Wearable New Energy

New fabric harvests solar and wind energy

27 September 2016 (The Engineer)

“Researchers from Georgia Tech have been working on a fabric that harvests energy from both sunshine and motion, which could be used to generate power in the field. The textile combines solar cells constructed from lightweight polymer fibres with fibre-based triboelectric nanogenerators. The nanogenerators use a combination of the triboelectric effect – a type of contact electrification – and electrostatic induction to harvest power from physical motion such as rotation, sliding or vibration…When woven together with strands of wool, the fabric is 320 micrometres thick…[T]he overall production process is low-cost and green, and the fabric could potentially be integrated into the material of tents or clothing…[In one experiments, the researchers] used a piece of fabric about A4 size and hung it from the window of a moving car…[and] were able to generate significant power, even on a cloudy day. The team also measured the output from a 4 x 5 centimetre piece of the material, which charged up a 2mF commercial capacitor to 2V in one minute using a combination of sunlight and movements…” click here for more

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