Harvesting Energy through Piezoelectric Tiles: A Comparative Study of Wood, Porcelain, and Ceramic Tiles

Abstract

This study investigated the feasibility of using piezoelectric tiles in harvesting energy from the footsteps of people. The piezoelectric tiles were made of three materials, namely wood, porcelain, and ceramic tiles, where five piezoelectric plates were attached to each corner and center of individual tiles. A voltmeter was then attached to the piezoelectric tile system to determine the voltage output when people step on the tiles. Study findings revealed that the wood tile produced a mean voltage of 0.711V, the porcelain tile, 0.698V, and the ceramic tile, 1.018V. Analysis of variance results showed that there were significant voltage output differences among the three tiles, and the post-hoc analysis revealed that the voltage outputs of wood and porcelain tiles were comparable with one another, while the voltage output of ceramic tiles was the greatest among the three. The study concluded that the mechanical energy coming from the footsteps could be harvested using the piezoelectric tile, where mechanical energy could be converted into an electrical source. Furthermore, the researchers recommended having a wider variety of sample tiles to see the difference between the tiles and have a wider variety of data that could establish the positive results of this study.