Piezoelectric energy harvester for public roadway: On-site installation and evaluation

•An energy harvester was developed to harvest the pavement deformation energy.•Six fabricated energy harvesters were successfully installed in real pavement.•Electric energy was generated from the loading applied by passing vehicles.•The relationship between energy generated and axle loading is identified. This paper presents the development of a novel piezoelectric energy harvester (PEH) to harness the great amount of energy wasted by the vehicles on public roadways was described. The PEH is designed to convert the deformation energy induced by moving vehicle from pavement into electrical energy. The prototype harvester consists of PZT piezoceramic disks sealed in a protective package is developed. Six prototype PEHs were fabricated and installed in real pavement to evaluate the feasibility of this application. The electric productivity of the installed harvesters was evaluated by measuring the output voltage and current generated under real traffic. Instant and average power outputs are calculated from the measured waveforms of output voltage and current. The analysis of the testing results shows that the electrical productivity of the energy harvesters are highly relevant to the axle configuration and magnitude of passing vehicles.