Newly patented electrostatic generator can generate renewable energy from flexible structures, ropes, nets, walls, clothing, roads, etc.
A newly patented type of energy-generating device could be woven into fabrics, building walls and roads to form what inventors call “metamaterials.” When these electric quilts are deformed by wind, waves, or car pressure, individual generators produce sparks of energy. Illustration: Besiki Kazaishvili, NREL
To transform into a yoga pose called “Destroyer of the Universe,” humans must crumple their legs behind their necks and point their toes directly toward the sky. To anyone other than Gumby, the feat may seem superhuman, or even metahuman. Is it a human or a pretzel? Now, ultra-flexible metamaterials have the potential to perform an equally impressive feat of generating clean energy from the abundant but often overlooked energies that make our world vibrate.
Introducing energy yoga.
“There’s a lot of potential energy in everyday life,” says James Niffenegger, a mechanical engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Waves constantly rush towards the shore. The building sways in the wind. A car knocks down the sidewalk. These seemingly small movements contain potential renewable energy. You just need a way to take advantage of it. Energy yoga may help.
Officially called hexagonal distributed embedded energy converters (hexDEECs for short), these ultra-flexible centimeter-sized electrical machines have just received their first patent. And while the machines alone can only produce a millionth of a joule of energy each time they are stretched (a typical light bulb burns about 100 joules per second), by weaving the machines together, inventors are able to create metamaterials. Things we call flexible fabrics, nets, ropes, clothing, walls, or even entire roads are made from collections of these hexagonal machines.
HexDEEC is made from resilient, affordable materials such as silicone rubber, making it cost-effective and ideal for less-than-ideal conditions such as raging salty oceans. “Imagine a mooring line made by braiding a series of hexDEECs on the ocean floor,” said Blake Boren, a senior engineer at NREL and one of his hexDEEC inventors. Masu.
“Either way, you’re going to need something to hold down the navigation buoy, the mooring buoy, the ship, or the wave energy converter,” Niffenegger added. “We might be able to generate some power using hexDEEC.”
HexDEEC was originally born out of a broader exploration. Panagiotis George Datskos (also known as Panos), a senior research advisor at NREL, and Jochem Weber, chief engineer of NREL’s hydropower program, believe that electric fields, such as static electricity, build up when a sock slips around. They were looking for a way to generate electricity. on the carpet.
Datsukos and Weber wanted to build something called an electrostatic variable capacity generator, a device that relies on a built-up charge to temporarily store electricity and then generate electricity. Datsukos suggested combining two separate plates connected by springs, like a fuzzy sock and a carpet. When an external force, such as a wave or gust of wind, compresses the spring, the sock and carpet bond together, creating an electrical charge. When the plates are released, that charge can be collected and used to power something like a sensor on a buoy, a smartwatch, or part of the electrical grid.
When Mr. Datskos and Mr. Weber brought Mr. Bolen on board, he proposed a more nimble, spring-free design that would, as Mr. Bolen said, “cut multiple carrots with one knife.” His rubber version of his hexagonal silicone utilizes a unique flexible body to repeatedly compress and release, generating valuable electricity. The hexagonal shape also allows the machines to be combined to form larger, stronger metamaterials.
That’s how hexDEEC was born.
Because hexDEEC is made of rubber-like, resilient, and affordable materials, this new technology can be harnessed from overlooked sources such as buoys’ swaying mooring lines or from rampaging salty oceans. It could be a cost-effective way to generate energy under harsh conditions such as Illustrations: Blake Boren and James Niffenegger, NREL
“I came into the game with several innovations that embody hexDEEC,” says Boren. “And James, the analytical, numerical, and empirical expert at hexDEEC, tried to understand all of that. For example, how realistic is this?
Although hexDEEC technology is still in the theoretical stage, similar electrostatic variable capacity generators have already achieved promising results. One wave energy company called SBM Offshore has ringed large tubes with corresponding variable capacity-based miniature energy generators to convert wave energy into usable electricity. (“It’s like a bug ring,” Niffenegger said, explaining the tube’s design.) And a group of scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered that it’s not so much a collection of machines as a kind of machine. They constructed similar materials that resemble exotic marine life.
Like its cousin, hexDEEC does more than just generate energy. In actuator mode, these metamaterials can change shape. HexDEEC windows could move slightly to prevent glare, strengthen walls to reduce shaking in strong winds or earthquakes, or allow solar panels to vibrate and be free from dust that blocks sunlight. there is.
“You can basically adapt the structure continuously in real time,” Bolen says. “Theoretically, the shape of hexDEEC-based structures could be changed on the fly to help achieve larger goals, such as optimizing overall energy conversion or survival during large-scale energy events. .”
“Hopefully,” Niffenegger added. “This will allow for flexible technology that can withstand somewhat harsh ocean conditions. In difficult times, it is important to be flexible.”
Boren believes there is potential for hexDEEC across the ocean. His latest vision is to embed hexDEEC into highways so cars can power self-luminous road tracks and roadside lights. When a car drives on his hexDEEC road, the hexDEEC structure is compressed. As the vehicle moves forward, the structure opens and generates electricity. “HexDEEC is probably easier to maintain because of the larger surface area,” Bohlen says.
But before Bohlen built the hexDEEC highway, he and Niffenegger not only confirmed that such theoretical applications were possible, but also designed the hexDEEC highway to potentially improve overall performance. We plan to continue making improvements.
“This is all still very basic research,” Bolen says. “But I’m really excited to see what other possibilities are ahead of us.”
The HexDEEC study is funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Hydropower Technology.
Need more metamaterials? Check out HexDEEC’s cousin, the Distributed Embedded Energy Converter. Subscribe to the NREL Hydro Newsletter. the current, Don’t miss out on the latest information on hydropower.
