Harvesting energy from background audio

Jan Panteltje · 2015-04-12T13:06:39+00:00

Harvesting energy from background sound Could not resist to run some experiments. A big bass speaker, when tapped softly (8 Ohm) gives about 1.5 to 3 Vpp. Not quite enough for a LED... So found an old mains transformer 240 / 9 V, connected the speaker to the 9 V side, and scoped the 230 V side. now THERE is energy! Connected a white LED. Tapping the speaker flashes it brightly. Did some other test without transformer too, BAT rectifier, JFET oscillator, even that I can get oscillating. So tap the environmental sound, much better than environmental RF. Usenet patent, all rights reserved Jan Panteltje 2015 idea for sale ;-) To give you some idea: Dropping a TO220 transistor from 5 cm anywhere on the speaker cone flashes a white LED, clearly visible in bright sunlight. Setup, did not even bother to disconnect secundary rectifier in DC adapter I borrowed transformer from: So this makes it complete, working prototype:-) LOL

Apr 12, 2015 32 Replies

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rickman 11 years ago

It's a bit silly to consider such an inefficient device. Not inefficient because of the electronics, inefficient because of the reciprocating motion of the magnet, the coil, the electronics, the case, the hand and even the arm... all to get a little energy into a capacitor to light a bulb.

On the other hand the handle of the crank powered radios is much more efficient with a smoother motion and less "stuff" moving.

No, trying to get useful energy from sound is difficult in all but a very few environments. In most of those environments it is not hard to find electricity anyway.

Rick

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Jan Panteltje 11 years ago

On a sunny day (Sun, 12 Apr 2015 14:33:35 -0500) it happened amdx wrote in :

Na, make a transport band, with generator, let them drive full out. Power your house. Will take them a while to see they are not going anywhere. Maybe put a huge 3D monitor in front to show changing scenery, no traffic lights, no speed limits. Go for it :-)

Yea.

Well, I dunno how he makes those high temperatures. I did it long before Pons & F and know it works with low temperatures.

China is into it, Japan had a demo from some prof, India in restarting research into it, etc etc.

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Jan Panteltje 11 years ago

On a sunny day (Sun, 12 Apr 2015 12:12:22 -0700) it happened John Larkin wrote in :

You also get more heat if you nuke it. :-)

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rickman 11 years ago

Yeah, all the fruitcakes aren't here in s.e.d

Rick

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jurb6006 11 years ago

So you want a mini AC windmil instead of a maxi DDC windmill.

Think about that. The "C" means curent but it does not specify electrical current.

Air current. Can be AC or DC.

So can the tids, it is just nobody has the skil to build a ub=it to exploit that power.

the power is ther we just can';t tap it.

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Syd Rumpo 11 years ago

If you look at 4:30 in the following link (actually, the whole thing is great) you'll see that the Blue Man Group has stolen your idea for use in their drums.

formatting link

Cheers

Syd

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Jan Panteltje 11 years ago

On a sunny day (Mon, 13 Apr 2015 11:07:22 +0100) it happened Syd Rumpo wrote in :

Ziiiiing (ears) Nice scope display there too in the background.

As to energy in versus energy out I wonder how many %.

But not as bad a as a TV studio, 10 MW in versus 1 Vpp in 75 Ohm out.

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John Larkin 11 years ago

You could drop currants on the speaker.

John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc picosecond timing laser drivers and controllers jlarkin att highlandtechnology dott com http://www.highlandtechnology.com

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krw 11 years ago

PETA wouldn't like that at all.

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David Eather 11 years ago

you could get much better matching if you coupled it to a flared horn

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rickman 11 years ago

If you meant ~tides~ then that is being done in many places where the economics work.

Rick

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Cloaca 11 years ago

Yeah, his name was Ben something.

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Phil Hobbs 11 years ago

One of the problems that prevents tidal power from being more widely tapped is the weird externalities. Tidal basins have all sorts of resonance and p hase cancellation things going on, which are hard to model, so changing the coastline like that can (a) reduce the resonance you're trying to tap, and /or (b) cause tidal swings elsewhere to increase.

Also, of course, the head available is only a metre or two.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

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