0000000001019794
AUTHOR
Franco Di Paolo
Evaluation of an Optical Energy Harvester for SHM Application
Abstract In this paper a preliminary study on an array configuration of rectified optical nanoantennas for energy harvesting application is proposed. Currently, the major impediments for the use of the rectified optical nanoantenna known as rectenna are the relatively low conversion efficiency and low power transfer to the load, both of them caused mainly by the mismatch between the impedance of the rectifier (several kilo ohms) and that of the antenna (hundreds of ohm). For this reason, the design of the array represents a crucial point to obtain the maximum energy transfer from the rectenna to the load, represented as a typical DC/DC boost power converter, and modeled by an equivalent inp…
Progress in THz Rectifier Technology: Research and Perspectives
Schottky diode (SD) has seen great improvements in the past few decades and, for many THz applications, it is the most useful device. However, the use and recycling of forms of energy such as solar energy and the infrared thermal radiation that the Earth continuously emits represent one of the most relevant and critical issues for this diode, which is unable to rectify signals above 5 THz. The goal is to develop highly efficient diodes capable of converting radiation from IR spectra to visible ones in direct current (DC). A set of performance criteria is investigated to select some of the most prominent materials required for developing innovative types of electrodes, but also a wide variet…
A Novel Energy Harvester for Powering Small UAVs: Performance Analysis, Model Validation and Flight Results
The proposed work aims at exploring and developing new strategies to extend mission parameters (measured as travel distance and mission duration (MD)) of a new class of unmanned vehicles, named Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs). In this paper, a new analytical model, identifying all factors, which determine the MAV power consumption, is presented. Starting from the new model, the design of a nanoarray energy harvester, based on plasmonics nano-antenna technology is proposed. The preliminary study was based on a 22,066,058 22,066,058 ×