PRESSURE THAT BECOMES A TREASURE! Pizeoelectricity

 Many see that when we press or put pressure on some thing the shape of a thing changes. What if we produce electricity from the pressure that we apply on that object???

That will be really great....isn't it???

But how can we produce this electricity from this pressure??? Here simple peizo device comes into play. Before we go into detail, let us be clear what really does a piezo do??

HOW DOES IT WORK ?

The piezoelectric effect is understood as the linear electromechanical interaction between the mechanical and the electrical state in crystalline materials with no inversion symmetry.

Whenever you apply a pressure on the piezo electric crystal than it converts it to elecrtricity.

The whole idea revolves around this. So when you apply a large pressure or apply pressure to a large no. of piezos together then we will get electricity.

APPLICATIONS :

•  For street lightning in the night piezos can be used. Piezos can be inserted in a part of a road say a patch which then is stored in batteries nearby. It will be best suited when it is installed at traffic signals as the vechicles halt for some time. when vehicles halt the pressure due to them produces electricity.
• It can be installed under some heavy objects in the room say cupboards where you get some constant pressure. Then this electricity can be collected in total to light the house.
• Motorised wheel chair can also make use of this principal.Since the person usually sits on the wheel chair the piezos can be inserted under the seat. This electricity can drive the motor.
• The piezos can be inserted under the chasis of a car. This also has a constant pressure. The electricity produced from it can be used to power the car.
• The piezos can also be inserted on the floors of the big malls or hospitals where you find many people moving in or out. So when they step in on that the electricity is produced from it.

ADVANTAGES:

• No pollution to the environment when producing electricity.
• It produces as high as 20kV of voltage which can be converted into usable forms of energy.

DRAWBACKS :

•  The total cost of installation is obviously high compared to the current methods available.
• They produce stary currents which is very dangerous. They can pick stray voltages in connecting wires connecting them.
• They are proned to cracking when the pressure exceed its limit.

~SKC

Student at VIT University