Shashank Priya at the University of Texas, Arlington,
has come up with a
method to supply
electricity to remote sensors, far removed from any grid system. His solution is to produce
small wind turbines, roughly 10cm in diameter.
The rotational motion of the turbine in the breeze turns a cam, which flexes a number of piezo electric crystals, giving rise
to sufficient current to power a small electronic sensor. The power source is an alternative to photovoltaics, which of
course fail to work in the dark, or on very cloudy days.
Detailed results are included in the paper:
S. Priya, D. Fye and J. Zhand,
Piezoelectric Windmill. A novel solution to remote sensing,
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 44, 104-108 (2004).
Pocket sized wind turbines