Macroscale Velocity Driven Harvester Using Galfenol

In this paper, a macroscale magnetostrictive velocity driven energy harvester is presented. This harvester has non - vibrating base and the external harmonic force is applied to the tip of the cantilevered harvester by a rotary DC motor. Due to ductility, high stiffness, machinability and suitability for welding, Galf enol is selected as the active material of this harvester. The performance of the presented macroscale harvester in the presence of various magnetic fields, various exciting frequencies and different resistive loads is measured. The harvester shows the hig hest performance, when it is excited in its natural frequency. The energy density extracted from this harvester is 1535 μW/cm 3 in the presence of 2 A current bias across resistive load of 98 Ω. This promising amount of energy density shows that the harvester is a reliable energy source for photovoltaic solar Gilders in cloudy and windy weathers.