1WhatarePiezoelectricMaterials?,apiezoelectric
materialgeneratesenergywhenitisstressedandstrained.Thisprimarymechanicalstress
generatesavoltageandcurrentpulse,theproductofwhichispower(Watts).Thedetailsof
roadwaypiezoelectricenergyharvestingsystemsaregiveninAppendixA.
Therearetwotechnologiesreviewedinthisreportthatharvestenergyintwodifferentways,
butbothrelyonstressingapiezoelectricelement.Inthefirstcase,astackofpiezoelectric
materialsiscompressedtogenerateenergyandapulseofpowerisregisteredwitheach
compressioncycle(suchasthepassageofavehicletireoverthestack).Inthesecondcase
basedonwhatcanbesimplifiedandinferredfromproductliteraturetheenergyharvesting
mechanismappearstobeanarrayofcantileverorbentbeampiezoelectricenergyharvesters
vibratingasaresultofexternalstimulus(suchasthepassageofavehicletireoverhead).The
powerprofilecontinuestogeneratepowerforalongerdurationasthevibrationsdecay.An

CookChennault.PiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting:AGreenandCleanAlternativeforSustainedPower
Production.BulletinofScience,Technology,&Society,Vol28,No6Dec2008pp496509.
5

exampleofavibratingdeviceisshowninFigure5incomparisontoacompressionbased
energyharvestingdevice.
Anarrayofmanydeviceswithinasmallvolumeleadstohigherenergyorpowerdensity.
However,thearrayconfigurationanddurationofoutputwilldeterminetheseproperties.

Figure 5: Difference in Performance Characteristics of Compression-based Energy Harvesters and

Cantilever Energy Harvesters

Source: DNV KEMA

1.5.1 Energy Density of a Compression-based System

Acriticalassessmentofthecompressionmechanismforharvestingenergywasprovidedby
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley 6 (Berkeley).Thecalculationexplainswithmathematical
justificationthatsimplecompressionofagivenvolumeofspacedoesnotitselfactualize
significantenergy.However,thecalculationneglectspossibleengineeringinnovationsinthe
piezoelectricmodulewhichcanincreaseenergydensityandamplifytheeffect.Thisis
highlightedbyademonstrationfromVirginiaTech,whichusesalabdesigned,simplified
piezoelectricpowermodulethatgenerates100timesmorepowerthanwhatBerkeleyconcluded
ispossiblewithoutanysignificantengineeringotherthanoptimizedplacementofstacks.

6Waterbury,Wright

10

Berkeleycalculatedthatthemaximumamountofenergyimpartedduringacompressionof0.08
m(3)is6.6x105J(lessthan1mW).VirginiaTechhasbuiltaprototypeenergyharvesterthatis
explainedindetailinAppendixA.TheVirginiaTechprototypeenergyharvesterhas
demonstratedanoutputof0.080.14Wfromthesamefootprint,sothereisadiscrepancyin
whatBerkeleyhascalculatedversuswhathasbeendemonstrated.Someofthisdiscrepancyis
intheassumptionsforthecalculation,andothersourcesofdiscrepancyarisefromengineering
modificationstoincreasepowerdensity.Commercialcompressionbasedenergyharvesters
containmechanicallinkagestomultiplyforcestoincreasetheirpowerdensity.VirginiaTech
modeledaplateoverpillardesigntodistributeloadacrosssmallpiezoelectricstacks(Figure6),
whichhasinherentlylowerenergydensitythanwhatisimpliedbycommercialdesigns.The
VirginiaTechunitdoesnotincludeanyforcemultiplyingmechanismorleverconfiguration,
yetithasdemonstratedgreaterpoweroutputthanwhatBerkeleycalculated.

Figure 6: Configuration of Stacks in the Virginia Tech Piezoelectric Harvester

Source: Virginia Tech

ThetargettrucksintheVirginiaTechstudyweretractortrailerswhichareaClass8weight
ratingat33,000poundsormore.Tractortrailershavefiveaxles:twoonthetrailer,tworear
axlesonthetractor,andonefrontaxle 7 .ThecharacteristicsoftheBerkeleytruckdonotmatch
anyUnitedStatesvehicleclass,sothemodifiedcalculationusesClass8vehiclesasthebasis
whichdescribesthesametractortrailersdemonstratedintheVirginiaTechstudy.Usingthis
estimate,theloadshouldbeincreasedperwheelto14,700Newton(N),oraboutfivetimesthe
Berkeleyassumption.Usingthefiveaxletruckcorrectsthenumberofcyclesto2.9x107.Using
thesimilarestimatesforthedimensionsoftheharvestersandaccountingforthecorrectionsfor

7Berkeleyestimated8axles.

11

weightandaxles,theBerkeleycalculationmethodyieldsabout0.01kW/kmratherthanthe
0.0018kW/kmthatwasestimatedinthepaper.Nevertheless,thisisstillmuchlessthanwhat
vendorshaveclaimed.ItisalsolessthanwhathasactuallybeendemonstratedbyVirginiaTech
(Figure7).
DatasharedwithVirginiaTechbyInnowattechindicatedthata4mmthickstackof15mm
diametercouldgenerate0.25Wwith64percentefficiencyat100MPaofload.Thisisequivalent
to64,516N/in2.WhencomparingFigure8andFigure9itcanbeseenthatsuchloadsarenear
expectedvehicleloadsatthetire.Intermsofpowerdensity,thisis0.25W/.001ft2,orabout
250W/ft2.Thisiswhatispossiblefromthematerialsbutitisacknowledgedthatthisisnot
necessarilywhatispossibleinpractice.Thereareseveralinefficienciesinvolvedinpackaging
andconvertingthispowertousefulenergy.Thisdata,inadditiontowhathasbeen
demonstratedbyVirginiaTech,impliesthatitispossibletoharvestpoweratlevelshigherthan
whatBerkeleycalculated.
ThedemonstrationfromVirginiaTechmeasured0.080.14Wforasinglecompressionevent
(exampleinFigure7)whichis100xlargerthanthe~1mWoutputcalculatedbyBerkeley.
Withina1kmstretchofhighway,thewheelbaseandshadowfootprintofthevehicles
occupyingthespacewilldeterminehowmanydevicescanbesimultaneouslystimulated.
Becausethecompressivebasedenergyharvestersgeneratepowerinsharp,discretepulses,
thereisverylittleoverlapbetweenexcitedharvestersandinactiveharvesters(see1.5.2 Effect
ofWheelbaseonCapacityFactor).ThecomparisonbetweentheBerkeleycalculation,the
correctedestimateusingUStractortrailersasthebasis,andtheVirginiaTechdemonstration
areshowninTable1.

Figure 7: Power Output from a Single Innowattech Energy Harvester during the Virginia Tech
Demonstration

Source: Virginia Tech

12

Table 1: Comparison of Calculation Results across Multiple Third-Party Investigators into the
Compression-Based Energy Harvesting Technology
Berkeley Result
600 trucks per hour
45,000 N truck weight (10,0000
lbs)
8 axles per truck
0.0018 kW/km output, < 1 mW at
the module

Modified Berkeley Calculation

Virginia Tech Demonstration

600 trucks per hour 8

As low as 167vehicles per hour

147,000 N truck weight, tractor

trailer (33,000 lbs, Class 8)

Tractor Trailer

Tractor trailer, 5 axles

5 axles

0.01 kW/km, 0.017 W/module

0.08-0.14 W per module

Source: DNV KEMA

TheBerkeleycritiquemakesacompellingargumenttoshowthatenergydensityisachallenge
forthistechnology,butitignoresengineeringinnovationonmechanismstomaximizepower
density.Inthesamewaythatphotovoltaic(PV)systemscanemploymirrorsandlensesto
concentratelightonactivemodules,thepiezoelectricmodulescanusemechanicaladvantage
andnovelpackingofmaterialstothesameeffect.Whileconservative,thedemonstrationdata
showsthatmoreispossiblethanwhatBerkeleycalculated,yetnotenoughtobefinancially
compellingwithasimpledesign.Commercialdesignsarefurtheralongtheproduct
developmentcyclethantheVirginiaTechdesign,andhavepresumablyovercomesomeof
thesechallenges.Thereforethereisreasontoshowcarefulconsiderationtoinvestmentin
demonstrationwhileaccountingforthenovelaspectsofcommercialproducts.Itisproposedin
therecommendationssectionthatifanevaluationpathischosen,itbemanagedinastagedgate
fashiontominimizeriskandinvestmentinanR&Dendeavorbyfirstperformingindependent
testsofcommercialpowermodulestoverifytheirclaimedoutput.Anyevaluationshouldstart
ataminimumwithalaboratoryindependentconfirmationofthemodulepoweroutputfrom
eachofthevendors.Suchtestingcanvalidateclaimswithoutaskingvendorstorevealtheir
intellectualproperty,aswellasconservativelyaddresstheconcernembodiedintheBerkeley
calculation.

1.5.2 Effect of Wheelbase on Capacity Factor on kW/km

Recallthediscussionofcapacityfactoronpage7.Themaintakeawayfromthecapacityfactor
discussionisthis:becausethepiezoelectricsystemisdistributedoverawidearea(forexample,
a1kmstripofroadway),thesystemischallengedtobe100percentactive,thatis,itisunlikely
thatallmodulescanbegeneratingatthesametime.Inordertounderstandthefactorsthat
contributetothecapacityfactorofapiezoelectricsystem,theVirginiaTechdemoisusedto
considerasimplewalkthroughofhowtheenergyharvestingsystemworks.

8600vehiclesperhourisacommonlyquotedvendormetric.Moredetailisrequiredinorderto

accuratelyassesstrafficcharacteristics,asexplainedinthetrafficmodelbelow.

13

A1kmstripofhighwaysitsempty.Imbeddedinitspavementaretwoparallelrowsof
energyharvesters,eachnumbering4900unitsforatotalof9800units.Eachofthem,
whencompressed,generates0.1W.

Asingletruckcomesfromthedistanceandentersthis1kmstripofhighway.

Asthesetofwheelscrossesthefirsttwoenergyharvesters,afrozenframesnapshotin
timerevealsthateachharvestergenerates0.1W,foranadditivepoweroutputof0.2W.

Asthefirstaxlecrossesintothesecondrowofenergyharvesters,thenexttwo
harvestersareexcitedtoproduce0.2W,andthefirstrowisalreadyrelaxingtoan
uncompressedstate.Atthispoint,thenetpoweroutputremainsat0.2W.

Bythetimethelastaxleofthetruckhascompletelyenteredthepiezoelectricenvelopeof
theroad,itwillhavefiveaxlestouchingharvestersatanygiventime.Ifeachunit
generates0.1W,thismeansatanygiventimethetruckisproducing1W.

Thelengthofatypicaltractortrailerisabout74feet(888inches).Whilethistractor
traileroccupiesspace,noothervehicleshalloccupythatspace.Thefiveaxlewheelbase
ofatractortrailervariesbutitcanbeestimatedat68feet.

IftheVirginiaTechdevicesarelaidendtoendincontactwithoneanothertomaximize
theirdensitywithintheroadway,tworowsof111unitseachcanfitwithintheshadow
ofatractortrailer.Withintheshadowofthetrailer,only10unitsoutof222arebeing
excitedatanygiventime.Outofapotential22W(nameplatecapacity),1Wisbeing
generated.

ThethoughtexperimentisillustratedinFigure8whereitisshownthat10energyharvestersare
activated(showninred)withinthefootprintofatractortrailer.Bythisillustration,inonehour
thenameplatecapacityoftheharvesterswouldindicate22Wh,butthenetproductionwould
onlybe1Wh.Thisrepresentsacapacityfactorof4.5percent.
Within1kilometer,44truckscanfitiflaidendtoend.Thatmeansthatwithin1km,440
piezoelectricunitsareproducingpoweroutof9800,orabout4.5percent.Thenameplate
capacityofthe1kmstripwouldbe980W,butitsactualoutputwouldbe44W,orlessthanan
incandescentlightbulb 9 .Thisistheminimumcapacityfactorlimit.
Becausethepulseofpowerinthecompressionbasedpiezoelectricunitisrelativelyfast(~0.1s),
onemightbeabletoimaginetraffictravelinginfinitelyfastsuchthatthedurationbetween
pulseswouldbesoshortthatallunitswouldbeenergizedcontinuously.Thisimpliesthatthe
harvestersshouldexperienceanimpactataminimumofevery0.1sinordertobenearly
continuouslyon.Highwaytrafficspeedscaninduceanearlyconstantactiveconditionforthe
harvestersdependingonspeedandvehiclewheelbase.Giventhelengthoftheaverage5axle
tractortrailerof68feet,forsimplicityitmaybeassumedthatanaveragedistancebetweenaxles

9TheseassumptionsarebasedontheVirginiaTechdemounit,whichisprototypicalandnoncommercial

andgenerateslesspowerthanwhatcommercialproductshaveclaimed.

14

of13.6feet.Avehiclespeedof65mphcorrespondsto95ft/s,whichindicatesthatimpactsoccur
onaverageevery0.13secondswhichbeginstoapproachthepoweroutputduration.Recallin
previoussectionsthatfrequencywasdefinedinHz.Apowerpulseevery0.13secondswould
correspondtoacompressionfrequencyof7Hz.
Acontinuouslineoftractortrailersconnectedatthebumpersmovingat65mphwould
producea0.1spowerpulse,followedbytheremaining0.03secondgapuntilthenexttire
impactstheunitproducinganother0.1spowerpulse.Thisidealizedcalculationwouldestimate
acapacityfactorof0.1s/0.13swhichis~76percent.Inreality,trafficisnotevenlyspacedandthe
powerdeliveryisnotflat,andthedensityoftractortrailersisnotperfect.Asaruleofthumb,
traffictendstobespacedatleastonetotwovehiclelengthsbetweeneachvehiclewhich
indicatesthatonlyoneoutofeverythreespacesforvehiclesareoccupied(cuttingmaximum
capacityfactorestimatesby1/3).Therefore,onecouldseehowcapacityfactorsof~2030percent
maybepossibleinhighspeedanddensetraffic.Nonetheless,theVirginiaTechdemonstration
illustratesamaximumlimitofabout980continuouswatts,andestimatingcapacityfactorsof
4.550percentcorrespondstoapoweroutputof44440Watts/km.Notethatthisiswattsnot
kilowatts.
Thelastargumentconcerningcapacityfactoralsoillustrateshowcapacityfactorsfortrainscan
beincreasedsincetrainsarecloselyspaced.Howeverthereisdowntimebetweentrains.
Piezoelectricsystemsonbusytracklineswouldhavemaximizedcapacityfactors.

Figure 8: Ten (red) out of 222 Piezoelectric Units can be Excited at Any Given Time with a Single
Passing Tractor Trailer at Low Speeds

Source: DNV KEMA

Themajorityofvehiclesontheroadarenottractortrailers.Usinginformationfromthe
TransportationEnergyDataBook 10 ,onecanseethatthemajorityofvehiclesontheroadareof
thetwoaxlevehicle(cars)andlightdutytruckvarieties.UsingtheVirginiaTechdataagainasa

Davis,Stacy;Diegel,Susan;Boundy,Robert.TransportationEnergyDataBookEd.31.July2012,Oak
RidgeNationalLabsORNL6987

10

15

standardoutputmetric,ifoneassumesthataClass8tractortrailergeneratesamaximumof
0.14Wperwheelimpact,onecanscalethepoweroutputlinearlywithweighttoestimatethe
netoutputpervehicletype 11 .Figure10revealsthatthosevehicleswiththegreatestenergy
harvestingpotentialarethefewestontheroad.Ofallvehiclemilestravelled(VMT),trucksand
bussescomprisesmallfractions.Thereforethereisaneedtoplaceenergyharvesterswherethey
canbeoptimizedforpoweroutputandcapacityfactortotakeadvantageofhightrafficflow
rateswithamaximizedcrosssectionofheavyvehicles.ThisisperhapsthereasonwhyVirginia
Techchoseatruckweighstationonahighway,asitwouldtargetheavyvehicleswhile
attemptingtocaptureahightrafficflowrate.
TheestimationofpoweroutputversusvehicleweightwaslinearizedfromtheVirginiaTech
demonstration(calculationshowninFigure9).Shorterwheelbasesleadtohighercapacity
factors,butlargerwheelbasestendtobeattributedtoheaviervehicles.Becauseheavyvehicles
tendtorequiremoreaxlestodistributeweight,wheelbasedoesnotgrowlinearlyasvehicle
weightgrows,buttendstoleveloutforheaviervehicles.Forexample,atractortrailerthat
measures68feetlongwithfiveaxleshasanaveragedistancebetweenaxlesof13.6feetandit
willbecarryingloads>33,000pounds.Abuscanhavesimilarloadrequirementsbutmayhave
ashorterwheelbaseof1519feetwithonlytwoaxles.Becauselightervehicleshaveshorter
wheelbases,theytendtohavehighercapacityfactors,yetlightervehiclesgeneratelesspower.
Thevehicletypeversustheestimatedcapacityfactorat40and65mph,respectively,isshownin
Figure11.ComparisonofFigure10toFigure11showstheengineeringcompromiseinroadway
energyharvesting;heavyvehiclesgeneratethemostpower,buttheyarelessfrequent,while
smallervehicleshavethehighestcapacityfactoryettheygeneratetheleastpower.

Figure 9: Estimation of Power Output as a Function of Weight on the Vehicle Wheel (Virginia Tech
Basis)

Source: DNV KEMA

11Itisnotknownatthistimewhetherpowerscaleslinearlywithweightbutitcanbeapproximatedfor

thisreport.

16

Figure 10: The Majority of VMT Composed of Passenger Cars and Light-Duty (Noncommercial)
Trucks
0.30

Buses
PowerperImpact(W)

0.25

OtherSingle
UnitTrucks

0.20
0.15

LargeTrucks

0.10
0.05

LightDuty
Trucks

Motorcycles

Cars

0.00
0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

%ofVMT

Source: DNV KEMA

Figure 11: Vehicles with Shorter Wheelbases are also Lighter, but Have Higher Estimated Capacity
Factors
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%

40mphCapacityFactor

5%

65mphCapacityFactor

0%

Source: DNV KEMA

1.5.3 Increased Capacity Factor through Longer Power Duration

Thepreviousdiscussionindicatesthatcapacityfactorisdependentonwheelbaseandvehicle
speed.However,itisalsodependentonthelengthofthepowerpulsefromtheenergy
harvester.Amanufacturer(Genziko)claimssuchadvantages(seeAppendixA).TheGenziko
productliteraturedisplaysdatabasedontrafficvolumesbutalsomakesanefforttoquantifya
capacityfactorbasedonvibrationfrequencyharvestedfromtheroadway.At65mph,tractor
17

trailerimpactswouldoccurat7Hz.Therefore,theremustbeanothervibrationharvested,
perhapsassociatedwithroadtexture,tiretexture,vehiclespeed,andvehicleweight.The
Genzikodesignharvestsvibrationalmodesusinganarrayofmicroscalepiezoelectricmaterials
inordertoextendthepowerpulse.Theextentofthispowerpulseiscriticaltowhetherthe
systemcangenerateprofitableenergy.

Figure 12: Genziko Claims Significant Power Density over Competing Technologies

Source: Genziko

18

CHAPTER 2:
Cost Analysis of a Piezoelectric Roadway Energy
Harvesting System
Bothroadwayandrailwaysystemsareconsideredinthisreportbuttherearemorereference
materialsavailableforaroadwaysystem.Therefore,itisnotpossibletoprovideasmuch
informationaboutthecostofenergyforarailwaysystem,althoughitwouldappearthatthe
capitalandinstallationcostsofrailwaysystemsarelessthanthecostsforroadwaysystems.The
followingsectionsestimatethecostofroadwayenergyharvestingsystemsusingthe
evaluationsofvendorclaimsaswellassimplifiedtrafficmodels.
Ananalysisofthecostmetricsindicatesthataroadwayorrailwaymodelwouldcomprisea
numberofkeyfactorsforconsideration:

Maximumpoweroutputofmodule(itsratedpowerdensity)

Durationofpowerpulsefrommodule

Lifetimeofthesystemanditscomponents

Trafficvolume

Trafficwheelbase

Weightofvehicles

Averagespeedoftraffic

Capitalcostsoftechnologyandinstallation

Maintenanceandotheroperationalcosts

2.1

Vendor Claims and Demo Data

InTable2,twodifferentvendortechnologiesarecompared.Itcanbeseenthatfromthesame
trafficflowrate,verydifferentpowerlevelsareclaimed.ThetableshowsthattheGenziko
productclaims90timesmorepowerwiththesametrafficflowrate,50percenthighervehicle
speeds,and80percentlessmodules.Disparitiesareobservedinthecategoriesoftrafficspeed,
poweroutput,thenumberofunits,andthecostperkm.Thefollowinganalyseswillseparate
outthefactorsthatleadtothesedifferencesandidentifythekeymetricsthatdifferentiateone
technologyfromanother.Whilethecapitalcostishigh,theLCOEhasanopportunitytobelow
becauseofincreasedenergydensity.Thisisexaminedinthefollowingsections.

19

Table 2: Two Different Energy Harvesting Technologies Compared for a 600 Vehicle/hr Flow Rate
Innowattech
Numbers
Vehicles per hour

600

0.0

45

65

0.5

150

13,600

89.7

9,800

2,037

-0.8

$650,250

$27,200,000 12

40.8

Claimed power generated, 1 km (kW)

Cost per km

Difference - Genziko
vs. Innowattech

600

Vehicle speed (mph)

Number of harvesters, 1 km

Genziko
Numbers

Source: DNV KEMA

AsummaryoftheknownliteratureforpiezoelectricsisshowninTable3.Muchofthedatais
presentedindifferentsourcesandthereforedifferentunits.Aconsolidationofthedatainto
comparativeunitsissummarizedinTable3.

Table 3: Data Summary for Piezoelectric Materials and Installations

Parameter

Low
Estimate

High
Estimate

Source

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)

15

CookChennault
Virginia Tech

400

700

Virginia Tech

Amperage (mA)

0.2

0.35

Virginia Tech

Power Duration (s)

Maximum measured power per event,
(W)
Virginia Tech Traffic Flow speed (mph)
Virginia Tech Traffic Flow rate (vehicles
per day)
Oregon DOT Traffic Flow Rate (vehicles
per hour)
Energy Generated for 1.0 km, Oregon
(kWh/month)
Number of harvesters, Oregon DOT
Energy harvested for bridge mounted
devices, per vibration (microJ)
Vehicle speed for micro harvesters (m/s)

0.1

0.2

Virginia Tech

0.08

0.14

Virginia Tech

40

Virginia Tech

4000

Virginia Tech

600

Oregon DOT

350,000

Oregon DOT

6,000

Oregon DOT

18

S.F. Ali, et al

25

S.F. Ali, et al

Berkeley

Optimal vibration frequencies (Hz)

100

120

Tested wheel speeds (mph)

7.5

Voltages (V)

kW per km

0.0018

12Basedon$2,000/kWcapitalcostprovidedbyvendor,includingenergystorage

20

Low
Estimate

Parameter
units per km

High
Estimate
10,000

Axles per vehicle

Source
Berkeley
Berkeley,
Oregon

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)
3
3

Source: DNV KEMA

Table 4: Data Sources from Less Objective References

Parameter

Low
Estimate

Target Cost of piezoelectric material (per

unit)

$1

Energy generated in 1 km stretch of road

(kWh)

400

Time span of energy measurement (hr)

High
Estimate

600

16

Source

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)

Channel
Technologies

POWERleap,
Treevolt

POWERleap,
Treevolt

POWERleap,
Treevolt

Traffic flow rate, POWERleap

(vehicles/hr)

12.5

Vehicles per hour

600

POWERleap

Power rating (kW)

720

POWERleap

POWERleap

6,000

POWERleap

10

POWERleap

1.13

Piezo Power

$1.50

Piezo Power

Power rating, 1.0 km (kW)

200

Innowattech

Power rating, train (kW)

120

Innowattech

Traffic flow rate (vehicles per hour)

600

Innowattech

72

Innowattech

300

Innowattech

Virginia Tech
Innowattech,
Haaretz
article
Innowattech,
Haaretz
article
Genziko

Genziko

Length of energy harvesting section (km)

Number of harvesters per 1 km
Power per unit per impact (W)
Power generated per sq ft, foot traffic
(W/ft^2)
Cost per square foot, foot traffic ($/ft^2)

Vehicle speed (kph)

Train speed (wagons/hr)
Size of each unit (ft^2)
Power per km (kW)

Cost per km ($)

LCOE ($/kWh)
Lifetime (y)

25

100

$215,400

$650,000

0.06

0.08

20

21

Parameter
Installation cost ($/W)

Low
Estimate

High
Estimate

0.4

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)

Genziko

Genziko

Capacity Factor

0.32

Vehicles per hour

600

Genziko

13,600

Genziko

Long dimension of unit (m)

0.45

Genziko

Short dimension of unit (m)

0.3

Genziko

Calculated
from Genziko

Calculated
from Virginia
Tech and
Berkeley

Power Density (kW/km)

Genziko Units per km

Number of harvesters

2,222

9,800

0.4

Source

3333

Source: DNV KEMA

2.2 Relationship between Traffic Parameters and Harvester

Characteristics
Theimportanceoftrafficdatasuchasvehicleweightandwheelbasewasshownin1.5.2Effect
ofWheelbaseonCapacityFactoronpage13.Inaddition,thedatashowninFigure13shows
thefactorsthatcontributetonetpoweroutputarevehicleweight,vehiclespacing,powerpulse
width,andwheelbase.Inordertoprioritizetheimportanceofthesefactors,theycanbe
analyzedwitharangeofvaluesforeachparameterinacalculationtomodelnetpoweroutput
oreconomicperformance.Then,regressionanalysiscanbeperformedtounderstandtheeffect
ofeachparameteronthecalculation.
Regressionanalysisisawayofobservinghowdependentvariableschangewhenindependent
variablesarevaried.Forexample,itisusefultoseehowtheLCOEofthesystem(adependent
variable)changeswhenthelifetimeofthesystemisvaried(anindependentvariable).The
regressioncoefficientisameasureoftherelativeinfluenceeachvariablehasontheLCOE.A
negativeregressioncoefficientcorrespondstoanegativeinfluenceontheLCOE,andapositive
coefficientcorrespondstoapositiveinfluenceontheLCOE.Asaresult,theregression
coefficientsindicatethesensitivityoftheLCOEtotheinputparametersandareariskranking
system.Acoefficientvalueofzeroindicatesthatthereisnorelationshipbetweentheinputand
theoutput.Avalueof+1or1indicatesa1or1standarddeviationchangeintheoutputfora
changeintheinputof1standarddeviation.
Thechartshowsthatthreeofthemainfactorsthataffectsystemlevelpoweroutputaretraffic
dependent.Theonlyfactorthatcanbecontrolledbythetechnology(besidesitsabilityto
maximizeenergyharvested)isthedurationofitspoweroutput.

22

Table 5: Correlation between Traffic and Harvester Metrics and System Power Output
Regression Coefficient

Affected Power Metric

Vehicle Weight

Maximum energy harvested power

output (W) at harvester

Vehicle Spacing

Capacity Factor

Power Pulse Width

Capacity Factor

Wheelbase

Capacity Factor

Source: DNV KEMA

TheregressioncoefficientsbelowwerecomputedbyusingtrafficdatafromtheTransportation
EnergyDataBooktocalculatecapacityfactorbasedontrafficspeedandvehiclewheelbase.In
addition,distributionsofvehicleweightsfromthesamedataandassumptionsaboutvehicle
spacingwereincluded.Thesenumberswereusedtofairlyestimatethevehiclecharacteristicsof
atypicalUnitedStatesroadway,andthenthesenumberswereadjustedtomatchthenumbers
quotedbymanufacturers.Forexample,atroadwayspeedsnear65mphandavehiclespacing
rateof0.06,thetrafficflowrateapproaches600vehiclesperhourandthesystemcapacityfactor
approaches20percent.
Capacityfactoriscomputedbythetimebetweenvehicleaxlehitsdividedbythepowerpulse
width.Ifthetimebetweenaxlehitsislessthanthepulseduration,capacityfactoris100percent.
However,thereisaneedforascalingfactortoaccountforthefactthatvehiclesdonottravel
bumpertobumperandsomespacingbetweenthemispermitted,whichiscalledthevehicle
spacingoccupationfraction.
Uncertaintyinthedurationofthepoweroutput(powerpulse)isconstructedaroundthedata
fromVirginiaTech,whichindicateda~0.1secondpulsewidth.Sincemanufacturersdonot
quotetheirunitoutputdirectly,thiswasestimatedandtheinputparameterswerevariedin
ordertoapproachcostofenergyestimationssimilartomatureadvancedenergytechnologies.
Byapproachingtheproblemthisway,atrafficinferredestimationcanbeusedtocrossvalidate
vendorclaimsandrevealtheperformancerequirementsinordertoachieveclaimedcostof
energy.
Thelessonslearnedfromthisanalysisare:
1. Poweroutputisincreasedforheaviervehicles
2. Trafficspacing,wheelbaseofvehicles,andoutputpowerpulsewidthdictatescapacity
factor
3. Poweroutputcanbeincreasedinharvesterpulsewidthisincreased.
Thelastpoint(#3)illustratestheadvantagethatatechnologylikeGenzikomighthavein
comparisontoInnowattech,providedthattheoutputisverifiedandthevehicleweight

23

influenceissimilar.Ifpoweroutputissustainedforlongerdurationswithalongerpower
pulse,capacityfactorisincreased.
AsshowninFigure13,thesystemoutputfor1kmofroadwayislargelydependentonthe
weightofthevehicleanditswheelbaseinadditiontothepulsewidthoftheharvesterandthe
vehiclespacing.

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

Figure 13: Actual Output per 1 km of Roadway versus Relevant Outputs

Source: DNV KEMA

2.3

What is the Power Output Required per Harvester?

AnanalysisofthetrafficbasedmodelthatgeneratedtheregressioncoefficientsinFigure13can
beusedtotesttheeffectofinputsoncriticaloutputssuchascapitalcostandcostofenergy.This
analysisreversestheanalysisdonein2.4 CostofElectricityofaCompressionbased
PiezoelectricRoadwayEnergyHarvestingSystemVendorClaims.Inthatanalysis,vendor
claimsareusedtoestimatethecostofenergy.Inthetrafficmodel,thetechnologycharacteristics
areinterrogatedtodeterminewhatcombinationsareneededtocreateareasonablecostof
energy;itisequivalenttofixingthecostofenergyandbackcalculatingtheinputs.
Thegoalofthefollowingcalculationistodeterminewhichmetricsanidealpiezoelectric
roadwayenergyharvestingsystemwouldhaveinordertoachieveareasonablecostofenergy.

24

Thefollowingextractsusefulmetricsthatpermitdirectcomparisonacrossmanufacturersby
decouplingperformancefromtrafficbaseddata.Thetwotablesrepresentcasesforlifetimesof
15yearsand1020years,respectively.Thetableswerecalculatedwiththefollowing
assumptions:
1. Totalinstalledcost($650,000$1,000,000/kmperInnowattechassumptions)
2. Harvestersize(~8x8perInnowattechassumptions)
3. Pulsewidth(0.1s)
4. Vehiclecharacteristicsforweightperwheelandwheelbase(previoussections)
5. Vehicleflowrate(600vehicles/hr,65mph)
6. ElectricitysalepricesequivalenttothosenearSacramento,California(Figure19),
Sincethismodelisgeneralizedtoshowthesumofmeasuredenergyoutput,thecapitalcost
implicitlyassumestotalsystemcostincludingBOS,whichmayincludeenergystorageand
powerelectronicstooutputgridreadyenergy.InTable6,thesystemrequirementsforalonger
lifetime(1020years)areshown.Alifetimeof20yearsisacceptablefortypicalroad
maintenanceschedules.

Table 6: Estimation of Key Performance Characteristics of Piezoelectric Systems based on Traffic

Parameters with a 10-20-Year Life

79

50th Percentile
Net Present
Value (NPV) at 5
Years
-$451,000

132
265

Power Output
per Harvester
(W)

$0.19

$17,100

Nameplate
Power
Density
(W/ft^2)
179

-$313,900

$0.11

$10,200

298

64

$30,190

$0.06

$5,100

596

128

LCOE ($/kWh)

Capital Cost of
System ($/kW)

Actual
kW/km

Source: DNV KEMA

Thelessonslearnedfromtheabovetablesarethatanidealsystemwillhavecharacteristics
similartothefollowinglist:
1. Powerdensity>300W/ft2(inthiscaseamoduleoutput>150W)
2. A1020yearlifetime
3. Capitalcosts<$10,000/kW
4. ActualkW/km>100

25

38

Theseparameterscanbeusedasacoarsequalificationlisttodeterminethefeasibilityof
technology,andwhenpowerdensityandoutputisverifiedbytesting,themethodsshownin
thisreportcanbeusedforabetterestimationoftheLCOE.
Giventhesefactors,thesensitivityofthefiveyearNPVoftheinvestmentisdominatedbythe
weightatthevehiclewheel.Whenthisvalueisincreased,theNPVincreases.Itisusefultonote
thatadecreasingwheelbasereducesthereturnbecausethistendstocorrelatewithlighter
weightvehicleseventhoughshorterwheelbasesincreasecapacityfactor(forexample,small
carsandmotorcycles).Highercapitalcostsobviouslyincreasethecostofenergyanddelaythe
returnoninvestment.Forscenarioswithlowerpowerdensity,thecapitalcostbecomesan
increasinglystrongernegativeinfluenceonNPV.Increasingtheharvesterpulsewidthand
increasingthevehiclespacingfactor(forexample,moredensetraffic)willincreasethepayback
andtheamountearnedperkWhsoldtothegrid.Increasingtrafficspeedwillalsoincreasethe
returnrate(seeFigure14).Theexternalfactors,suchasTrafficandEconomicsthataffectsystem
levelperformance,aresummarizedinTable7.

Table 7: External Factors that Affect System Level Performance

Parameter

Influence on Power System

Weight at vehicle wheel

Power per module, total system power

and nameplate rating

Wheelbase

Capacity factor

Cost per km

Capital cost, ROI, NPV, LCOE

Energy sale price

ROI, NPV

Vehicle spacing factor

Capacity factor

Harvester pulse width

Capacity factor, actual system output

Speed (traffic speed)

Capacity factor

Source: DNV KEMA

Theabovetablesandchartsillustratetheimportantfactorsthatdeterminetheeffectivenessof
anypiezoelectricenergyharvestingtechnology.Sinceeachtechnologyhasspecific
requirements,thedeterministicvalueswillvarybutshouldgenerallyfollowthetrendsabove
andshouldproducecomparablepowerdensitymetrics.

26

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

-0.2

-0.4

-0.6

Figure 14: Regression Coefficients for the NPV (at 60 months) for the Traffic Model LCOE
Calculation

Source: DNV KEMA

2.4 Cost of Electricity of a Compression-based Piezoelectric

Roadway Energy Harvesting System Vendor Claims
Ifthevendorclaimsareconsideredindependentlyofthetrafficmodel,thenLCOEcanbe
estimated,butitwillnotbreakdowninformationbytraits,suchastrafficcharacteristicsand
powerpulseduration.
Usingvendorsuppliedinformation,thecostofelectricitydependsstronglyonthelifetimeof
thesystemandtheassociatedmaintenancecoststoprolongitslife.Thereforethisanalysisis
basedonsomeassumptionsaboutthelifetimeofthesystemandisdividedintothreescenarios.
Inthefirst,arelativelyshortlifetimeoffiveyearsisassumed.Inthesecond,alongermaximum
lifeof10yearsisassumed.Inthethird,alifetimeof30yearsisassumed.Inallcases,theLCOE
assumesadiscountedvalueforfuturecostsovertimeandsumsthosecostsover240months(20
yearscorrespondingtotheexpectedusefullifeofroadmaterials)intoanetpresentvalue.It
alsosumstheenergygeneratedoverthattimeanddividesthediscountedinvestmenttotalby
thetotalenergygeneratedtodeterminetheLCOE.DetailsoftheLCOEcalculationareprovided
inAppendixE:CalculationDetails.
Factorsthathavenotbeenaccountedforinthisanalysisaredowntimeassociatedwith
maintenance,reliabilityoftheenergygeneratedorfailureratesofthepiezoelectricdevices,
individuallysortedcostsforinverters(assumedtobelumpedintothequoteoftheinstalled
27

capitalcost)andanyadditionalmaintenancerequiredfortheroadwayduringsystem
operation.AsummaryofthecostresultsisgiveninTable8.
Itshouldbenotedthatthiscostanalysisaddressesroadwayenergyharvestingspecifically
usingvendorclaims,whichhavebeenshowntobemuchhigherthanwhatisactually
demonstrated.Lackofdataabouttheinstallationandcapitalcostsforrailwaysystemspresents
significantuncertaintyintoanestimateofarailwaysystemcost.

Table 8: Summary of the LCOE Analysis for Three Cases

Case 1: Maximum 5
Year Lifetime

$0.027

$1.15

$0.18

Standard
Deviation, LCOE
(/kWh)
$0.14

Case 2: Maximum 10
Year Lifetime

$0.014

$0.41

$0.08

$0.05

Case 3: Maximum 30
Year Lifetime

$0.004

$0.20

$0.03

$0.02

Minimum
LCOE (/kWh)

Case

Maximum
LCOE (/kWh)

Mean LCOE
(/kWh)

Source: DNV KEMA

AsensitivityanalysisoftheLCOEfactorsisshowninFigure15.Thefigureisthesensitivityplot
forCase1,butitshowsthesametrendinallcases.Thesensitivityanalysisreflectsregression
coefficients.

Figure 15: Sensitive Factors Affecting the LCOE

Source: DNV KEMA

28

Theregressionanalysisindicatesthatinallcases,thelargestuncertaintyfactoristheclaimed
powergenerated,whichisdirectlydependentontrafficfactorsandthereliableoutputofthe
system.ThisfactorisnegativelycorrelatedwiththeLCOE,meaningthatifthepowergenerated
ishigher,theLCOEisdrivenlower.Thesecondlargestuncertaintyfactoristhelifetime.Itis
alsonegativelycorrelatedanditindicatesthatifthelifetimeislonger,theLCOEisdriven
lower.
Therearedegradationfactorsthatwilldecreasepoweroutputovertime.Sincethesensitivity
analysisindicatesthatpoweroutputisthemostimportantfactor,followedbylifetime,itcanbe
seenthatthetwofactorsarecoupledandareparamounttothesuccessfulperformanceofthe
system.
Thecapitalcost($/kW)isbuiltfromtheliteraturesourcesandisshowninFigure16andis
calculatedfromtherangeofpowervaluesandinstalledcostsextractedfromthedatasummary
fora1kminstallation(recallTable18).Themeanvalueofthecapitalcostis$2,300/kWwitha
maximumnear$10,400/kWandaminimumof$600/kW,andastandarddeviationof$1,600/kW.

Figure 16: Capital Cost of the System Based on Stated Power Capability and Capital Costs from
the Literature Review

Source: DNV KEMA

Duetouncertaintyconcerningthecapitalandinstallationcostsforrailwaypiezoelectricenergy
harvestingdevices,itisnotyetpossibletoprovideausefulLCOEprediction.However,itmay
bepossibletoassumethattheLCOEissimilartoorlessthanwhathasbeenestimatedinthis
reportduetotheassumptionthatthecapitalandinstallationcostsareless.Itmayalsobe
possibletoassumethattheregressioncoefficientswouldbesimilar,forexample,thereturnon
29

investment(ROI)wouldbesimilarlydependentontrafficvolume,lifetimeofthesystem,and
costperkilometerormile.

2.4.1 Comparison with Traffic Model

Usingthetrafficmodel,thefollowingcompressionbasedharvesterinputsareused:

Harvesterspacing:8

Harvesterpulsewidth:0.1s

Lifetime:1020years

Lengthofinstallation:1km

CostofInstallation:$650,000

Trafficspeed:45mph

Vehiclesperhour:600

UsingtrafficmetricssuchasthoseshowninFigure41andtheTransportationEnergyData
Booksexplanationinthesectiontitled
1.5.1 EnergyDensityofaCompressionbasedSystem,trafficmodelsweretestedintwocases
toestablishiftheoutputsmatchtheInnowattechclaims.First,theparametersweretunedto
achievethecostofenergythatwasdeterminedinthesection2.4 CostofElectricityofa
CompressionbasedPiezoelectricRoadwayEnergyHarvestingSystemVendorClaimsand
comparedtowhatisknownaboutInnowattechsclaims.Second,theparametersweretunedto
achievethepowerratingthatInnowattechclaimedandthencheckedforagreement.Theresults
ofthiscomparisonarefoundinTable9.Notethatbothsystemshavepowerdensitiesnearor
above300W/ft 2.

Table 9: Cross Check of Traffic Model Against what was Determined from Innowattech Numbers
Fixed Parameter

LCOE = $0.11/kWh

Reference
Power per unit (W)

Traffic Model

Capacity factor
Capital cost

Nameplate Power
Density (W/ft^2)
Actual capacity factor
adjusted output (kW/km)

kW/km = 100-200

Vendor Claims

132

Traffic Model
265

0.05

0.05

$10,200/kW

$5,100/kW

298

596

Not given

64

128

100-200

30

Innowattech
Not given
Not given
Mean $2,300/kW, see
Figure 16 max is
$10,400/kW

Fixed Parameter

LCOE = $0.11/kWh

Reference
Nameplate system power
(kW/km)

kW/km = 100-200

Traffic Model

LCOE ($/kWh)

1,303

Traffic Model
2,607

$0.11/kWh

$0.06/kWh

Vendor Claims
Innowattech
Not given
Calculated in previous
section

Source: DNV KEMA

Table9illustratesthatifthecostofenergyistobeachieved,itisdifficulttomeetthecapital
costsquotedbyInnowattechorthepoweroutput(kW/km)whileholdingalloftheother
requirements.Alternatively,inordertoobtainthepowerratingsquotedbyInnowattech,the
capitalcostsappeartobehigherthandesiredandtheLCOEbecomeslowerthanwhatwas
calculated.Theimplicationisthatthequotesfromthevendorsmaybefrommutuallyexclusive
conditions,ortheconditionsaredifferentfromwhatwouldbeexpectedwithUnitedStates
traffic.
Refinementstothetrafficmodelmaybeneededtoclosethegapbetweenthesedisparities.
However,thepurposeofTable9istodiscovertheinherentcompromisesintechnicalsystems,
forexample,achievingalowLCOEisdifficultwhenincreasingpowerdensityaccompanies
increasedcapitalcosts.Thetrafficmodelmaybeillustratingthatvendorquotedmetricsmaybe
thebestresultsformutuallyexclusivescenarios.Itisbeneficialtoexplorethesepossibilitiesand
identifyobjectivemetrics,suchaspowerpermodule,totestinathirdpartymannerinorderto
removethecontingenciesandqualifiersassociatedwithmetricssuchaskW/km.

2.5 Cost of Electricity from Vibration-based Roadway Energy

Harvesting System Based on Vendor Claims
TheGenzikoproducthassubstantiallydifferentclaimsthanthecompressionbased
(Innowattech)device.Fora600vehicleperhourtrafficflowrate,theGenzikosalespresentation
claims$2/W($2,000/kW)installedcostincluding1MWhofstorageperMWofinstalledpower,
withperformanceof13.6MW/km.TheGenzikoliteraturediffersfromPOWERleapand
Innowattechdiscussionsinthatitspecificallymentionsenergystorage.Thereisonlyonesource
fortheGenzikodata;therefore,therearenotenoughcrossreferencedvaluestoplaceboundson
theuncertainty,andtheresultisthattheLCOEcalculationissomewhatdeterministic.Thisis
whythevaluesinTable10haveverylittlevariationastheestimatedlifetimeincreases.

31

Table 10: LCOE for the Genziko Technology based on Vendor Information

Case 1: Maximum 5
Year Lifetime

0.05

0.22

Mean
LCOE
(/kWh)
0.10

Case 2: Maximum 10
Year Lifetime

0.03

0.04

0.03

0.004

Case 3: Maximum 30
Year Lifetime

0.01

0.01

0.01

Case

Minimum
LCOE (/kWh)

Maximum
LCOE (/kWh)

Standard
Deviation, LCOE
(/kWh)
0.03

Source: DNV KEMA

2.5.1 Comparison with Traffic Model

TheGenzikounithasdimensionsof0.3mx0.45mx0.25cm.Theunitfootprintis~11.8x17.7
(average15).Inordertoobtainthecostofenergythatthemanufacturerclaims($0.06
0.08/kWh),itisestimatedthatfor65mphtrafficwithUnitedStatesbasedvehiclepopulations,
thefollowingisassumed:

Harvesterspacing:24

Harvesterpulsewidth:variedbetween0.21.0s

Lifetime:1020years

Lengthofinstallation:1km

CostofInstallation:$27,200,000

Trafficspeed:65mph

Vehiclesperhour:600

Theresultofthiscalculationisthatthereisanassumed3280unitsperkm.SincetheGenziko
marketingpresentationscontainalotofinformationwithdifferentclaims,thebestattemptat
identifyingasetofselfconsistentclaimswasattemptedinthelastcolumnofTable11.Inthis
table,fourfactorsaretestedwiththetrafficmodelinordertofindagreementwiththeGenziko
claims:(1)LCOE,(2)claimedpowergenerated(kW/km),(3)capacityfactor,and(4)capitalcost
($/kW).TheresultsareshowninTable11,andtheconclusionisthat,basedontheinformation
provided,itappearsthatsomeparametersaremutuallyexclusiveuntilfurtherclarificationis
provided.Forexample,itappearsdifficulttoachieve$0.06$0.08/kWhandthehighpower
outputof13.6MW/kmclaimedwhenholdingtheconstraintsonUnitedStatestraffic
characteristics.Inordertoachievehighpoweroutputsperkm,thepowerdensityoftheunits
mustbeverylarge,inthe1213kWrange.However,atthesepoweroutputlevelstheLCOE
becomesverylow(lowerthanwhatGenzikoclaims).Themainpointisthetableshowsthat
withthecharacteristicsofUnitedStatestrafficandwithwhatisinferredaboutthepower

32

outputoftheunits,thesehighpoweroutputswithanLCOEof$0.06/kWhappearstobe
mutuallyexclusive.Eitherthepoweroutputislessorthecostofenergyismore.
AnattempttomatchthemajorityoftheGenzikoclaimswasmadebymatchingthenameplate
powercapacitytothestatedpowercapacity.Ifthecapacityfactoradjustpowerissetnear13.6
MW/km,itisfoundthatthecapitalcostsapproach$2,000/kW,andtheLCOEapproaches
$0.02/kWh.Inthiscase,thecapitalcost,actualpoweroutputandcapacityfactormatchthe
claims,buttheLCOEismuchlowerthanwhatGenzikoclaims.Thisisonlypossiblewithvery
highmodulepowerratingsnear13kW.

Table 11: Cross Check of Traffic Model against what was Determined from Innowattech Numbers
LCOE =
$0.060.08/kWh

kW/km =
13,600

Capacity
Factor = 42%

Capital Cost =
$2,000/kW

Vendor
Claims

Reference
Power per unit
(W)

Traffic Model

Traffic Model

Traffic Model

Traffic Model

3,973

12,714

2,649

13,243

Genziko
Not given at
time of report 13

Capacity factor

0.32

0.32

41% 14

0.32

$6,521

$2,038

$7,744

$2,065/kW

$2,000/kW

993

3,178

662

3,311

Not given

Actual capacity
factor adjusted
output (kW/km)

4,201

13,444

3,538

13,267

13.6 MW/km

Nameplate
system power
(kW/km)

13,035

41,712

8,690

43,450

Not given at
time of report 15

$0.07/kWh

$0.02/kWh

$0.09/kWh

$0.02/kWh

Fixed
Parameter

Capital cost
Nameplate
Power Density
(W/ft^2)

LCOE ($/kWh)

32-42%

$0.06$0.08/kWh

Source: DNV KEMA

13SeeAddendumattheendofthereport.
14Notepowerpulsedurationincreasedto0.51.2seconds,mean0.8seconds.Thiswasmodifiedinorder

tokeepthetrafficflowratethesameat611vehicles/hr.
15SeeAddendumattheendofthereport

33

2.6

DNV KEMA Estimates Based on Restricted Assumptions

TheInnowattechevaluationdeterminedtheLCOEtobe$0.11/kWhwithanaveragedcapital
costrangingfrom$2,300$10,400perkW(mean$4,000/kW).Withthetrafficmodel,two
scenarioscanberuntotestthemutualexclusivityoftheLCOEandcapitalcost.Usingthe
parametersdescribedinTable12,parametersweretunedtoeitherachieveanLCOEof
$0.11/kWhoracapitalcostof$4,000/kW,andtheresultingvalueswereachieved.Thecapital
costforatargetLCOEof$0.11/kWhisnear$10,000/kW,andtheLCOEforatargetcapitalcost
of$4,000/kWisbelow$0.06/kWh(showninTable12).Tobeconsistent,theparametersthat
wereoftenquotedintheproductliteraturesuchasvehicleflowrate(600vehiclesperhour)and
vehiclespeed(near65mph)weremaintained.Otherassumptionssuchasharvesterspacing
werekeptconsistentwiththeBerkeleyevaluation.Thetrafficdatasuchasvehicleweight
distributionandvehiclewheelbasedistributionweretakenfromtheTransportationEnergy
DataBook.EstimationsofpowerpulselengthwerebasedontheVirginiaTechdemoand
lengthened(seeTable12)byassumptionthatcommercialunitshavemechanismstodoso.Note
thatineithercase,thepowerdensityisabove300W/ft 2.

Table 12: A Test of Mutually Exclusive LCOE and Capital Costs for the Innowattech Technology
Fixed: $0.11/kWh
$0.11/kWh

Fixed: $4,000/kW
$0.04/kWh

$9,615/kW

$4,172/kW

Capacity Factor

0.09

0.13

Vehicle Flow Rate (vehicles/hr)

611

611

26,486

26,486

143

185

Nameplate Power Density (W/ft2)

322

417

Nameplate Power System Rating

(kW/km)

1,408

1,825

107

149

9,843

9,843

0.1-0.2

0.1-0.5

Average vehicle wheelbase (ft)

11.24

11.24

Vehicle Speed (mph)

60-70

60-70

$600,000 - $1,500,000

$600,000 - $1,500,000

LCOE
Capital Cost ($/kW)

Vehicle Weight Distribution

(N/wheel)
Power Per Unit (W)
Unit Spacing (in)

Actual System Output (kW/km)

Units per km
Power Pulse Length (s)

Cost per km ($/km)

Source: DNV KEMA

34

2.7 Comparison of the Projected LCOE to Distributed Renewable

Energy Generation Sources
Fromtheaboveanalysis,ithasbeenestimatedthattheLCOEforcompressionbasedroad
applicationsrangesfrom$0.03$0.18/kWh.Themeanofthisrangeis$0.11/kWh.TheLCOEfor
vibrationbasedroadapplicationsisclaimedtobe$0.06$0.08/kWh.Usingtheestimatesfrom
TheInnowattechevaluationdeterminedtheLCOEtobe$0.11/kWhwithanaveragedcapital
costrangingfrom$2,300$10,400perkW(mean$4,000/kW).Withthetrafficmodel,two
scenarioscanberuntotestthemutualexclusivityoftheLCOEandcapitalcost.Usingthe
parametersdescribedinTable12,parametersweretunedtoeitherachieveanLCOEof
$0.11/kWhoracapitalcostof$4,000/kW,andtheresultingvalueswereachieved.Thecapital
costforatargetLCOEof$0.11/kWhisnear$10,000/kW,andtheLCOEforatargetcapitalcost
of$4,000/kWisbelow$0.06/kWh(showninTable12).Tobeconsistent,theparametersthat
wereoftenquotedintheproductliteraturesuchasvehicleflowrate(600vehiclesperhour)and
vehiclespeed(near65mph)weremaintained.Otherassumptionssuchasharvesterspacing
werekeptconsistentwiththeBerkeleyevaluation.Thetrafficdatasuchasvehicleweight
distributionandvehiclewheelbasedistributionweretakenfromtheTransportationEnergy
DataBook.EstimationsofpowerpulselengthwerebasedontheVirginiaTechdemoand
lengthened(seeTable12)byassumptionthatcommercialunitshavemechanismstodoso.Note
thatineithercase,thepowerdensityisabove300W/ft2.
Table12,theDNVKEMAestimatesfortheLCOE(at$4,000/kW)andcapitalcost(atLCOE
$0.11/kWh)areincludedtoplaceboundsontheestimates.DNVKEMAestimatestheLCOE
coststorangefrom$0.08$0.33/kWh.
ItcanbeseeninFigure17thatextensiveanalysishasbeenperformedbyNationalRenewable
EnergyLaboratory(NREL)tocomparethecostsofvariousenergysources 16 .TheOpenEI
databaseisanopendataplatformdevelopedbyNRELwiththeDepartmentofEnergy
(DOE)supportthatcatalyzestheworldsenergyinformationandprovideslinkedopendata
aboutthecostofenergyformultipletechnologiesandregions.Energyinformationanddataare
availabletouse,edit,add,download,andbuildintoanalyses,tools,anddecisions.
TheovernightcapitalcostisshowninFigure17.Ashasbeenshownelsewhere,the
conventionaltechnologiessuchascoalandnaturalgasbasedpowergenerationconsistently
enjoycapitalcostslessthan$2,000/kW.Renewabletechnologiesthatcomeclosesttocompeting
withtheselowercapitalcostsareonshorewind,hydropower,andtoalesserextentbiomass
andgeothermaltechnologies.Itisworthremarkingthatdistributedgenerationisaconsolidated
categorywithovernightcapitalcoststhatcanapproach$1,500/kW,comingclosethecostof
gridscaleconventionalpowersystems.Thiscategoryincludescombinedheatandpower
(CHP),distributedwind,residentialsolar,andothertechnologies.Similarly,theLCOEfor
variousenergysystemsisdepictedinFigure18.Notethatcostofelectricitycanrangefrom

16OpenEI:OpenEnergyInfo.http://en.openei.org/wiki/Transparent_Cost_Database.AccessedJanuary1,

2012.NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory(NREL),OpenGovernmentInitiative,USDepartmentof
Energy.

35

$0.05/kWhforconventionaltechnologiestoasmuchas$0.35/kWhandhigherfor
unconventionaltechnologies.PartofthedatabasethatisusedtocomputetheNRELLCOE
modelswascreatedbyCapstonetoestimatethecostofenergybasedonlocality.For
comparison,estimatedenergycostsfortheSacramento,CaliforniaregionareshowninFigure
19.

Figure 17: Comparison of Capital Costs for Various Energy Sources

Source: NREL

Figure 18: Estimated LCOE for Various Energy Systems

Source: NREL

36

Figure 19: Electricity Costs near Sacramento, California

Source: Capstone, Open EI

ThisanalysisestimatestherangeoftheLCOEforthepiezoelectricsystemtobebetween$0.08
$0.18/kWh.ThechartsinFigure20andFigure21indicatethatthecompressionbased
piezoelectricsystemmayhaveanLCOElessthanthatofsmallhydroandfuelcellsandcapital
costssimilartothosefordistributedgenerationsystems.Byvendorestimates,thecapitalcost
appearstobelessthansolarPVandfuelcells.TheDNVKEMAestimatefortheLCOEhas
significantvariationbutcoincideswithcostssimilartoconcentratedsolarpower,distributed
generation,andoceantechnologies.ComparedtotheNRELdefinitionofdistributedgeneration,
thepiezoelectricsystemappearstohavehighercapitalcoststhantheaveragedistributed
generationsystem(comprisingmainlycombinedheatandpowersystems)andanLCOEwitha
similarspread.Tolendmorecertaintytothesecalculations,anindependentverificationofthe
moduleoutputisrequired.Onlythencanonebegintoascertainwhichconditionsproducethe
mostfavorablepoweroutputandLCOE.
UsingtheestimatesfromTheInnowattechevaluationdeterminedtheLCOEtobe$0.11/kWh
withanaveragedcapitalcostrangingfrom$2,300$10,400perkW(mean$4,000/kW).Withthe
trafficmodel,twoscenarioscanberuntotestthemutualexclusivityoftheLCOEandcapital
cost.UsingtheparametersdescribedinTable12,parametersweretunedtoeitherachievean
LCOEof$0.11/kWhoracapitalcostof$4,000/kW,andtheresultingvalueswereachieved.The
capitalcostforatargetLCOEof$0.11/kWhisnear$10,000/kW,andtheLCOEforatarget
capitalcostof$4,000/kWisbelow$0.06/kWh(showninTable12).Tobeconsistent,the
parametersthatwereoftenquotedintheproductliteraturesuchasvehicleflowrate(600
vehiclesperhour)andvehiclespeed(near65mph)weremaintained.Otherassumptionssuch
asharvesterspacingwerekeptconsistentwiththeBerkeleyevaluation.Thetrafficdatasuchas
vehicleweightdistributionandvehiclewheelbasedistributionweretakenfromthe
TransportationEnergyDataBook.Estimationsofpowerpulselengthwerebasedonthe
VirginiaTechdemoandlengthened(seeTable12)byassumptionthatcommercialunitshave
mechanismstodoso.Notethatineithercase,thepowerdensityisabove300W/ft 2.

37

Table12,theDNVKEMAestimatesfortheLCOE(at$4,000/kW)andcapitalcost(atLCOE
$0.11/kWh)areincludedtoplaceboundsontheestimates.InFigure20themeancapitalcosts
areshown.ThefigureshowsthatthemutualexclusivitythatwasfoundwiththeLCOE
estimatesandcapitalcostsisagainapparentinthiscomparison.Whileminimumcapitalcosts
couldbeaslowas$2,100/kW,90percentofthevaluesarebetween$3,700and$36,000(Figure
42).InFigure21themostlikelyand90thpercentilevaluesoftheLCOEareshownandranked.
TheDNVKEMAestimatesfortheLCOEonaveragearehigherthanvendorclaims,ranging
fromameanof$0.07/kWhand90percentofthevaluesarelessthan$0.20/kWh.Itcanbeseen
inFigure43that90percentofthevaluesarelessthan$0.20/kWh.Thesensitivityfactorsforthis
estimateareweightatthevehiclewheelandharvesterpulsewidth.
(Figure44)andthesensitivityrankingsareidenticalforthecapitalcostestimate.Sincethese
parametersarenotexplicitlyadvertisedinproductliterature,significantuncertaintyisplaced
ontheseestimatesbuttheycanbeindirectlyderivedfromUnitedStatestrafficdata.InFigure
20,onlythemostlikelyormedianvaluesareshown,sincethemaximumvalueoftheDNV
KEMAestimateiscloseto$90,000/kWduetosignificantuncertaintyinthepoweroutput
characteristicsofthetechnology.

Figure 20: Capital Costs for Energy Systems Compared to the Piezoelectric System

Source: DNV KEMA

38

Figure 21: Comparison of the LCOE for the Piezoelectric System Compared to Other Energy
Systems

Source: DNV KEMA

2.8

Added Value: Data and Reduced Inspection Costs

Whiletheenergyharvestingdevicesmaygenerateenergy,thereisalsothepotentialtogenerate
vastamountsofdata.Thevalueofthisdatamaybedifficulttoquantify,butitcouldbe
exploredforthefollowingapplications:
1. Realtimemonitoringoftrafficflowpatternsthatcanbeusedintrafficstudiesand
evaluationoftheneedforconstructionorroadwayupdates.
2. Datatofeedintotrafficalertsandcongestionreportsduringrushhour.
3. Datatomonitortheintegrityandhealthoftheroadwaytoinformmaintenance
schedulesandperhapssaveinspectioncosts.
4. Specificdataaboutvehicleweightwhichmaybeincorporatedintotrafficweighstations.
Asisthecasemostoftenwithmonitoringsystems,theopportunityisthatthesystemprovides
datathatmaymitigatetheneedforinspectioncosts.DNVKEMAperformedacostassessment
ofStructuralHealthMonitoring(SHM)monitoringsystemsforwindturbinebladesin2011,
andfoundthelargestcomponentofthesavingswasinreducedinspectioncosts17 .Theremaybe
asimilaropportunityforusingpiezoelectricsinrailways.

2.9

Roadways versus Railways

Theroadwayinstallationrequiresmorelaborandmaterialtoinstallthanarailwayapplication.
Theunitsareinstalledintheroadbedandepoxyisusedasafillertopermanentlyaffixthe

17Hill,D.ReturnonInvestmentforStructuralHealthMonitoringSystemsinWindTurbineBlades.

DNVReportNo.20109509,December,2010.

39

unitsinplace,suchaswhatwasdemonstratedbyVirginiaTech.Approximately2(5cm)of
asphaltisoverlaid.Sawcutchannelstorunelectricconnectionsarerequiredtoroutewiringto
theroadside,andthesemustalsobeburied.Becausetheasphaltlayerandroadbedarenot
perfectlyrigid,someenergyisabsorbedbythesurroundinglayersofmaterialandthereforea
largerunitwithforcemultiplyingcomponentsisrequiredtoharvestsignificantenergy.This
affectsthecostofinstallationandoperationbecausegreatercapital,time,andlaborisneededto
installtheunits,andtheunitsaremadewithgreatermaterialvolumestomakethemrobustfor
theharshconditionsintheroadway.Asaresult,greaterlaborcostsarerequiredforinstallation,
andgreaterdifficultiesareencounteredwithmaintenance.Alsointhisconfiguration,aless
efficienttransformerisusedwhichmayleadto30percentlosses(70percentpassthrough
efficiency)inconversionofthepowersignaltousablepower. 18 AstudyfundedbytheGerman
FederalHighwayResearchInstituteexaminesthesepropertiesindetail.

Figure 22: Cros-Sectional Diagram of the Roadway Installation of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

Source: DNV KEMA

Therailwayapplicationimpliestheuseofathinnerunitfortworeasons:(1)thegeometryofthe
installationrequiresathinunit,and(2)therearelessinelasticforcesinactioninthisapplication
andfewerdiscsareneededperunittoharvestusefulenergy.Thereareanumberofcostsaving
opportunitiesinthisinstallation.Theunitisthinner,soitrequiresfewerpiezoelectricdiscs,

18Milgrom,Charles.Innowattech.Phoneconversation,1/24/2012.

40

thusloweringitscapitalcosts.Theunitcanbeinstalledbetweentherailtieandthesteelrail
anddoesnotrequireexcavation,whichlowersthelaborrequiredforinstallation(andlowers
installationcost)asshowninFigure24.Inaddition,becausetherailisrigid,itislesselasticthan
aroadwayandthereforeimpartsmoreforceperunitareaonthepiezoelectricunit,which
improvesefficiency.Forthatreason,theseunitshavehigherenergydensity.Thepassingrail
carsimpartmoredirectenergytotheunitsandconsequentlythereislessdependenceonspeed.
Becausetherailcarsareonrails,thereis100percentcertaintythatapassingcarwillcontactthe
piezoelectricdeviceandasaresult,theefficiency(energy/compressionevent)isgreaterthana
roadway.Lastly,becausetherailsystemisusuallyprivatelyownedandthereisdirectaccessto
nearbypower,permittingproceduresarelessintensive,andconnectiontonearbypower
sourcesismoreaccessible.Theunitsareeasilyaccessibleformaintenance.Accordingto
Innowattech,convertingthesignaltoauseablepowersignalis>90percentefficientbecausea
moreefficienttransformerdesignispossibleinthisconfiguration.

Figure 23: Above-ground Installation of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Devices for Railways

Source: DNV KEMA

41

CHAPTER 3:
Conclusions and Recommendations
Asaresultofthisanalysis,anumberofconclusionsandrecommendationscanbemade.

ThisanalysisusesvendordatatoestimatetherangeoftheLCOEforthepiezoelectric
systemtobebetween$0.08$0.18/kWh.Thisvalueisstronglydependentontraffic
conditionsandvehiclecharacteristics.Usingbestestimationsfromvehicledata,the
DNVKEMAestimateisthatthemaximumfortheLCOEiscloserto$0.20/kWh.

Atrafficmodelusedapproximationstoderivetrafficcharacteristicsinordertocalculate
capacityfactorandvehicleweightsforUnitedStatesroadways.Thisdatawasthenused
inconjunctionwithknowndataaboutpiezoelectricdemonstrationsinroadwaysto
assesskeyparameterssuchastheLCOEandcapitalcost.Vendorclaimshavebeen
foundtobemutuallyexclusive,likelyindicatingthepresentationofbestvaluesfrom
mutuallyexclusiveconditions.

Thirdpartyvalidationofpoweroutputpermodulewouldgreatlyreduceuncertaintyin
theseestimates.Untilthepoweroutputpermoduleistransparentlyquantified,with
specificconditionsunderwhichitcanbereplicated,costofenergyestimateswillcontain
inherentuncertainty.Atthispointintimewiththeinformationavailable,itwould
appearthatpowerdensitiesof300W/ft 2ormoreareneededtoapproachtheeconomic
viabilityclaimedbyvendors.

Thelifetimeofthesystemneedstobebetterquantifiedviademonstration.Present
demonstrationislimitedtotwoyears.Acceleratedtestscanevaluatelifetimeinamore
costeffectivemannerthananactualdemonstration.

3.1

Stage-Gate Evaluation

Ademonstrationandthoroughevaluationofthetechnologyshouldattempttoquantifythe
poweroutput,durability,andlifetimeofthesysteminadditiontoitsperformanceasafunction
oftrafficvolume.Detailsofhowandwhytheseevaluationsshouldoccurareprovidedinthe
Appendix(AppendixD:EvaluationCriteria).
ItisrecommendedthatanyresearchintheareabestagedwithGo/NoGogatessuchthatrisk
fortheprojectfundsismitigated.
Presentlytherearefourpotentialproductsforevaluation:
1) InnowattechRoadwayharvester
2) InnowattechRailwayharvester
3) POWERleaproadwayharvester
4) Genzikoroadwayharvester

42

Itisrecommendedthatifanevaluationpathisdesired,eachoftheproductsbeevaluated
againstoneanotherinanobjective,labscaleevaluationfirst.Ineachphaseofresearch,the
minimuminvestmentrequiredtoanswerfundamentalquestionsaboutpoweroutputand
lifetimeshouldbeconsidered.Forexample,inPhaseI,suchtestingcanbeperformedina
modifiedstressframewithduplicateunitsfromeachmanufacturer.InPhaseII,theaccelerated
testscanbeperformedinasimilarlabenvironmentwithminimizedcostsinordertoverifythat
promisingtechnologiesarealsodurableintheirexpectedenvironment.OnlyinPhaseIIIwould
afieldtestbeconsidered,andeveninthiscaseadownselectedproductgroupwouldbe
consideredandmayonlybeisolatedtoasinglelocationforverificationpurposes.The
suggestedscopeisshowninTable13.Furtherdetailsaboutthetestingphasesareincludedin
Table13.

Table 13: A Staged Gate Approach to Evaluate Various Piezoelectric Technologies

Phase Description
Validation of Power
Output per module

Expected Result/Outcome
Tentatively, we calculate a
power output of 300 W/ft2 is
required to make the system
viable. If power output is
promising or if any vendor
claims are verified, proceed
to Phase II. Determine top
performer, select pathway
for implementation (road or
rail)

Pass/Fail Criteria
Using calculation approaches
in this report, verify that power
output matches the needed
levels for payback to reach the
targeted power densities or
power per km metrics. If it
does not, it shall not proceed
to Phase II.

Accelerated Tests

Identify decay mechanisms

and durability issues.
Reduced list of products
from Phase I will be tested.
If durability and failure
modes are acceptable,
proceed to Phase II.

For products that have made it

to Phase II, they shall show a
cycle life equivalent to critical
lifetime, such as 10-20 years.
Should account for weathering
and other abuse factors.

For durable products that

have shown acceptable
power output, a field
demonstration in an
appropriate environment
should be chosen.

Actual use data should verify

the needed power output and
durability requirements.

Field Demonstration

Source: DNV KEMA

3.1.1 Phase I: Lab Scale Tests

Loadingcyclingduringthesetestsmaybeconsideredprovidedthatthecontrolvariablesare
complimentarytothefieldtests.Loadingandcyclingtoverifypoweroutputshouldbedonein
acontrolledfashion.Loadshouldbecalculatedbasedonsimulatedvehicle(ortrain)loads.
Poweroutputshouldbemeasuredandpresentedintheformofwattspercyclesuchthatthis
43

datacanbetranslatedtoroadwayorrailwayperformance.Effectofsubstratelayers(asphalt,
concrete)shouldbeconfirmedeitherexperimentallyorwithfiniteelementanalysis(FEA)
models.StressframetestsandFEAmodelingexamplesareprovidedinFigure32.
Fromtheaboveassessments,desiredpoweroutputshouldequatetovaluesthatgenerate
favorableLCOEestimatesascalculatedinthisreport.Productsthatdonotpassthesecriteria
wouldnotbeconsideredforfuturephasesofwork.
Considerationsoftheotherstandardsmentionedinthisdocument(MIL1376andASTMC627)
shouldalsobeconsideredwhileaccountingforuniquefeaturesatthesystemlevel.

3.1.2 Phase II: Accelerated Tests

Thecostofenergycalculationinvolvesanassumedproductionofenergyoverthelifeofthe
system.Presently,sincenodataisknownaboutthedecayrateofenergyproductionovertime,
itisassumedtobeconstant.Itisunlikelythatthisisthecase,sothisdecayrateshouldbe
quantified.
Tothisend,ademonstrationshoulduseacceleratedtestingtoidentifymaterialsdegradation
factors.Thesetestsshouldbedesignedtoidentifythedominantdecaymechanism,suchas
moisture,stress,fatigue,ortemperature.
Theloadingofthediscsandtheirexposuretotemperatureandmoisturemaybeofinterest.
Examiningthepoweroutputofthesystemascomparedagainstcommonageingtestssuchas
saltfog(ASTMB117)canbeconsidered.
Forexample,controlledloadingconditionsovertimewithoutweatheringormoisturecouldbe
comparedagainsttheacceleratedtestsinPhaseIItodetermineifthecyclingduetoloadingis
themaindegradationfactor,oriftheaddedeffectsofweatheringcausethedegradation.
Acceleratedtestswouldneedtocapturethedegradationfactorsthataremostharmfultothe
systemlife.AsuggestedschematicofsuchadegradationsystemisshowninFigure24.A
deviceusedtosimulatearoadtirewearingonthesurfacewithvariableloadcanbeusedto
simulatethepassingweightandwearofvehicles.Loadcanbevariedtosimulatevariancesin
vehicleweight.Therepeatedactionofrollingthewheelacrossthesurfacewillacceleratethe
numberofcyclesontheinstallationanddecreasethetimeneededtoobservedegradation
indicators.Ifpossible,weatheringcanbeaddedbyintroducingheat,cold,rain,orUVtothe
systemtosimulateageingconditionsbyweather.Poweroutputandsystemperformance
shouldbemonitoredasafunctionofcontrolparametersandcycles.Amodificationtothe
designinFigure23:AbovegroundInstallationofPiezoelectricEnergyHarvestingDevicesfor
Railwayscouldbemadeforrailapplications,byusingasectionofrail,atie,andaloadedwheel
ontherail.

44

Figure 24: Schematic of an Accelerated Ageing Platform for a Piezoelectric Energy Harvester
Application

Source: DNV KEMA

Thesystemshowninthefigurehasbeendesignedinvariousiterations,asmentionedina
NorwegiantestprogramdevelopedintheNorwegianMasonryandConcreteResearchInstitute
inNorway(seeFigure25).
Carefulconsiderationoftheefficientuseoftimeaswellasadesignofexperiments(DOE)based
approachtoisolateeachofthevariablesandquantifytheireffectwouldberequired.Itshould
bepossibletoextracttheexpectedcyclelifeandtesttothatparameterintheacceleratedtests.
Forexample,iftrafficpatternsindicateanaverageof4,000vehiclesperday,itmightbe
expectedthatthenumberofhitsorcycleswouldbe4,000vehiclesperdaymultipliedby
twotirespervehicle,multipliedby365daysperyear,multipliedby20years,or58million
cycles.Inthisexample,oneyearrepresentsabouttwomillioncycles.Weatheringpatternscould
becontrolledaccordingtocyclelengthtosimulateanacceleratedseasonalwearpatternforthe
system.

Figure 25: Efficient Road-Testing Jig Designed to Cycle Concrete under Road Wear Conditions

Source: Norwegian Masonry and Concrete Research Institute

45

3.1.3 Phase III: Field Tests

Fieldtestingcanbeusedtoquantifyinstallationcostsandinformationaboutrealworld
performance(suchasvehiclevolumeandadditionaldataproduced).Thecombinationof
acceleratedtestsandfieldtestswouldthenplaceboundsonthelifetimeanddurability
uncertaintiesidentifiedinthisassessment.Assumingproductshavemadeitthroughthefirst
evaluationphases,thefieldtestwouldbethefinalconfirmationthattheproductfunctionsas
intendedandhaspotentialtomeettargetLCOEandcapitalcostmetrics.
Asotherdemonstrationshaveshown,afieldtestshouldinvolveactualinstallationofthe
systeminanactualroadway.Thepurposeofthesetestsistocompareactualperformancetolab
andacceleratedtestperformanceandisolatevariablesassociatedwithrealworldapplication,
suchasinstallationoftheelectronics,associateddifficultieswiththeroadsurface,andother
wearfactors.Unlikethepriorinstallations,itshouldbefeasibletoexaminetheperformanceof
thesysteminasphaltandconcreteforcomparison.TheVirginiaTechfielddemonstrationis
showninFigure26.

Figure 26: Installation of Field Demonstration in Virginia Using Innowattech Energy Harvesters
(left) and Schematic of Installation with Data Collection (right)

Source: Virginia Tech

46

3.1.4 Suggested Test Structure

Table 14: Outline of Suggested Demonstration Project

Test Phase or Task
Phase I: Lab Tests

Purpose
Isolate power output as well as
controlled tests to verify
performance as a function of load
or frequency
Make first data-validated revision
to LCOE calculation.

Phase II: Accelerated Testing

Quantify ageing factors, energy

output decay rate, failure rates.
Identify dominant variables
associated with decay factors to
add confidence to findings from
accelerated tests,

How the data should be

used
These tests should determine
whether a product passes or
fails performance and merits
investigation in further Tasks.
If LCOE is greater than an
unacceptable value (that is,
$0.20/kWh), the product does
not proceed to next phase.

Overlay energy output

degradation on the cost of
energy assessment and
determine how the economics
are affected.
Support and inform the design
of the field test and will be
used to isolate influencing
factors in the accelerated
tests. Products that do not
show needed durability or
cycle life shall not proceed to
Phase III.

Phase III: Field Test

Show system performance in real

world, isolate real world factors
that may influence system
performance

Confirm field factors that

affect system performance
that are not seen in the
accelerated or field tests.

Phase IV (continuous throughout

project): Revised LCOE and
Evaluation

Use degradation factors and

energy output data from first 3
tasks to reassess cost of energy.

Refine the calculations

presented in this report and
give increased confidence to
the assumptions used in the
assessment of piezoelectric
energy harvesting.

Source: DNV KEMA

3.1.5 Approximate Cost of a Demonstration Project

TheVirginiaTechprojectappearstobea$600,000$1,000,000projectexecutedoveratwoto
threeyeartimeframe.Theprojectinvolvessomesystemmodificationanddesignaswellas
installationofthefieldtest.

47

Thedemonstrationseemstolackcriticalassessmentssuchasmultiproductcomparison,lab
controlledpoweroutputmeasurements,acceleratedtestingandafinalizedcostofenergy
assessmentbasedonthetestfindings.Amoreextensivetestingprogramisneededtoaddthese
dimensions.ThefieldtestfortheVirginiaTechprojectisnotlongenoughtodeterminecritical
ageingfactors.
Inastagedapproach,investmentcanbeminimizedbymeansofshorttermcommitmentsto
eachresearchphase.Alaboratoryinvestigationofmultipleproductscouldbeaccomplishedfor
anestimatedcostof$50,000$100,000.Ifnoproductspassthisstage,theprojectwouldbe
terminated.
Ifproductsmakeittothesecondphase,thecomplexityofacceleratedtestingwouldaddtothe
costbuttestscouldberunforarangeof$100,000$200,000.Ifnoproductspassthisphase,the
projectwouldbeterminated.
Thefielddemonstrationwouldlikelyrequireaninstallationsiteandcontinuedmonitoringand
processingofdata.Thiswouldbethemostexpensiveportionoftheprojectandmaycost
$300,000$600,000.Ateachstage,therevisedLCOEwouldbeprovidedbasedonfindings.
Thetotalprojectcostwouldrangefrom$450,000$900,000,whichwouldcostlessthanthe
VirginiaTechdemonstrationwithmorevalueaddeddataoverathreeyearprojectduration.
Thevaluefromsuchademonstrationwoulddetermineifpiezoelectricmaterialsareasuitable
technologytogeneratecleanenergyfromroadwaysandimprovetheoverallefficiencyof
transportationonhighways.

3.1.6 Potential Partners and Functions

PotentialpartnersfortestingcanincludeUniversityofCalifornia,DavisandCaltrans.Caltrans
hasthecapabilityofofferingfieldtestsitesandtestbeds.Caltranscouldbeausefulpartnerina
fielddemonstrationphase.
Thelaboratoryfacilities,suchastheDNVofficeinColumbus,Ohio,arecapableofperforming
labscaleandacceleratedmaterialstests.IfatestingpartnerinCaliforniaisdesired,the
laboratorywillbeabletospecifytheequipmentandexpertiseneededandworkwitha
subcontractedpartnertocompletethesetests.
Intheeventofarailwaydemonstration,Caltransmaystillbeabletooffertestingfunctionsor
capabilitytothecommonfactorsbetweenrailandroadway,buttheremaybeaneedtoidentify
awillingrailpartnerforguidanceonsometestsand/orfieldapplication.
UCDavishasbothlaboratoryequipmentassociatedwithvehicletestingaswellas
demonstrationcapabilities.AfacilitysuchasUCDavismaybecapableofsupportingan
acceleratedtestjigsuchastheonedescribedinFigure25viaadaptationofexistingequipment
orconstructionofnewequipment.
ForthepurposeoftheLCOEevaluation,proceduressuchasthoseshowninthisreportcanbe
used.DNVisonesuchpartnercapableofmanagingsuchaproject,providingtechnical

48

leadershiptowardthetestgoals,andaggregatingthedataforthepurposeoftechnology
qualificationandevaluation.

49

GLOSSARY
Abbreviation/Acronym

Definition

AC

Alternating Current

ASTM

American Society for Testing and Materials

BOS

Balance of System

CHP

Combined Heat and Power

DC

Direct Current

DNV KEMA

DNV KEMA Energy and Sustainability

DOE

Department of Energy

DOT

Department of Transportation

EIA

Energy Information Administration

FEA

Finite Element Analysis

FHWA

Federal Highway Administration

ft

Foot

Ge

Germanium

Hz

Hertz

IEA

International Energy Agency

Joules

km

Kilometer

kph

Kilometer per Hour

kW

Kilowatt

kWh

Kilowatt Hour

Lbs

Pounds

LCOE

Levelized Cost of Energy

mA

Milliampere

MHz

Mega Hertz

MEMS

micro-electromechanical systems

MJ

Microjoules

Mm

Millimeter

MPa

Megapascal

mph

Miles per Hour

MW

Megawatt

50

Abbreviation/Acronym

Definition

MWh

Megawatt-Hours

NPV

Net Present Value

NREL

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

ODOT

Oregon Department of Transportation

psi

Pounds per square inch

PV

Photovoltaic

R&D

Research and Development

RMS

Root Mean Square

ROI

Return on Investment

SHM

Structural Health Monitoring

Si

Silicon

Voltage

VMT

Vehicle Miles Travelled

Watts

Wh

Watt-hour

51

REFERENCES
Ali,etal.AnalysisofEnergyHarvestersforHighwayBridges.JournalofIntelligentMaterial
SystemsandStructures22(16)19291938.2011.
Anton.MultifunctionalPiezoelectricEnergyHarvestingConcepts.DoctorofPhilosophy
Thesis,VirginiaPolytechnicInstituteandStateUniversity,April2011.
Cattermole,Tannith.MobilePhonesChargedbythePowerofSpeech.September20,2010.
Gizmag.http://www.gizmag.com/mobilespoweredbyconversation/16417/Accessed
12/12/2012.
CookChennault.PiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting:AGreenandCleanAlternativefor
SustainedPowerProduction.BulletinofScience,Technology,&Society,Vol28,No6
Dec2008pp496509.
Davis,Stacy;Diegel,Susan;Boundy,Robert.TransportationEnergyDataBookEd.31.July
2012,OakRidgeNationalLabsORNL6987.
EderyAzulay,Lucy.Innowattech:HarvestingEnergyandData;AStandaloneTechnology.
IsraelNationalRoadsCompany,Ltd.FirstInternationalSymposium.TheHighwayto
Innovation,13November2010.TelAviv,Israel.
EvaluationofEnergyHarvestingTechnologyforUseonOregonRoadways.FY20145
ResearchProblemStatement.ODOTResearchSection,SalemOR.
Fourie,D.ShoeMountedPVDFPiezoelectricTransducerforEnergyHarvesting.MIT.2009.
GenzikoRPGproductbrochure,technicaldata.2012.
Guigon,etal.HarvestingRaindropEnergy:Theory.SmartMater.Struct.17(2008)015038
(8pp).
Hemsel,T.,Wallaschek,J.SurveyofthePresentStateoftheArtofPiezoelectricLinearMotors.
Ultrasonics,38(2000)3740.
Hill,D.ReturnonInvestmentforStructuralHealthMonitoringSystemsinWindTurbine
Blades.DNVReportNo.20109509,December,2010.
Horowitz,etal.AMEMSAcousticEnergyHarvester.J.Micromech.Microeng16(2006)S174
S181.
Innowattech:HarvestingMechanicalEnergyfromRoadwaystoProduceElectricity.Kurzweil,
AcceleratingIntelligence.October25,2011.http://www.kurzweilai.net/innowattech
harvestsmechanicalenergyfromroadwaysAccessed12/10/2012
InnowattechWebsite.www.innowattech.com.Accessed1/3/2013.
Kuntsal,Ender.ChannelTechnologies.Verbaldiscussion1/14/2012.

52

IsraeliEnergyStartupTurnsTrafficintoSourceofElectricity.Reuters,Mar102009.Haaretz
online.http://www.haaretz.com/news/israelienergystartupturnstrafficintosource
ofelectricity1.271824.
Lazaru,Jon.OregonDepartmentofTransportation.Phoneconversation1/17/2013.
Li,etal.DevelopmentofaBiomechanicalEnergyHarvester.JournalofNeuroEngineering
andRehabilitation20096:22.DOI:10.1186/17430003622.
Lim,etal.DesignandPerformanceofMiniaturizedPiezoelectricStepDownTransformer.
JournalofElectroceramics.Vol13,Issue13July2004.
Milgrom,Charles.Innowattech.Phoneconversation,1/24/2012.
MILSTD1376B,MilitaryStandard:PiezoelectricCeramicMaterialandMeasurements
GuidelinesforSonarTransducers.February24,1995.[NOS/SDOCUMENT].
Moskowitz,Ira.IsraelsInnowattechtoProvideRenewableEnergyforHighwaySignsin
Italy.http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/05/israel%E2%80%99sinnowattechto
providerenewableenergyforhighwaysignsinitalyAssessedon1/29/2013.
OpenEI:OpenEnergyInfo.http://en.openei.org/wiki/Transparent_Cost_Database.Accessed
January1,2012.NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory(NREL),OpenGovernment
Initiative,USDepartmentofEnergy.
POWERleapTechnologiesproductbrochure,technicaldata.2012.
Priya,Shashank.AdvancesinEnergyHarvestingUsingLowProfilePiezoelectricTransducers.
J.Electroceram(2007)19:165182.
Sathiyamoorthy,Bharathi.HybridEnergyHarvestingusingPiezoelectricMaterials,Automatic
RotationalSolarPanel,VerticalAxisWindTurbine.ProcediaEngineering38(2012)843
852.
Sodano,etal.AReviewofPowerHarvestingfromVibrationusingPiezoElectricMaterials.
ShockandVibrationDigestVol36,No.3May2004.
Sodano,etal.EstimationofElectricChargeoutputforPiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting.LA
UR042449,StrainJournal,40(2),4958,2004.
TreevoltPiezoelectricMembraneSystem.http://www.treevolt.com/en/treevoltpiezoelectric
membranesystem.htmlAccessed12/13/2012.
Tveter,AcceleratedWearTestingofHighStrengthRoadConcreteinNorway.Norwegian
MasonryandConcreteResearchInstitute.1993.
Uchino.PiezoelectricActuators2006:ExpansionfromIT/roboticstoecologicalandenergy
applications.JElectroceram(2008)20:301311.
Verbaldiscussions,ChannelTechnologies.

53

Vestel,LeoraBroydo.HarvestingCleanEnergyAlongtheRoad.NewYorkTimes,July23,
2009.http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/harvestingcleanenergyalongthe
road/Accessed12/10/12.
Vullers,etal.MicropowerEnergyHarvesting.SolidStateElectronics53(2009)684693.
Walsh,etal.PiezoPower.DigitalSafariGreenbizzCompanyBusinessPlanCompetition,
2011.
Willoughby,Kim.PostConstruction&PerformanceReport,ExperimentalFeaturesWA0304,
0401,and0504,StuddedTireWearResistanceofPCCPavements,Contract6620I90
ArgonneRoadtoSullivanRoadMP286.91to292.38.WashingtonStateDepartmentof
Transportation.2007.
Wischke,etal.VibrationHarvestinginTrafficTunnelstoPowerWirelessSensorNodes.
SmartMater.Struct.20(2011)085014(8pp).
Xiong,etal.NewTechnologiesforDevelopmentofRenewableEnergyinthePublicRightof
Way.DTFH6110C00016.FHWA9thQuarterlyReport,VirginiaTech.October2012.
Xu,etal.Preparation,Properties,andApplicationResearchofPiezoelectricTrafficSensors.
ProcediaEngineering27(2012)269280.
Waterbury,Wright.EvaluationoftheConsultantReport:AssessmentofPiezoelectricMaterials
forRoadwayEnergyHarvesting,CostofEnergyandDemonstrationRoadmap.
January31,2013.

54

APPENDIX A:
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Demonstrations
Innowattech
Innowattechisthemostnotablecompanytoimplementpiezoelectricbasedenergyharvesting
onabulk,macroscale.
http://www.innowattech.co.il/
ThesystemisinstalledbyInnowattechinIsrael.Thepiezoharvestersareimbedded5cmbelow
thesurfaceoftheroad.Itisprojectedthatincreasingthesystemsizeto1kmwouldproduce200
kWhwhileafourlanehighwaywouldproduceaboutoneMWh.TrafficstudiesfortheAyalon
Highway,coastalhighway,andTransIsraelHighwayexaminedtheenergypotential.The
Israelitestwasconductedin2009.
InnowattechwasselectedbyImpregiloSpA,anItalianinfrastructureandcivilengineering
contractorsenergyproviderforlightingroadsignsontheVeniceTriestehighwayinItaly.This
contractispartofa225millionupgradeofthehighwaythatbeganin2010andisexpectedto
becompletedin2013.ThegeneratorsdevelopedatInnowattechwillbeplacedbeneaththe
highwaysupperasphaltlayer.Theelectricalenergygeneratedbythetechnologyiscreated
duringthemovementofvehiclesontheroadandisstoredviadedicatedelectricalsystems.This
willsupplyelectricalenergyforlightingVariableMessageSystemsigns.Driverswillread
trafficreportsonelectronicsignswhichwillbepoweredbyelectricityfromthedriversown
vehicles 19 .

PiezoPower, Piezoelectric Floors

LondonClubSuryaandRotterdamWatthavepiezofloorstoharvestenergyfromdancers.The
floorsystemisengineeredwithspringsandaseriesofcrystalandceramicblocks.Intheclubs,
thiscansupplyupto60percentoftheclubsenergyneeds.Eachpersoncanproducebetween5
20W.TheEastJapanRailwayCompanyworkedinconjunctionwithKeioUniversitytoimbed
piezointhefloorofterminalsandtrainstations.Thisisalsoanopportunityforhealthand
fitnessclubs.DigitalSafariGreenbizzCompanyisaimingtocapitalizeonthetechnologyby
buildingpiezoelectricfloorsandquotesTimeMagazinebyindicating1wattperbreath,70
wattspersteparepossible.TheproductiscalledElectroturf.PiezoPoweristhecompanythat
sellstheproduct,estimating1500ft 2for$2250,or$1.50/ft2.Theproductisdesignedas
subflooringin3x5tiles.Itisestimatedthatabout25percentofthe70Winasinglestepis
captured(17.5W).ThepiezoelectricmaterialisRochellesalt.ThePiezoPowerbusinessplan
indicatesthatRochellesaltcosts$1permetrictonandissourcedfromPinhuangdaoBright
ChemicalCompany.

19http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/05/israel%E2%80%99sinnowattechtoproviderenewableenergy

forhighwaysignsinitaly/.Assessedon1/29/2013.

A1

Figure 27: Piezo Floors

POWERleap Inc.
POWERleapInc.islocatedinSanFrancisco,California,andisinapartnershipwithTreevolt
locatedinColumbia.Forasphaltroadways,theharvestersaremembranebaseddesigns
containingrecycledbutylpropenewherefullsheetsofharvestingdevicesarefullyembedded
underthetoplayerofasphalt.Forconcrete,theharvestersareablockbaseddesignthatis
partiallyembeddedintotheroadwaysuchthatpressurefrompassingvehiclesisdirectly
transferredtothedevices.Themanufacturersliteratureonthedevicesindicatesthata1.0km
lengthofroadwaywith600vehiclesperhourand6,000Treevoltharvesterscanyield
approximately720kW.Thedevicescanalsobeequippedwithdatamonitoringcapabilitiesthat
cancollectroadwayandvehicledata.Thedevicescantransmitthedatathroughwireless
communicationstoacloudbasedplatformsothatthedatacanbeaccessedatanytimefrom
anyinternetenableddevice 20 .FloorbasedpowergenerationfromPOWERleapproductshave
shown10Wgeneratedfromafootstepwitha2.2voltpotentialacrossthefunctionalmaterial.
Thisimpliesapproximately4.5Ageneratedfromtheunit.

Figure 28: Treevolt Devices being Tested in Columbia (left) and POWERleap Data Harvesting
(right)

20POWERleapTechnologiesproductbrochure,technicaldata.2012.

A2

KCF Technologies
Offtheshelfproductsaredesignedtosenseandharvestenergyfromvibrations,suchasthose
availablefromKCFTechnologies.KCFisdevelopingvibrationenergyharvestingdevicesto
powerwirelesssensornodes.Thedevicescavengesvibrationenergyfromahoststructure,
eliminatingbatteryreplacementforindustrialsensors.Theyhavealsodevelopedaself
poweredwirelesssensorkitthatsimultaneouslymonitorsvibrationlosseswhileusingthe
vibrationstopowerthedistributedsensornetwork.Freelyavailablevibrationenergyis
capturedandusedastheonlypowersource.

Oregon Department of Transportation

Inlate2008andearly2009,withthesuccessoftheOregonSolarhighway,theOregon
DepartmentofTransportation(ODOT)evaluatedharvestingenergyfromroadwayvibrations.
Vendorsclaimedtobeabletocaptureenergywithpiezoelectronicdevicesinstalledintothe
pavement.ODOTdidnotcommittoinstallingthedevicesbecausetherewasnoUnitedStates
basedvendoratthetime.Othervendorsofferedenergyharvestingfromacombinationofsolar
andspeedbumpdeviceswhichdepresswiththevehicleweight.ODOTelectedtopursuea
solutionwhichcouldbeinstalledandkeeptheroadsurfaceflatforhighwaytraffic 21 .
Sincethen,aUnitedStatescompanynamedPOWERleaphaspartneredwiththeColombia
basedcompanyTreevoltandenteredthemarket.In2012,OregonStateUniversitysubmitteda
newresearchproposaltotheODOTtostudypiezoelectricharvestersreliabilityand
maintenancerequirements 22 .Theapplicationwasrejectedinthefirstroundofevaluation
becausetheevaluationcommitteewasconcernedaboutthematurityoftheproduct,citing
FHWAsreportbyEricWeaverin2012.

Channel Technologies Group

ChannelTechnologiesGroup(SantaBarbara,California)manufacturestheceramicsthathave
beeninvestigatedbyInnowattechasaUSsupplierformaterials.ChannelTechnologieshada
lowvolumesupplyagreementwithInnowattechtoinvestigatetheirmaterialasthefunctional
elementfortheInnowattechdevices.Presently,InnowattechdoesnotuseChannelTechnologies
fortheirmainproductordevelopment.Ithasbeensaidthatthepiezoelectricdisccostshouldbe
targetedatabout$1/disc 23 .Ithasalsobeenstatedthatthelifetimeofthepiezoelectricmaterialis
expectedtobe30years,butthelifetimeoftheancillarypiecesoftheenergyharvestingdevice
mayormaynotreachthelifetimeofthediscitself.OneofthechallengesthatChannel

21Lazarus,Jon.OregonDepartmentofTransportation.Phoneconversation1/17/2013.
22Gambatese,John.FY2014ResearchProblemStatement:14047EvaluationofEnergyHarvesting

TechnologyforUseonOregonRoadways.OregonDepartmentofTransportation.
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/TD/TP_RES/docs/stage1/2014stageone/14_047_Energy_Harvesting.pdf.
Accessed12/11/12.
23Verbaldiscussions,ChannelTechnologies.

A3

TechnologiesfacedearlyonindiscussionswithInnowattechwasmeetingthestrengthand
durabilityrequirementsfortheroadwayorrailway.

Virginia Tech
VirginiaTechismanagingathreeyearprojectwithacontractamountof$1million. 24 TheUS
DOTfundedprojectisinvestigatingtheuseofpiezoelectricmaterialsforroadwayenergy
harvesting.Theprojectjustcompletedits9thquarter.Presentlythedataindicatesthatthetotal
systemvoltagerangesfrom400700Vand0.20.35mAperunit,withpowerpulsesof0.10.2
seconds.Testedinheavytrucktrafficatabout40mph,thedemonstrationtargetsa4,000vehicle
perday(166vehicles/hr)trafficflowrate 25 .
ItisshownintheVirginiaTechreportsthattheharvesterdevelopedwasoftheirowndesign.
Thepoweroutputperunitislowcomparedtovendorclaims,andthelabbaseddesignmay
accountforthelowpoweroutput.Commercialdesignsmayincorporatelinkagesfor
mechanicaladvantagetoincreaseforceonthepiezoelectricstacksandimprovepoweroutput,
andthereforeitmaynotbefairtosaythattheVirginiaTechunitisrepresentativeof
commercialdesign.

Table 15: Summary of Known Demonstrations and Their Approximate Cost

Demonstration
Innowattech, Israel

Estimated Project Cost

$650,000/km

Virginia Tech, US FHWA

$1 million

Genziko 26
VendorinformationfromGenzikoestimatesinstallationcostsat$0.40/WandLCOEof$0.06
$0.08/kWh.Theseestimatesareconsiderablymoreoptimisticthanwhathasbeenimpliedin
discussionswithothervendors.Thelifetimeestimateof20yearsisconsistentwithwhatis
expected,howeverthereappeartobenosignificantdifferencesinthesystemconstructionas
comparedtoothertechnologiesproposedhere,Thereforethesamesensitivityfactorswould
apply:1)claimedpowergenerated,2)lifetime,3)capitalcost.Thesensitivitytothefirstfactor,
however,islikelymuchgreaterduetothereasonsexplainedbelow.

24Xiong,etal.NewTechnologiesforDevelopmentofRenewableEnergyinthePublicRightofWay.

DTFH6110C00016.FHWA9thQuarterlyReport,VirginiaTech.October2012.
25Xiong,etal.NewTechnologiesforDevelopmentofRenewableEnergyinthePublicRightofWay.

DTFH6110C00016.FHWA9thQuarterlyReport,VirginiaTech.October2012.
26

GenzikoRPGproductbrochure,technicaldata.2012.
A4

ThelowLCOEquotedbyGenzikoislikelyattributedtohighpowerdensityclaimsanda
claimedlowercostthancompetingsources.Ona6lanefreewaywith2,250vehiclesperhour
perlane(about54,000vehiclesperday),theyclaimapoweroutputof51MWperkm.Theyalso
provideanestimateofcapacityfactornear3242percent.Sincethecapacityfactornumberis
contingentonroadtraffic,itwouldimplythattherearepowergenerationeventsoccurring
approximatelyevery3seconds,or20eventsperminute,or1200eventsperhour.Sinceevery
vehiclerepresentstwoevents(twoaxlespervehicle),thiswouldcorrespondto600vehiclesper
hourwhichisconsistentwiththelowestimateforcollectionroadsor2laneroadsinthe
Genzikomarketingdocuments.
Takingthiscalculationfurther,the600vehicleperhourestimatecorrespondstoa13.6MW/km
powerdensity.Assuming6000unitsperkm 27 ,eachunitiscontributingacontinuouspower
outputof0.002MW(2kW).RecallthattheVirginiaTechdemorecordedabout0.080.14Wfor
everywheelimpactevent,orabout10,000timesless.Inorderforthisdisparitytobepossible,
somedifferentiatingcharacteristicoftheGenzikoproductmustharvestenergymoreefficiently
thanthecompetingtechnologies.
ThedifferentiatingcharacteristicoftheGenzikoproductappearstobeaclaimthattheunit
continuestogenerateelectricityaftertheinitialwheelimpact,indicatingaresonantor
persistentlyvibratingenergyharvestingtechnologythatisunlikethesingleimpulse
compressiveenergygenerationsystemdesignedbyInnowattech(Figure12).IntheGenziko
product,theinitialimpactgeneratesenergybutalastingresonanceordecayingvibration
continuestogenerate.Suchtechnologiesmaybebaseduponarraysofmicrocantileverbeams
similartowhatisusedinmicroelectromechanicalsystems(MEMS)andstructuralhealth
monitoring(SHM)systems.
ComparedtothedatafromODOTandthepressreleasesfromInnowattech,theGenzikotraffic
flowrate(2250vehiclesperhour)isabout313timesgreater.Howeverthepowerclaim(51
MW)is70500timesgreaterthanwhatisclaimedbyODOTandInnowattech,whicharemore
optimisticthanwhathasbeendemonstratedbyVirginiaTech.
Theinformationprovideddoesnotprovidemuchtechnicaldetailaboutthefunctional
piezoelectricorceramicmaterialsthatconvertvibrationorstressintoenergy,soitisdifficultto
assesstheexactintellectualpropertyortechnologyadvantagethatwouldleadtothese
performancemetrics,butitislikelyvibrationbased.
Thedifferenceinpowermetricsisillustratedinthecomparisontablebelow.

27BasedonthePOWERLeap/ODOTestimates.

A5

Table 16: Power Metrics

13-51 MW

486 kW

100-200 kW

Berkeley and
Virginia Tech
0.0018-0.5 kW

Vehicles per hour

(single lane)

600-2250

600

600

600

kW per km per
vehicle per hour

21.6-22.6

0.81

0.16-0.3

.000003
0.00083

Parameter
Power per km
(single lane)

Genziko

ODOT

Innowattech

Genzikohasnotprovidedinformationaboutrailways.
TheinterconnectbetweentheGenzikopowersystemandthegridimpliesagridtiedinverter
systemwhichislikelylowercostthanabatterybasedenergystoragesystem,thoughtitstillhas
provisionsforenergystorage.Thematurityofthesetechnologiesmaynotbeofftheshelf,as
indicatedbyTable17.

Table 17: Genziko product not Mature Material and Device Under Development
Technology
Material
Nano Process
Forming
Processing

Inventor(s)

Date(s)

Patent

Near

1991-1999

To be

Dawson1/Swartz1/
Near

1988-1996

Patented +
Potential

Kiggans2/Near

1998-2003

--

Near

1987-1994

--

Verification
Procedures
DoD-1376B(SH)
3

DoD-1376B(SH)
3

DoD-1376B(SH)
3

DoD-1376B(SH)
3

Actuation 4
Configuration

Near

1995-2009

Application

RPG

Near

1975-20116

To be

A6

Harvesting 5
--

Figure 29: Genziko Estimates for Capital Costs Based on Storage Capacity

A7

APPENDIX B:
Literature Evaluation
1. Source:CookChennault.PiezoelectricEnergyHarvesting:AGreenandClean
AlternativeforSustainedPowerProduction.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
Thepeerreviewedpaperconnectsthecapabilityofthetechnologywithstateand
federalinitiativestoproducecleanandrenewableenergy.Table3inthispaper
illustratesawiderangeofapplicablepiezoelectrictechnologiesthatcanbecross
referencedtotheroadwayapplicationinordertoverifythepowerdensity,energy
density,andperformancemetrics.Thedocumentalsodemonstratesdataconcerningthe
optimumharvestingofenergy.
Objectivity:Thisisapeerreviewedscientificarticleandisthereforeconsideredtobe
objective.
Persuasiveness:Thearticleispeerreviewedandnotintendedtobepersuasive,but
informative.
Value:Powerdensitymetrics,optimalvibrationfrequencies(between100120Hz),
dimensionsofpiezoelectricdevices,totalpowergenerated(asafunctionofsize),and
additionalenergymetricsareprovided.Thisispeerrevieweddatathatcanbe
immediatelycrossreferencedtothecommercialclaimsstatedinothersourcesforthe
purposeofvalidation.Thedocumentalsodescribescriticaldevelopmentneedsand
technicalchallengespreventingtheimmediateadoptionofpiezoelectricmaterialsfor
macroscaleenergyproduction.
2. Source:Xiong,etal.NewTechnologiesforDevelopmentofRenewableEnergyinthe
PublicRightofWay.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThisreporttotheFederalHighwayAdministration(FHWA)concernsademonstration
ofpiezoelectricsinroadwaysinVirginia.Studyofthedurabilityofthematerialsis
included,andthestudymentionsInnowattech.Theharvesterappearstodegradein
performancewhenexposedtowaterandthedemonstrationmentionsdegradationofa
siliconelayerwhichalsoimpactstheeffectivenessofthedevicetoharvestmechanical
energy.Thereissomevaluabledatainthereport,suchastheuseofacontrolledtesting
apparatuswitha600lbloadandwheelspeedof7.5mphand15mphtogenerate
electricityandstorepowerinachargedcapacitor.Thecapacitorenergyisdirectly
proportionaltothevoltagegeneratedinthepiezoelectricdevice.Thereportconfirms
thatthereisaproportionalrelationshiptoloadtimeandpowergenerated.Thereport
confirmsademonstrationbeingperformedwitheightfielddevicesattheTroutville
weighstationoninterstateI81Ninthebypasslane.Thetrafficpatternismostlytrucks,
B1

estimatedinquantitiesof4,000perday,travelingat40mph.Patternswerecutoutto
installthedevices,indicatingthatatleastforthisdemonstration,removalofanentire
roadsectionwasnotrequired.Thedevicesmeasureapproximately1ft2andgenerate
approximately400700Vwitheachtruckimpactand0.20.35mA.Thetrucksgenerally
havefouraxlespassingoverthedevicesrepresentingshortpulsesofpowermeasuring
~0.1s.Therefore,theenergygeneratedis400V*0.2mA*0.1s=.008Whpertireimpact
perunit,ataminimum.Thepowerarrivesinpulsescorrespondingtowheelimpact
averaging.08Wormore.Thereportestimatesthatthemaximuminstantpoweris.14W.
Thecapacityfactorinthiscaseperunitoveran8secondintervalappearstobe~0.4/8=
0.05.
Objectivity:ThereporttotheFHWAiswrittenbythePrincipalInvestigatorandappears
tobeaphysicallydemonstratedevaluationofthetechnology.
Persuasiveness:Thearticleisastatementofaseriesoffactsandisthereforenotintended
tobepersuasive;however,thedataisdemonstrableandthereforevaluabletoan
objectiveassessmentofthetechnology.
Value:Durability,performance,load,traffic,andinstallationdataareallprovidedtoa
highlevelofdetailwithusefuldataandpowermetrics.
3. Source:EvaluationofEnergyHarvestingTechnologyforUseonOregonRoadways.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThisinformationaldocumentexplainsstrategicresearchinitiativesguidedbytheODOT
andexplainstheapplicationofpiezoelectricsandalsonamessomecompaniesof
technologiesexplainedinthisreport,suchasPOWERleapInc.Thereisintriguingdata
inthesourcewhichcanbeusedforcrossvalidation:a1.0kmlengthofroadwitha
trafficflowof600vehiclesperhour(10perminute)with6,000Treevoltharvesterscan
yieldapproximately350,000kWhpermonth.
Objectivity:TheODOTevaluationisinherentlyintendedtobeobjectiveasitguides
investmentbythestate.However,theclaimsaboutthePOWERleapInc.technologyare
notclearlyidentifiedasthirdpartyvalidated.
Persuasiveness:Theexplanationofthetechnologyiscompellingandpersuasiveand
showspotential.
Value:ThedataconcerningPOWERleapInc.isvaluableandwillbeusedinthereportas
partoftheevaluation.ItalsodemonstratesthatODOThasintentionstobuilda1.0km
roadwaydemonstration.
4. Source:Ali,etal.AnalysisofEnergyHarvestersforHighwayBridges.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThepaperisprimarilyconcernedwithStructuralHealthMonitoring(SHM)andusing
piezoelectricdevicestopowerthewirelesssensornetwork.ReferencestoSodanohave
B2

beenusedinotherDNVKEMAresearch.Thisappearstobeadefinitivereference.It
illustratesthatinabridge,theloadismovingwhichchangesthedeflectionand
resonancefrequencyoverthelengthofthebridge.Thepapercalculatesthe
displacementofthebeamandthefrequencyasafunctionofvehiclespeedandload.
Energyharvestingwithinductionbasedmechanismswasexploredinadditionto
piezoelectrics.Afterthederivationofthemathematicstoderivecriticalparameterssuch
asload,frequencyandoptimizedlocationoftheharvesters,anumericalexampleis
providedwhichcitessomeinterestingmetrics.First,atypicalvehiclespeedof25m/s
correspondstoafundamentalexcitationfrequencyfora25mbridgeof0.5Hz.
Harvesterlocationsareatintegralfractionsofbridgelength,forexample,L/2,L/3,and
L/4.Theenergyharvestedfora2.5gramenergyharvestingdeviceisupto18micro
joulespervibration.
Objectivity:TheauthorsarefromSwanseaUniversityandappeartobeobjectiveand
withoutcommercialbias.
Persuasiveness:Thepaperisnotintendedtobepersuasive,althoughithighlightsuseful
datawhichindicatestechnicalfeasibilityforusingvibrationbasedenergyharvestingto
powerSHMdevices.
Value:Thedescriptionofthemovingloadproblemisusefulbecauseitistransferableto
theproblemathand,forexample,imbeddingpiezoelectricmaterialsintoaroadway.
Themovingloadproblemhighlightsthatclaimedefficiencyforapiezoelectricpanel
deviceislargelydependentonitsorientationandpossibleaspectratioifharvesting
directvibrationalenergyfromaroadway.Thelowfrequencyvibrationsofthebridge
seemtobebestsuitedforaninductiontypeenergyharvesterandarelessrelevantfor
piezoelectrics.Thisisalsoarecentpaperwhichincludesdataformorerecent
technology.
5. Source:Priya,Shashank.AdvancesinEnergyHarvestingUsingLowProfile
PiezoelectricTransducers.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
Thepaperexplainstheneedforharvestingenergyfromvibrationsandtheenergyneeds
ofvariouselectronicdevices.Itexplainshowvibrationenergycanpowerthesedevices
andhowtheycompareacrossanequivalentspectruminenergydensityandpower
densityterms.
Objectivity:Thepaperispeerreviewedandthereforerepresentsanevaluationwith
reasonableobjectivity.
Persuasiveness:Thepaperillustratestheviabilityofvibrationbasedenergyharvesting.
However,itdoesnotfullyaddresstheuseofvibrationenergyharvestingonamacro
scale.

B3

Value:Thereisalotofbackgroundinformationonenergydensityofenergystorageand
powerdevices,aswellasdataonenergygeneratedfromenergysourcessuchashuman
power,temperaturegradients,andpressurevibrations.Thepaperalsoillustratesthree
methodstoharvestenergyfromvibrations;piezoelectricmethodsisoneofthem.This
informationcanbeusedtocrossreferencetheefficiencyandenergygenerating
capabilitiesofpresenttechnologies,andmaybeusedasanobjectivereferenceto
validateotherwisecommercialclaims.
6. Source:Kurzweil.Innowattech:HarvestingMechanicalEnergyfromRoadwaysto
ProduceElectricity.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThiswebarticlepresentstwocommercialvideosandanexplanationofInnowattechs
piezoelectrictechnology.Thevideosexplicitlyshowanimationsofvehicleson
highways.
Objectivity:ThearticleappearstobeapressreleaseforInnowattech,soitislikely
commerciallybiased.
Persuasiveness:Thetechnologyandtheclaimsarecompellingandappeartohave
technicalfeasibility,butverylittleactualdataisprovidedtoaidinthevalidationofthe
claims.
Value:Explanationofhowthetechnologyisproposedtoworkisusefulandhasdirect
relevancetothesubjectmatterofthisevaluation.
7. Source:TreevoltPiezoelectricMembraneSystem.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThiswebsiteforthemanufacturerofthetechnologylicensedbyPOWERleapInc.shares
dataclaims.Claim:Theaverageenergygeneratedby1KmofinstalledPiezoelectric
membraneisintherangeof400600kWhforanestimated200to400vehiclesin16
hoursoftraffic.
Objectivity:Thisisavendorwebsitesothereisaconflictofinterestinthepersuasive
claims.
Persuasiveness:Theclaimsarepersuasive.
Value:Moredataisprovidedtocrossvalidatewithotherclaimsprovidedinthis
document.
8. Source:Walsh,etal.PiezoPower.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThisdocumentisabusinessplanforacompanycalledPiezoPowerwhichintendsto
marketflooringmaterialstoharvestenergyfrompedestriansandpossiblymobility
B4

traffic.Thedocumentcontainsenergygenerationandcostdatafortheproductin
additiontoprojectionsofsalesoftheproductandgrowthofthecompany.
Objectivity:Thisdocumentisabusinessplanandthereforepresentsforwardlooking
statementsthatarenoteasilyverified.
Persuasiveness:Theaffordabilityoftheproductispersuasive,andiftranslatedtothe
roadwayproblem,presentsacompellingargumentforthecosteffectivenessof
piezoelectricenergyharvesting.
Value:Thebusinessplanmentionsthat70wattsperhumansteparegeneratedandthat
thesystemis25percentefficient,harvesting17wattsperstep.Costsareestimatedat
$2,250per1,500squarefeetofmaterial,using3x5tiles.Thesecostandefficiency
metricscanbecomparedtotheroadwayapplicationanddeterminetwothings:the
differenceincostbetweenthissimplerconstructionandroadwayconstruction,aswell
asvalidateclaimsaboutefficiencyandpowerdensity.
9. Source:EderyAzulay,Lucy.Innowattech:HarvestingEnergyandData;AStandalone
Technology.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
ThepresentationisgivenbyInnowattechwithclaimsaboutperformanceand
demonstrationdata.
Objectivity:ThisisapresentationgivenbyInnowattechwhichisoneofthemostnotable
companiessellingpiezoelectricenergyharvestingtechnology.Thepresentationisaimed
atadvertisingfortheproduct.
Persuasiveness:Thedataispersuasive.
Value:Roadsapplicationclaim:200kWh/hfor600vehiclesperhourat72km/hspeed,
onekmsection.Railwayapplicationclaim:120kWh/hfortwogeneratorsinevery
sleeper,averagerailwaymovementof300loadedwagonsperhour.
10. Source:IsraeliEnergyStartupTurnsTrafficIntoSourceofElectricity.
SubjectMatterEvaluation:
Innowattech,anenergycompanyaffiliatedwithIsraelsTechnionInstituteof
Technology,saidspecialgeneratorsplacedunderroads,railwaysandrunwayscan
harvestenoughenergyfrompassingvehiclestomassproduceelectricity.
Article,pressreleaseforInnowattech.
Objectivity:ItisareviewarticlebutcontainsdataandinputfromInnowattechandthe
companiesinvolved,sotheremaybesomeconflictofinterestinthedata.
Persuasiveness:Articleispersuasivebutrevealshighcapitalcostforelectricity.

B5

Value:UriAmit,chairmanofInnowattech,saidthecompanystechnologywillbethe
largestapplicationofpiezoelectricstodate,withasingle1km(halfmile)laneof
highwayprovidingupto100kWofelectricity,enoughtopowerabout40houses.
InnowattechchairmanAmitsaidthecurrentcostforfittingakilometer(halfmile)of
onelaneofhighwayisabout$650,000,withacostof$6,500perkilowatt.Hesaidwhen
massproductionbegins,thepricecoulddropbytwothirds,makingthesystemeven
cheaperthansolarenergysystems.

B6

APPENDIX C:
Data Summary
Datafromtheliteraturesourceshasbeenextractedinordertoestablishrelevantbaseline
metricsandconsolidatethemintocommonunits.TherawdataisshowninTable18.An
additionalcolumnaddressingtheobjectivityofeachdatasourceisalsoincluded.Thereare
somecriticalparametersthatcanbeextractedfromthedataandconsolidatedintocommon
units.TheseareshowninTable19.

Table 18: Raw Data Extracted from Literature Review

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)

Low
Estimate

High
Estimate

Optimal vibration frequencies (Hz)

100

120

Tested wheel speeds (mph)

7.5

15

CookChennault
Virginia Tech

Voltages (V)

400

700

Virginia Tech

Amperage (mA)

0.2

0.35

Virginia Tech

Power Duration (s)

Maximum measured power per event,
(W)
Virginia Tech Traffic Flow speed (mph)

0.1

0.2

Virginia Tech

0.08

0.14

Virginia Tech

40

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech Traffic Flow rate (vehicles

per day)

4000

Virginia Tech

Oregon DOT Traffic Flow Rate (vehicles

per hour)

600

Oregon DOT

350,000

Oregon DOT

6000

Oregon DOT

Energy harvested for bridge mounted

devices, per vibration (microJ)

18

S.F. Ali, et al

Vehicle speed for micro harvesters (m/s)

25

S.F. Ali, et al

0.0018

Berkeley

10000

Berkeley

Berkeley,
Oregon

Channel
Technologies

POWERleap,
Treevolt

Parameter

Energy Generated for 1.0 km, Oregon

(kWh/month)
Number of harvesters, Oregon DOT

kW per km
units per km
Axles per vehicle

Target Cost of piezoelectric material (per

unit)

$1

Energy generated in 1 km stretch of road

(kWh)

400

C1

600

Source

3
3

Parameter

Time span of energy measurement (hr)

Low
Estimate

High
Estimate

16

Source

Objectivity
Ranking (1=low,
3=high)

POWERleap,
Treevolt

POWERleap,
Treevolt

Traffic flow rate, POWERleap

(vehicles/hr)

12.5

Vehicles per hour

600

POWERleap

Power rating (kW)

720

POWERleap

POWERleap

6,000

POWERleap

10

POWERleap

1.13

Piezo Power

$1.50

Piezo Power

Power rating, 1.0 km (kW)

200

Innowattech

Power rating, train (kW)

120

Innowattech

Traffic flow rate (vehicles per hour)

600

Innowattech

72

Innowattech

300

Innowattech

Virginia Tech
Innowattech,
Haaretz
article
Innowattech,
Haaretz
article
Genziko

Length of energy harvesting section (km)

Number of harvesters per 1 km
Power per unit per impact (W)
Power generated per sq ft, foot traffic
(W/ft^2)
Cost per square foot, foot traffic ($/ft^2)

Vehicle speed (kph)

Train speed (wagons/hr)
Size of each unit (ft^2)
Power per km (kW)

Cost per km ($)

LCOE ($/kWh)

25

100

$215,400

$650,000

0.06

0.08

1
1

Lifetime (y)

20

Genziko

Installation cost ($/W)

0.4

Genziko

Genziko

Capacity Factor

0.32

Vehicles per hour

600

Genziko

13,600

Genziko

Long dimension of unit (m)

0.45

Genziko

Short dimension of unit (m)

0.3

Genziko

Calculated
from Genziko

Calculated
from Virginia
Tech

Power Density (kW/km)

Genziko Units per km

2,222

Number of harvesters

9,800

0.4

3,333

TheinformationinTable19sortsthenumbersbysource.Inthetablesshown,thedatais
organizedintoaprobabilitydistributionforaMonteCarlofinancialanalysis.Thefarright
C2

columnlabeledDistribution(meanshown)indicatesthatthevalueinthecolumnisthemean
ofadistributionofvalues.Thedistributionofvaluesisatriangularprobabilitydistribution
createdfromthespreadofvaluescollectedfromthedata,extractingtheminimum,average,
andmaximumvalue.AnexampleofoneoftheprobabilitydistributionsisshowninFigure30
(estimationoftheclaimedpowergeneration).

Figure 30: Example Probability Distribution Generated from the Range of Numbers Extracted from
the Literature Review

Theadvantageofcollectingthedatainthiswayistoaccountforaspanofuncertaintyand
incorporatethisuncertaintyinthefinancialoutcome.Thefinalcalculationofthecostofenergy
willincludescenariossuchaswhenalloftheminimumvaluesalign,forexample,orwhenallof
themaximumvaluesalign,andtheprobabilityofthatoccurringgiventheknowndatafromthe
literaturereview.Moreofthiswillbeexplainedinthecostofenergyassessment.

Table 19: Report Numbers Consolidated into Common Units

Va
Tech
Vehicles per
hour
Vehicle
speed (mph)
Claimed
power
generated, 1
km (kW)
Number of
harvesters, 1
km
Cost per km

166.67
40

Innowattech

ODOT

600

600

44.64

200

POWERleap/Treevolt
12.5

600

55.75

100

486.11

6,000
$214,500

Ali

$1,086,000

Distribution
336.11
47.52

25

720

350.41

6,000

6,000
$650,250

C3

ThedatainTable20iscalculatedfromTable19.Again,probabilitydistributionsareusedand
thesewillactasinputsforthecostofenergycalculationwhererelevant.Thereferencesare
notedandareconnected(bynumber)totheupdatedfinalliteraturelistinthisreport.

Table 20: Additional Parameters Estimated from the Literature Summary

Calculated
Parameters
Installed Cost per
harvester ($)
kW per harvester

Probability
Distribution
Mean
$108.38
0.06

kW per mph

7.37

Spacing Interval
(per m)
Length of unit (m)

6.00

Units per km
Length of
installation (km)

0.17
6,000
1

Calculation
Installed cost per km divided by
number of units per km
kW per km divided by number of
units per km
kW divided by vehicle speed
1000 meters (1 km) divided by
number of harvesters
1 meter divided by number of
harvesters per meter
Direct from literature
Direct from literature

Thisdatawillbeusedtocalculatethecostofenergy.Thecostofenergybeginswithasimple
proceduretoestimatethetimetopaybacktheoriginalinvestment.Forexample,if1kmof
roadwayisbuiltatacostof$650,000,thentheenergygeneratedperday(kWh)multipliedby
thesalepriceofenergyperkWh($/kWh)willberevenueusedtopaybackthatinvestment.The
timetopaybackwillbedeterminedbyhowmuchenergyisproducedandthesalepriceofthat
energy.Thisisasimplepaybackcalculationbutdoesnotincludeinterestrates.Anadditional
netpresentvaluecalculationwillalsobeprovidedwithappropriatediscountrateassumptions.
TheMonteCarlomethodwillprovideadditionalinformationsuchaswhattheminimum
tolerableelectricityrevenuesneedtobeinordertoprovidereasonablepayback,whatthe
lifetimeofthesystemshallbe,orwhatconditionsshallexistinordertoensureapaybackovera
certaintimeframe(threeorfiveyears,forexample).Inadditiontothisinformation,asensitivity
analysiswillprovidesensitivityindicatorswhichwillbethecriticalvariablesthatinfluencethe
calculation,suchasvehiclespeedorvehiclesperhour,forexample.
Theanalysiscanbeprogressivelymoredetailedbyusingthispaybacktechniquetocalculate
thenetpresentvalueoftheinvestmentwithrespecttoafuturetimeordate.

C4

APPENDIX D:
Evaluation Criteria
What would an evaluation of the technology look like?
Anyevaluationshouldincludeananalysisofseveralcriticalparametersandanassessmentof
theimpactoftheseparametersontheperformanceoftheenergyharvestingsystem.The
analysiscanincludedemonstration,labscaleverification,andacceleratedlifetimeteststo
examinetheeffectofpiezoelectricmaterialsanddevicesonthelongevityormaintenanceofthe
roadway,maindegradationcharacteristicsofthecompositesystem,energygeneratedasa
functionofvehiclespeed,weight,andtrafficvolume,andthereliabilityofenergygenerated.
Thesecriticalparametersaredescribedinmoredetailbelow.
Manyofthesetestsandexaminationmethodshavecommonalitybetweenroadwayandrailway
installations,althoughtherearesomefactorsthataremoreapplicationspecificandtheywillbe
describedassuch.

Module Power Output

Firstandforemost,thepoweroutputofanindividualmodulemustbequantified.Themodule
outputintheuninstalledconditionwillbedifferentthanwhatitcanreplicateintheroadway.
Layersofasphaltandunderlyingsubstratewillaffecttheresponseofthemoduletostimulus.
Quantifyingtheseeffectscaneitherbedonedirectlyinasimulatedinstallation,ortheycanbe
modeledwithfiniteelementanalysis(FEA).Mostimportantly,thepoweroutputshouldbe
measuredinarealworldconditionthatis,onaloadcalibratedtobeequivalenttoagridor
energystorageconnectionsuchthatactualpoweroutputismeasured.
SuchanevaluationcanbedoneonastressframesimilartheInstrontestframeshowninFigure
31.Thedevicecanbeinstalledintheframeandloaded(compressedorcycled)tostimulatethe
powergenerationmechanism.Actualpoweroutputintheuninstalledconditioncanbe
comparedagainsttheinstalledconditiontoverifyperformanceandquantifythepoweroutput
permodule.
Testingthemoduleintheinstalledconditioncanbedonewithasimulatedinstallationor
withFEA.Theresultsfromtheuninstalledtestcanbemodeledinaninstalledconditionby
replicatedtheconditionsthatproducedaknownwattage,andthenmodelingmaterialoverlays
suchasasphalttodeterminetheireffectontheforcesfeltbythepowermodule.Thenetpower
outputcanbecalculatedinthisfashion.
TheInstrontestframeshownisinFigure31isequippedwithajigforperformingthreepointor
fourpointbends,andiscapableoffatiguecycles(locatedattheDNVTechnologyCenter,a
materialstestinglab).Similarmachinescanreplicatecyclingatfrequenciesnear40Hzandcan
performcompressionortensiontestsat10,000psiormore.Ajigforperformingtestson
piezoelectricmaterialscanbesimilarlyconstructedtoquantifypoweroutputasafunctionof
load.Adaptingamachinefortestingpiezoelectricmaterialsistechnicallyfeasiblewiththe
appropriatemodifications.
D1


Figure 31: Instron Test Frame at the DNV Technology Center

Figure 32: Finite Element Models of a Stressed Member with Layered Materials of Differing Moduli

Duration of Hit (Power Pulse Duration)

Relatedtovehiclespeed,therollingwheeloverapiezoelectricpanelrepresentsacontinuous
rollingstressthatisdifferentthanasinglehitlikeasteponfloorpanel.Thereforethereisan
elementofuncertaintyinthepowergenerationpotentialbasedonthespeedoftrafficasithasa
directimpactonthedurationwhichpiezoelectricdevicesarestressedandthusgenerating
power.

D2

Intheroadwayapplicationitappearsthereisastrongdependenceonvehiclespeed.Inthe
railwayapplicationthereislessdependenceonspeedsincethetrainrailactsasanefficient
forcetransfermechanism.
FortheGenzikoproduct,theproductliteratureindicatesadifferentenergyharvesting
mechanismlikelyrelatedtoresonanceatfundamentalfrequenciesassociatedwithtraffic,and
thereforethehithasalingering,decayingoutputnotunlikeadampedharmonicoscillator.

Energy Transfer and Vehicle Weight

Testingofthemodulepoweroutputwillinformwhatvehicleweightsareneededtomaximize
performance.Themodulepowerprovidesamaximumbaselineagainstwhichallother
performancemetricsmaybecompared.Inearlyphases,thiscanbeinferredbywayof
modelingorcalculation.Inlaterphasesitcanbeconfirmedbydemonstration.
Theenergyofthehitwilllikelyvarywithvehicleweightbecauseoftheenergytransferred
throughtheasphaltlayertothepiezoelectricsystem.Theasphaltisnotacompletelyrigid
materialmediumandthereforeheaviervehicles(suchastrucks)willlikelytransfermore
energytothepiezoelectricdevicesthanlightervehicles(suchascars).Thereismuchdata
suggestingthattrucksimpartmoreenergythancarsandtheVirginiaTechdemonstration
targetstrucksspecifically,presumablybecausemoreenergycanbeharvested.
Theangleatwhichavehicletireencountersthepiezoelectricdevicewillalsoaffectitsoutput.
Sincethereissignificantvariabilityinthetrackwidthofvehiclesandahighprobabilitythat
manyvehicleswillencounterthedevicesonalessthanidealtrajectory(suchaswhile
changinglanes),theoutputofthesystemshouldbeanalyzedwithregardtothisuncertainty.
Theroadwayharvestersemployaforcemultiplicationmechanismtoaccountforthis
uncertainty,butitwillhavelessrelevanceifthecarortruckchangeslanes(forexample)when
passingtheregionwheretheharvestersareinstalled.
Althoughtheidealpiezoelectricdevicehasalimitthresholdofthemaximumenergyitcan
generate,thenatureofthesurroundingroadwaymaterialswilllikelydampenitsresponseand
affectthetotalenergygenerated.Theperformanceofthesystemshouldbestudiedintheform
ofvehicleweightversuspowergenerated.Suchdatawouldinformtheoperatorwhetherthe
systemisbettersuitedfortrafficpatternswithheavyvehiclesversuspassengercars.

Durability and Lifetime of the Piezoelectric Ceramic

Piezoelectricmaterialsarelikeothersolidstatematerialsinthattheywilldegradeovertime,
resultinginreducedoutputandresponsetime.Thisdegradationisrelevanttobothroadway
andrailwayapplications.
Sinceademonstrationwouldtakesometimetoproduceresults,acceleratedtestmethodsare
recommendedtorankthelongevityofproductsinsimulatedenvironmentalconditions.
Factorsthatinfluencedegradationaretemperature,moisture,stressesgreaterthanthedesign
load,andunevenstresses(bendingmoments)thatcancrackandfracturethebrittlematerial.As
thepiezoelectricdegrades,theresponsefrequencywilldrift,thecapacitanceofthematerialwill
decrease,andthecouplingcoefficientwillchange.
D3

Sincelifetimeofthepiezoelectricdevicesisamajoruncertainty,thereshouldbeextensivestudy
ofthelifetimeanddurabilityofthesystemthroughacceleratedageingandweartests.
ModificationsofASTMC627,StandardTestMethodforEvaluatingCeramicFloorTileInstallation
SystemsUsingtheRobinsonTypeFloorTester,havebeencitedasanadequatetestingprocedure
forabrasionresistanceofpavements 28 .ThisASTMtestoramodifiedweartestshouldbeused
torankthewearresistanceofthecompositepiezoelectricpavementroadsystemagainstknown
roadwearcharacteristicsandload,asitwillhelpcharacterizethelifetimethathasadirect
impactonthecostofenergy.
StandardssuchasMILSTD1376describethedurabilitycharacteristicsofpiezoelectricceramic
materialsfordefenseapplications.Thisstandarddescribessixtypesofpiezoelectricceramic
materialsutilizedforsonartransducersfortheNavalservice.Thisstandardalsodescribesthe
propertiesoftheceramiccompositionsforthesesixtypesasmeasuredonstandardtest
specimens.Thedurabilityspecificationsandtestingrequirementswouldhaverelevancetoa
roadwayorrailwayapplication.Thesestandardsaddressthepropertiesoftheceramic,butnot
theageingbehaviorofthesystemasawhole.

Durability of System and Components

Thefunctionalcomponentoftheenergyharvestingsystemisthepiezoelectric,however,the
associatedelectronics,frame,andstructuralcomponentsofthepiezoelectricdevicesarealso
criticaltoitslongtermfunctionality.Inaroadwaychallengesmayexistsuchasisolatingthe
piezoelectricanditsassociatedelectronicsfromtemperature,moisture,andloadingeffectsthat
areinevitablylinkedtotheharshenvironmentoftheroadway.Theauxiliarycomponentsofthe
piezoelectricharvestingdevices,suchasforcemultiplyingmechanisms,wiring,circuitry,and
electronics,wouldrequireweatherhardeningandvalidationwheretheycanwithstandharsh
conditions.TestssuchasASTMB117,StandardPracticeforOperatingSaltSprayApparatus,have
beenmodifiedtotesttheweatheringperformanceofmaterialsusingageingaccelerationvectors
suchastemperature,saltwaterexposure,ultravioletlightexposure,andwet/drycycles.
Fortherailwayapplication,theexposuretoexternalweatherisapplicableandminor
modificationstoASTMB117wouldberequired.However,theburiedenvironmentofthe
roadwayimpliesnotonlywaterexposure,butcompressionforcesandmaterialsinteractionsof
adifferentnaturethantherailsystem.
Theroadwaydemonstrationdataindicatesthatapproximately5cm(~2in)ofasphaltis
installedoverthepiezoelectricsystems.Whilethesedemonstrationsarevaluable,theydolittle
toindicatethelongtermviabilityofthetechnology.VirginiaTechhasnotedthatwaterproofing
andwaterresistancearetechnicalchallengesfacedbythetechnology.Inaddition,thereisa
questionastowhetherthepiezoelectricsubstrateimpactsthedurabilityoftheroadsystemand
introducesunevenwearpatternsintheupperlayerofasphalt.Acriticalcomponentto
understandageinginthesetestsisnotjustwearandabrasionofasphalt,butthecombined

28Willoughby,Kim.PostConstruction&PerformanceReport,ExperimentalFeaturesWA0304,0401,

and0504,StuddedTireWearResistanceofPCCPavements,Contract6620I90ArgonneRoadto
SullivanRoadMP286.91to292.38.WashingtonStateDepartmentofTransportation.2007.

D4

effectofwearandloadandtheripplingordimplingbehaviorofasphaltasaresultof
unevensubstratecompressionintheareaswherepiezoelectricenergyharvestingdevicesare
installed.Thethicknessoftheasphaltlayerlikelyhassomeindicationofitslifetimeandability
toendurewear.Thesubstrateoftheasphaltinstallationwillbeconstructedofmaterialswith
variablestiffnessranges,andtheimpactofthevaryingsubstratestiffnessshouldalsobe
investigatedfortheroadway.Forexample,ifthestiffnessofthepiezoelectricdeviceisequalto
thesubstrate,thennounevenwearwouldbeexpected.Ifthestiffnessofthepiezoelectricdevice
islessthanthesubstrate,thentheremaybeanindentationformingabovethedeviceovertime.
Ifthestiffnessofthepiezoelectricdeviceisgreaterthanthesubstrate,thentheremaybe
indentationsformingaround(butnotabove)thedeviceovertime.
Appropriateweathering,wear,andtribologyinvestigationsshouldbeconductedtoexamine
thelifetimeofthecompositeinstallationonboththeasphaltandthepiezoelectricdevices.
Failureratesofthedeviceswillhaveadirectimpactonthesystemsabilitytogenerateenergy.
Decaymechanismsinthepiezoelectricmaterialsthemselvesmayreducetheoutputofthe
system.Presumably,thepowerorenergygeneratedovertimewillbedecreasingasthesystem
hasacumulativeincreaseinindividualunitfailuresanddegradation.Anestimationofthis
failureratewouldrefinetheLCOEcalculation.
Finally,anydowntimeassociatedwithmaintenanceorreplacementshouldbeconsidered,as
thiswillalsoreducetheenergyoutputandaffectthereturnoninvestment.Downtimeinthe
railwaymayhaveadirectimpactonridership,whereasdowntimeinthehighwaycanincrease
laborcostsandstrainmaintenancebudgets.

Traffic Volume
Ashasbeenshowninallofthedemonstrationdatasofar,trafficvolumehasadirect
relationshiptothepowergeneratedforthesedevices.Ithasalreadybeenshownthatthevehicle
characteristicsandvehicleweightgreatlyinfluencetheperformanceofthesystem.Thetraffic
modeldevelopedforthisreportshouldbevalidatedbyactualvehicleassessmentsintheevent
ofademonstration.Onceconfirmationofthepowerpermoduleisobtained,theLCOE
estimationtechniquesemployedinthisreportcanberevisitedtoreassesstherequiredtraffic
characteristicstomakethesystemviable.
Dataintermsofvehiclesperdayorvehiclesperhourisnecessaryinordertoassessthecost
effectivenessofthesystem.Thetrafficvolumelikelyhasanimpactonthewearandtearofthe
system,soeffortstoquantifythisshouldalsobeconsidered.Trafficvolumeisdirectly
proportionaltotheequivalentcapacityfactorofthesystem.Theprofileoftrafficactivityisalso
ofimportanceasitwilldeterminewhentheenergyisavailable.Ifnoenergystorageisused,the
timingofenergyavailabilitymaybecritical.ModelingtherealLCOEwithavariabletraffic
volumeprofilewouldbebeneficial.
Vehiclesontheroadwayarefreetochangelanesatwill,andarealsoabletovarytheirposition
withinalanetosomedegree.Therefore,thereissomeprobabilitythatwhenenergyharvesters
areimplantedintheroad,passingvehicleswillnotimpartenergytothedevicesduetolane
changesorasymmetricalpositionwithinthelane.Therefore,thereisaneedtoquantifywhat
D5

numberofcarsandtruckswillactuallycontactthesystemwhenpassing.Ametricsuchas
numberofcarsperdayislikelygreaterthanthenumberofcarsthatwillactuallyproduce
energy.
Intherailwayapplication,virtuallyeverypassingtraincanensuretheharvestingofenergy
throughthepiezoelectricsystem.However,theoptimumnumberoftrainswouldneedtobe
calculatedtoensureanROI.

Vehicle Speed
Thedurationofavehicletireimpactwithabumpintheroadisaudiblynoticeable.Fastmoving
trafficcreatesabriefandloudreportwhentireshitaroadimperfection,suchasanexpansion
joint.Slowmovingtrafficcreatesaquieterreportwithalongerduration.Thesameistruefor
theimpactofthepiezoelectricdevices.Thesedeviceshavesomeextendedsurfaceareaand
length;atirerollingoverthemislikelycapableofproducingenergyoverafractionofthat
length.Thereforethereissomequestiontodetermineifalongerdurationofenergytransfer
(slowervehiclespeed)maycreatemorewattagefromthedevice.However,withdecreasing
vehiclespeed,thereislesskineticenergythatcanbetransferredtothedevice.Therefore,there
islikelyatradeoffbetweenvehiclespeedandpowergeneratedandthisshouldbedetermined.
Suchdatawouldindicatewhetherthetechnologyisbettersuitedforhighways,lowerspeed
mainarteries,orbusyintersections.
FortheGenzikoproduct,theliteratureillustratesveryhighenergydensities.Itisnotclearfrom
theliteraturewhatthemajorfunctionalcomponentsareinthetechnology,butitappearstobe
somethingsimilartoanarrayofcantileverpiezoelectricmaterialsthatvibrateorresonateat
frequenciesassociatedwithtrafficorpassingvehicles.Thisraisesthequestion,however,
concerningthesuitabilityofthisfrequencyrangeforalltrafficpatterns.Ifthereisadependence
onvehiclespeedforthistechnology,itmayshowthatthedevicehasverygoodenergydensity
atonlyspecificfrequenciesbutlowenergydensityatotherfrequencies(perhapslinkedto
vehiclespeedsoutsidethebestperformanceenvelope).Itisnotclearwhetherthisisaconcern
butthisshouldbevalidatedinastudy.
Asmentionedabove,therailwayapplicationappearstohavelessdependenceontrainspeed.

Installation Methods
ThedemonstrationwithVirginiaTechandthemediaproducedbyInnowattechhave
demonstratedthatthesesystemscanbeinstalledbyasawcutinstallation(cuttingorgrinding
sectionsofroadwayapproximatelythewidthofavehicletire,installingthepiezoelectric
devicesatauniformspacinginthetrench,connectingthedevicesandtrenchingthe
consolidatedoutputtotheroadside,encasingthearrayinconcreteorepoxy,andrepavingthe
installationinnewasphalt).Thecostanddowntimeassociatedwiththisinstallationshouldbe
investigatedinmoredetail.Inparticular,ifmaintenanceofthesystemistobecompletedat
regularintervals,thisdowntimeshouldbeincorporatedintothelifetimeenergyproduction
estimate(asitwillalsoaffecttheLCOE).
IthasbeenshownbyVirginiaTechthattheinstallationinvolvesasawcutintheroadfollowed
bychiselingtocreateapocketintowhichthedevicesareinstalled.Theyareepoxiedtothebase
D6

ofthisinstallation,andtheremainingareaaroundthemisfilledwithepoxyorconcrete.
Additionalchannelsarecuttorunwirestothesideoftheroad.Thesearealsofilledwith
concrete.Asphaltcanthenbelaidoverthetopofthisinstallation.
TheGenzikoproductisassumedtobeinstalledinasimilarfashion,withtheexceptionofspeed
rampswhichcanbelaidontopofaroadstructureforspeedcontrolandrequirelittle
modificationtotheroadway.
Therailwayapplicationappearstorequiremuchlessinstallationlaborthantheroadway
systemandthedevicescanbeinstalledaboveground,betweentherailandtherailtie.The
unitsfortherailapplicationarealsosmaller.Therefore,thecostofinstallationislikelylessfor
railwaysthanroadways.

Value of Additional Data and Avoided Inspection Costs

Thepiezoelectricsystemalsoprovidesalotofinformationaboutroadandtraffic.Thisdatamay
bepossibletoincorporateintoexistingmonitoringandstatisticssystemsneededbythe
DepartmentofTransportationortrafficsystems.Thetypeandqualityofthedatashouldbe
evaluatedtodetermineifthereisaddedvaluewhichcanbemonetizedinordertooffsetthe
costofenergy.
Inaddition,ifthisdataprovidesareductionininspectioncosts,thismayhavevaluetothe
overalloperationoftheroadway.Inthepast,DNVKEMAhasassessedthecostofstructural
healthmonitoringsystemsonwindturbinebladesandfoundthatavoideddowntimedueto
bladereplacementsandinspectionsamountedtosignificantcostsavingsoverthelifeofthe
system 29 .
Intherailwaycase,theenergygeneratedfrompiezoelectricdevicescanprovidedataaboutthe
trainweightsincethevoltageproducedisafunctionoftheforceimpartedonit.Overweight
trainscouldbetargetedandremovedfromservicebytherailoperator.

Energy Storage versus Net Metering

Generally,thesystemispresumedtocostlessifenergystorageisnotrequired.TheLCOE
calculationdoesnotseparatelyparseoutthecostsofinvertersorenergystorage,butonly
estimatesthecostbasedonquotedtotalinstalledcosts.Presentdemonstrationsimplythatno
energystoragewasemployed.Becausethepiezoelectricenergygenerationsystemisvariable
withroadtraffic,itisnotunlikerenewableenergysystemsinthatitscapacityfactormaybelow
anditsoutputmaybeintermittent.Thereareatleasttwo,ifnotthreecomponentsfor
renewableenergysystemsthatbringpowertothegridThesecomponentsareanenergystorage
orenergyconversionsystem(ifdesired),adirectcurrenttoalternatingcurrent(DCAC)
systemwhichistypicallyhandledbyinverters,andfinally,theoutputstagewhichiseither
constantoutputforafixedtimedurationoritisnetmetered,meaningthattheutilitymetercan

29Willoughby,Kim.PostConstruction&PerformanceReport,ExperimentalFeaturesWA0304,0401,

and0504,StuddedTireWearResistanceofPCCPavements,Contract6620I90ArgonneRoadto
SullivanRoadMP286.91to292.38.WashingtonStateDepartmentofTransportation.2007.

D7

spinbackwardorforwardandthereforeaccountfornetenergyproductionbysubtracting
producedenergyfromgridenergy.Thesesubsystemsaredescribedinmoredetail:
EnergyStorage:Themostcommonformofenergystorageforrenewableenergysystemsislead
acidbatteries.Leadacidbatteriesarecosteffectiveandaresuitableforstationarystorage,such
ascommercialorresidentialbatterystorageforsolarPVinstallations.Leadacidenergystorage
systemsarecommonlyseenforsystemsinthe0100kWrange.Higherenergydensitybatteries
suchasLiion,NiCd,andNaSbatterieshavebeendemonstratedyetallhavehighercoststhan
leadacid.Appropriateevaluationoftheenergystoragetechnologyifrequiredisneededto
measurethebenefitsofcost. Alternativeenergyconversionsystemsmaybemorecomplicated
andcouldconsistofelectrolysissystemswhichproducehydrogenandthenmaybestoredand
laterimplementedintoafuelcell.Thesesystemsmaybemorecomplicatedthanbatteriesbut
dependingontheapplication,theymayhaveadvantagessuchasgreaterscalabilityorlonger
storagedurations.Asinthecaseofthebatteries,thesesystemsrequireacostandlifetime
studytoevaluatetheappropriatepairingofpiezoelectricandenergystoragesystems.
Inverters:Thereareawiderangeofinverters.Manyaresolidstatedevicesandtheircostis
directlyproportionaltotheirpowerrating.Therehavebeenrecentinnovationsininverter
technologysuchasthemicroinvertersofferedbyEnphasewhichcanattachdirectlytotheback
ofindividualsolarpanels.TheselowcostdevicesproduceanACpoweroutputdirectlyfrom
thepanelandminimizetheelectricalconnectionsneededtoconsolidatepoweroutputfroma
solararray.SincetheUnitedstatesgridoperateswitha60Hzalternatingcurrent,anyDC
sourcemustbeconvertedto60HzACattheappropriatevoltage(usually120or240V).
Innowattechhasimpliedthatatransformerhasbeendesignedtomatchtheimpedanceofthe
energyharvestertotheoutputsystem,andthistransformerismoreefficientinarailway
applicationthanroadwayapplications.
Output:Theneedsfortheoutputdependontherequiredcapacityfactorandwhetherornot
thesystemisgridconnected.Inamicrogridsituation,theremaybeaneedtostoretheenergy
sothatitcanbedeployedattherighttime.Forexample,iftheroadwaypiezoelectricsystemis
intendedtopoweradynamicbillboardduringrushhour,energyproducedbythepiezoelectric
systemcanbestoredintoanappropriatelysizedbatteryandthenthebatterysystemcanoutput
energyforafewhourstopowerthebillboard.Suchasystemwouldnotneedtobegrid
connected.However,ifthebillboardisintendedtobevisibleallday,anenergystoragesystem
maybeimpracticalandanetmeteringsystemmaybemorecosteffective.Ifthebillboardis
meteredonasinglemeter,thenthepiezoelectricsystemcanbeconnectedtothismeter;the
metercanbeconvertedtoanetmeteringsystem,andtheenergyconsumedbythebillboardcan
beoffsetbythepiezoelectricenergygenerated.
Netmeteringisoneofthemostcosteffectivewaystoimplementrenewableenergybecauseit
canbypassthecostofenergystorageanddirectlyaccountforproducedenergybyliterally
subtractingitfromtheenergymeterreading.

D8

Figure 33: Three Stages of Power Conditioning and Conversion to Deploy Intermittent DC Power
Sources

Source: DNV KEMA Energy and Sustainability

Thedeploymentofthesystemshouldoutlinetherequirementsandcostsofinvertersand/or
energystorageandshouldjustifytheappropriateenduseoftheenergysuchthatthesystemis
optimizedinthemostcosteffectivefashionpossible.TheGenzikoproductexplicitlyillustrates
thattheirsystemcanbeusedwithorwithoutenergystorage.

D9

APPENDIX E:
Railways
Innowattechhassomelimiteddataontheuseofpiezoelectricmaterialsforthepurposeof
harvestingvibrationenergyinrailways.Thetechnologyappearstobeincorporatedintothe
track.Thereisalsoanindicationofthedevicebeingincorporatedintotherailcarsthemselves,
asshowninFigure34.Thegenerallayoutfortherailwaypiezoelectricenergyharvesteris
shownin2.9 RoadwaysversusRailwaysonpage40.

Figure 34: Innowattechs Rail Applications

OnemajorinnovationappearstobeInnowattechsinstallationofrailwaydeviceswithlittleor
nointerferenceorreconstructionrequiredontherailwaytrack(Figure35).Thereisvalueadded
datafromtheInnowattechdevices,suchasthetransformationofmechanicalstressesinto
electricaloutput(voltage),whichshalldeterminethenumberofwheels,weightofeachwheel,
thewheelscapitationandwheelperimeterposition.Inadditionthespeedofthetrainandthe
wheeldiametercanbeconcludedviathefixeddistancebetweenpads.Theenergyisself
suppliedbythesystem 30 .

30InnowattechWebsite.www.innowattech.comAccessed1/3/2013.

E1

Figure 35: Installation of Innowattech Devices on a Rail System

E2

APPENDIX F:
Calculation Details
Compression-based Harvesters, Vendor Claims
CapitalandcostofenergycostsinFigure17andFigure18weretakenfromtheminimum,
maximum,andaveragevaluesoftheNRELestimates 31 .
Thecostofenergycalculationinvolvesthefollowingparameterwithtimedependence(Table
21).

Table 21: Explanation of Calculations for the Model

Parameter [unit]
Months [integer]

Description
Time unit for model

Calculation
The lifetime is determined by
number of months or fraction of a
year.

Construction or Maintenance
Investment [$]

Costs incurred with the

installation or replacement of the
piezoelectric roadway system.
The probabilistic value ($/km) is
first incurred in the first month
(Month 1). The next date when
the cost is incurred will occur
when the lifetime expires.

If lifetime trigger = true, then the

replacement cost [$] = Cost per
km [$/km] * number of kilometers
[km]

Lifetime Trigger [conditional,

integer]

Determines if the lifetime of the

system has expired.

Generation of system = int

(month/12). Expiration and
replacement corresponds to the
lifetime trigger increasing from
one integer to the next.

kWh Generated [kWh]

Number of kWh harvested from

roadway system per month.
Assumes no energy is generated
for the month of a replacement
event.

24 hours per day * 30 days per

month * claimed power
generated [kW]

Energy Prices [$/kWh]

Uses energy prices from the

Sacramento, CA region.

Assumes the energy prices are

increasing over time at stated
rate, for example, compounded.
Price(n+1) = price(n)*(1+rate)

31OpenEI:OpenEnergyInfo.http://en.openei.org/wiki/Transparent_Cost_Database.AccessedJanuary1,

2012.NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory(NREL),OpenGovernmentInitiative,USDepartmentof
Energy.

F1

Parameter [unit]
Energy Revenue [$]

Description
Revenues earned by system due
to energy generation

Calculation
Energy Revenue [$] = Energy
Prices ($/kWh) * kWh Generated
[kWh]

Time in years

Month/12

The present value of future costs

and revenues.

(Installation and maintenance

costs + Energy Revenues) /
(1+discount rate/12)^year

The discounted total of all

investments and revenues at a
future time according to the
discount rate.

NPV(n) = sum(PV(0):PV(n)

Year
Present Value of Investment [PV]

Net Present Value

Case 1: Maximum Five-Year Lifetime

Itcanbeseenthatthelifetimeofthesystemisassumedtobebetweenonetofiveyearswitha
mostlikelylifetimeoftwoyears(Table22).Presumablythesystemwilllastlongerthanthis,
however,theupperlimitontheliteraturereviewedonlydemonstratesatatwoyearlifetime
thusfar.Therefore,thisisincorporatedintotheprobabilisticestimationofthelifetime
correspondingtoageometricalmeanof2.67years.Asaresult,theLCOEiscalculatedtobe
$0.02/kWhataminimum,andabout$1.15/kWhatamaximum,withameanof$0.18/kWhanda
standarddeviationof$0.14/kWh(Figure36).ThefactorsthatmostgreatlyaffecttheLCOE
calculationareshowninFigure36.ThefactorsthatmoststronglylowertheLCOEarethe
powergeneratedandthelifetime.ThefactorthatmostincreasestheLCOEisthecapital
installationcost.

Table 22: Assumptions for the LCOE Model, Five-year Case

Min
Discount Rate
Energy Inflation
Rate

Lifetime of Unit (y)

ML

Max

Dist

0.05

0.06

0.1

0.07

0.01

0.03

0.013333

2.67

F2

Figure 36: The LCOE Including Discounted Present Value of Future Investments

Case 2: Maximum Ten-Year Lifetime

Itcanbeseenthatthelifetimeofthesystemisassumedtobebetweenonetofiveyearswitha
mostlikelylifetimeoffiveyearsasshowninTable23.Therefore,thisisincorporatedintothe
probabilisticestimationofthelifetimecorrespondingtoageometricalmeanof5.67years.Asa
resulttheLCOEiscalculatedtobe$0.014/kWhataminimum,andabout$0.41/kWhata
maximum,withameanof$0.08/kWhandastandarddeviationof$0.05/kWh(Figure37).The
factorsthatmostgreatlyaffecttheLCOEcalculationareshowninFigure38.Asstated
previously,thefactorsthatmoststronglylowertheLCOEarethepowergeneratedandthe
lifetime.ThefactorthatmostincreasestheLCOEisthecapitalinstallationcost.

Table 23: Assumptions for the LCOE Model, Ten-year Case

Min
Discount Rate
Energy Inflation
Rate

Lifetime of Unit (y)

ML

Max

Dist

0.05

0.06

0.1

0.07

0.01

0.03

0.013333

10

5.67

F3

Figure 37: The LCOE Including Discounted Present Value of Future Investments for the Ten Year
Case

Figure 38: Sensitive Factors Affecting the LCOE for the Ten-year Case

F4

Case 3: Maximum Thirty-Year Lifetime

Thethirtyyearlifetimecaseassumesamaximumlifetimeof30years(Table24)withamean
LCOEof$0.03/kwhwithastandarddeviationof$0.02/kWh(Figure39).Itcanbeseenthatwith
anincreaseinlifetime,thecostofenergyissignificantlyreduced,althoughthepowergenerated
andlifetimeremainstrongfactorsinreducingthecostofenergy(Figure40).

Table 24: Assumptions for the LCOE Model, Thirty-year Case

Min
Discount Rate
Energy Inflation
Rate

Lifetime of Unit (y)

ML

Max

Dist

0.05

0.06

0.1

0.07

0.01

0.03

0.013333

10

30

14.00

Figure 39: The LCOE Including Discounted Present Value of Future Investments for the Thirty-year
Case

F5

Figure 40: Sensitive Factors Affecting the LCOE for the Thirty-year Case

Traffic-based LCOE Technology Agnostic

Amodelwasconstructedtodisregardthevendorspecificationsforeachtechnologyandinstead
estimatetheminimumenergydensityrequiredinordertotargetareasonablecostofenergy.
Themodelisthereforeacrosscheckingmechanism.Theinputsandcalculationsareasfollows.

Table 25: Installation Metrics for the Generalized Case

Parameter

Value
1

Length of installation (km)

Discount Rate
Lifetime of Unit (y)

Justification

0.05-0.1
Variable

All examples work with a 1 km installation

Averages to 0.07
Same as previous cases estimating 1-20
years.

Price for electricity sold

($/kWh)
4x10-6 - variable

Wheel force multiplier

Energy Cost rate Increase

0.03
8

harvester spacing (in)

F6

This coefficient was taken from the line fit in

Figure 9. It is the ratio for harvester power
output to vehicle weight at the wheel.
Assumes a linear relationship. This factor is
tuned to estimate the LCOE and power
output per module.
Assumes energy rates are increasing
Based on Innowattech dimensions, can be
adjusted to fit footprint of Genziko

Parameter

Value

Justification

$650,000 or
$27,000,000

Innowattech estimated $650,000/km. Using

$2/W estimate from Genziko, $27,000,000 is
the estimate for a 13.6 MW system
Virginia Tech Demo

Cost per km
0.1

harvester pulse width (s)

Typically 0.050.07

Vehicle Spacing Factor

Adjusted in order to calculate vehicles/hr

Table 26: Traffic Metrics for the Generalized Case

Parameter

weight at vehicle wheel

power per unit (W)

speed (mph)

Wheelbase (ft)

Value

Distribution

0.1 - variable

45-65

Distribution, 11-13

harvester pulse width (s)

0.1

Energy Sale price ($/kWh)

$0.10 variable,
uncertain

Number of axles

Distribution, 2-3

Vehicle speed (fps)

Time between axle hits (s)
Time between Vehicles (s)
Vehicles per day

~95
0.12
6 seconds (corresponds
to 600 vehicles/hr)
14,656

F7

Justification
Ranges from 2200 58,500 N, based
on variation across all vehicle types
from Transportation Energy Data
Book.
Virginia Tech demonstrated 0.08-0.14
W per unit. This value is a critical
indicator of total system performance.
This value can be varied to determine
the minimum required power output
to achieve a target LCOE (for
example, $0.10/kWh)
Variable ranging between 45-65 mph
depending on conditions. In most
cases a distribution assuming +/- 5
mph is assumed.
Calculated from distribution of
vehicles form Transportation Energy
Data Book.
From Virginia Tech demonstration
can also be tuned to investigate the
impact on the model. For the Genziko
product, values up to 1 s were
assumed
Variable, using Sacramento, CA
prices ranging from $0.09-0.15.
Distribution from traffic data, primarily
2 axles. Heavier vehicles increase
average to nearly 3. This value
determines time between hits
Convert mph to feet per second
Vehicle wheelbase / feet per second
3600 s per hr / vehicles per hr
Vehicles/hr * 24 hrs per day

Table 27: Calculated Metrics

Parameter

Value

Justification
~9,800

Units per km
Nameplate capacity per km
(kW)

power per unit (W)

Capacity factor

Variable dependent on
wheel force multiplier
Based on wheel force
multiplier, taken from the
line fit in Figure 9.
Conditional if time
between vehicle hits is
less than pulse duration,
capacity factor is 1
Generally ~600

Vehicles/hr
Actual output per km (kW)

Simple COE

Discounted COE
50th Percentile NPV at 5
Years
Capital Cost ($/kW)

Variable capacity
factor dependent
Based on time series
calculation for 240
months (20 years)
Based on time series
calculation for 240
months (20 years)
Based on electricity sale
price
Includes capacity factor
Installed cost

Cost per Harvester

Power Density (W/ft^2)

Installed Power Density
(W/ft2)

Estimate based on
harvester spacing, which
may include space
between harvesters if
they are not spaced end
to end
Dependent on actual
installed area

2*1000 m/km / harvester spacing (in

m)
Units per km * power per unit
Wheel force multiplier * weight at
vehicle wheel
Vehicle spacing factor * power pulse
duration / time between vehicle hits

Vehicle spacing factor * 3600 s/hr /

(Number of axles/vehicle * s/axle hit)
Capacity factor * nameplate capacity
per km
Sum of all maintenance expenditures
(lifetime expiration) divided by sum of
all kWh produced
Sum of present value of all
maintenance expenditures divided by
sum of all kWh produced
Net present value of revenues costs
60 months into the future
Cost per km / actual output per km
Capital cost ($/kW) * actual power
output (kW) / number of harvesters
Power per unit / (harvester spacing in
square feet)2

Actual output per km /

(harvesters/km)* (harvester spacing)2

Table 28: Time Series Metrics

Parameter
Generated Energy per month
(kWh/month)
Value of Generated Energy
Cumulative Value of Generated Energy

Construction or Maintenance Cost

Description
Actual output per km (kW) * 24 h/day * 30 days/month
kWh/month * inflating Energy Sale Price $/kWh
Revenue of previous month + revenue of current month

If lifetime is expired, cost per km * number of km is subtracted

from revenue for that month

F8

Parameter
Energy Prices

Description
Inflating over time, compounded from energy price inflation
rate

Cycle Fraction

Month number / lifetime in months. When this is an integer

the lifetime is expired and a replacement cost is incurred. See
construction or maintenance cost above

Cumulative P/L

Sum of this months costs and revenues added to last

months costs and revenues since time = 0

Present Value

(Installation and maintenance costs + Energy Revenues) /

(1+discount rate/12)^year

Net Present Value

NPV(n) = sum(PV(0):PV(n)

F9

60,000

50,000

40,000

30,000

20,000

10,000

Values x 10^-5

Figure 41: Approximated Triangular Probability Distribution of Traffic Wheel Weight using
Statistical Weight for Each Car Segment to Determine Most Likely Average Vehicle Weight

Figure 42: Capital costs with a Fixed LCOE of $0.11/kWh Indicates a Tailing Distribution with a
Maximum of $102,000/kW and a Mean of $14,391

Capital Cost ($/kW) / COST METRICS

$3,793

$36,919
90.0%

0.30

5.0%

100.0%

50.0%

0.10

33.3%

0.05

16.7%

0.00

0.0%
$100,000

$0

Capital Cost ($/kW) / COST

METRICS
Minimum
Maximum
Mean
Std Dev
Values

$2,164.16
$102,066.26
$14,391.51
$11,689.18
500

$120,000

0.15

$80,000

66.7%

$60,000

0.20

$40,000

83.3%

$20,000

0.25

F10

$0.90

$0.80

$0.70

$0.60

$0.50

$0.40

$0.30

$0.20

$0.10

$0.00

Figure 43: Estimate of the LCOE with Capital Cost of $4,000/kW Calculates 90 Percent of the
Values to be less than $0.20/kWh

0.3

0.2

0.1

0.0

-0.1

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6

Figure 44: Weight at Vehicle Wheel and Harvester Pulse Width Will Drive the LCOE if the Capital
Cost is Fixed at $4,000/kW

F11

APPENDIX G:
ADDENDUM: Reviewer and Stakeholder Comments
and Responses from Draft Report
Priortothefinalpublicationofthereport,commentsweresolicitedfromthegeneralpublicand
stakeholders.Responsesareprovidedtoclarifyorcorrectelementsoftheoriginaldraft.
Comment#1:

The 2010 Highway Capacity Manual (HCM) is a well-known standard and could
perhaps be cited in the final report with reference to traffic volumes and truck
percentages. Specifically, perhaps the HCM could be used with regard to reviewing the
information in Table 26: Traffic Metrics for the Generalized Case
Response:
TheHighwayCapacityManual(HCM)andtheTransportationEnergyDatabook(TEDB)have
linkedreferenceandsourcebackgrounds.TheTEDBhasbeenpublishedsince1976bytheUS
DepartmentofEnergyandisproducedbyOakRidgeNationalLab.TheHCMhasbeen
publishedsince1950andismanagedbytheTransportationResearchBoardandtheFederal
HighwayAdministration(FHWA).TheHCMisalimitedaccessreferencedatabasefor
subscriptionorpurchase,andhasastrongemphasisonanalysismethodsinadditionto
ancillaryinformationabouttraffic,suchasairqualityandnoiseanalysis.TheTEDBisanopen
access,onlinetoolwithdownloadablespreadsheetsthatofferstatisticsconcerningvehiclemiles
travelled,crosssectionsofthevehiclepopulation,andexplicitbreakdownofvehiclestatistics
concerningclassificationandfuelconsumption.TheemphasisoftheTEDBisenergybutdueto
itspurposetoestimatetheenergydemandsassociatedwithtransportitcontainsawealthof
statisticalinformationaboutvehiclesandtraffic.TheTEDBhasbeenshowntousestatisticsthat
correlatewithEIAandDOTtrafficandenergydatabases.Becauseofitseaseofaccess,itis
commonlyreferencedinpeerreviewedpublicationsandpublicdocuments.
Ifademonstrationistobeheld,datafromtheHCMcanbeincorporatedintoupdatedtraffic
modelsbasedonthevalidatedpoweroutputfrompiezoelectricenergyharvestingsystems.

Comment#2:
Theremaybeinterestinapooledfundresearchfundingmechanismbetweenstatesorregions
asaprojectfordemonstrationandvalidationofthetechnology.
Response:
Therecommendationfordemonstrationorevaluationwouldstillapplyinthiscase,withthe
laterstagesandreassessmentoftheeconomicmodelspertainingtospecificregionaltraffic
considerationsinsuchademonstration.Apooledfundbetweenregionswouldreducetherisk
enduredbythefundingagencies.

G1

Comment #3:

Correctionaboutthecompanyname:ThecompletecompanynameisChannelTechnologies
GrouporCTGinshort;itiscurrentlystatedasChannelTechnologies,Inc.throughoutthe
report.CTGsinvolvementcanbedescribedasthefollowing.InadditiontoInnowattech,CTG
workedwithPOWERLeaponthedesignoffloorbasedenergyharvestersbasedonpiezoelectric
ceramics.Inthiseffort,CTGoptimizedtheharvesterdesignthroughasoftwareprogramto
maximizethepoweroutpututilizingceramicproperties,itsdimensions,placementandnumber
oftheminatile,usingweightdistributionandgaitcycleofahuman.
Response:
ChannelTechnologiesshouldbereferredtoasChannelTechnologiesGroup(orCTG),not
ChannelTechnologies,Inc.asithasbeeninthisreport.Correctionshavebeenmadewhere
applicable.
Comment#4:
ThecostquotedforGenzikoincludesthegenerators,storage,powerelectronics,inverters,
cabling,andinstallation(inotherwordstotheconnectiontothegrid).Theinformationfor
Genzikoshouldbe:
Assumptions:
vehiclesperhour600
speed4565mph
powercapacity51.03MW
powergeneration13.61MW
#generators1300
VendorSuppliedUpdates:
costgenerators:$2,600,000forpilotproduction,$739,700forfullproduction
storage:0.5MWh/MW(6.8MWh)$170,112
1.0MWh/MW(13.61MWh)$340,225
2.0MWh/MW(27.22MWh)$680,450
powerelectronics,powerinverters,plantandinstallation(shouldbesimilarforallsystems):
13.61MW$8,851,663
totals:0.5MWh/MW($0.7875/W)$10,332,000
1.0MWh/MW($0.9125/W)$11,972,000
2.0MWh/MW($1.1625/W)$15,252,000
GenzikoRPGspowerlevelsarehigherthanInnowattech13.61MWvs.0.15MW.(907times,
not89.7times)
GenzikoRPGsgeneratorsarepricedaboutthesameasInnowattech$740kvs.$650k.(increase
by14Percent,not40.8timeshigher)

G2

Response:
Afterthepublicationofthefirstdraftofthisreport,Genzikoofferedadditionalinformation
concerningthecostandoutputofthesystem,completewithabreakdownoftheBOScostssuch
asinvertersandenergystorage.Notethattheestimatesincludeanassumptionof1,300
generatorsin1km.Intwolanesthiswouldcorrespondtoageneratorsizeofroughly1.5m,
with650generatorspervehicleside(twotracksof650harvestersrunninginparallel).This
informationisnewtoDNVKEMAafterthepublicationofthefirstdraftofthereport.An
additionalnewpieceofinformationistheacknowledgementofthenameplatecapacityat51.03
MW.Accordingtothisinformation,thepowerperunitwouldbe51.03MW/1,300units=0.039
MW/unitor39kWperunit.Iftheunitissquare,itsfootprintwouldbeapproximately2.25m 2.
Thiscorrespondstoapowerdensityof39kW/unitdividedby2.25m2whichis17kW/m2or1.6
kW/ft2.
ThisinformationimpactsTable4andTable2regardingassumptionsaboutthenumberof
harvestersandpowerperunit.However,sincethepowerperkmisconsistentitdoesnot
changethemainlessonslearnedonpage25,forexample,anysystemshouldmeetthefollowing
criteria:
1. Powerdensity>300W/ft2(inthiscaseamoduleoutput>150W)
2. A1020yearlifetime
3. Capitalcosts<$10,000/kW
4. ActualkW/km>100
Itshouldbenotedthatthecostassessmentbasedonthevendorclaimsachievesthiscriteria.If
thevendorclaimsaretruetheGenzikounithasaveryhighpowerdensityandprovidedthe
costsareaccurateacompellingcasetomeetthelistedrequirementsabove.
Howeverthemutualexclusivityfoundintheseanalysesremains.RecallTable11onpage33.
TheupdatedcapitalcostswouldplacetheGenzikosysteminthe$10$15Mrangefora50MW
system(nameplate),correspondingtoaCAPEXof$0.30/Wor$300/kW(nameplate).DNVhas
shownthatforcapitalcoststhislow,thecorrespondingLCOEisdrivenlowerthan$0.02/kWh
whichconflictswiththeGenzikoclaimsthatremaintobeinthe$0.06$0.08/kWhrange.The
mutualexclusivityinthiscaseremainsbytheDNVassessment,untilfurthervalidationcanbe
provided.
Thisdiscrepancyagainhighlightstheneedtofirstverifythesepoweroutputs,astheentire
economicpicturedependsonit.Ifthesesystemsareindeedcapableofgenerating39kWper
unit,thisshouldbethirdpartytestedsuchthattheremainingeconomicscanbeinvestigatedin
moredetail.Itisthepowerdensitythatiscriticaltothesuccessofthetechnologyanditmust
firstbeverifiedbeforetheeconomicassessmentsarerevised.

G3