This Nanogenerator Could Power the Smart Cities of Tomorrow

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The Internet of Things (IoT) is putting sensors in everything, and these sensors are getting better every year. They’re smaller, more efficient, get better readings, and require less power. But they still need power, a wire to the fuse box or a battery, to keep them working. Scientists have now developed a nanogenerator could do away with these troubles.

The cities of the future will be a lot “smarter,” say the researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology in the US and National Centre for Nanoscience and Technology in Beijing, but to be so they will require a lot more electricity to keep everything running. Rather than increasing the burden on already overtaxed electrical grids, the team has found a way to generate enough power on site.

In a world first, the researchers integrated two energy harvesting technologies into one device: a small silicon solar cell and a nanogenerator that harvests wind energy to produce electricity. The solar cell part of the system puts out 8 milliWatts of power, while the wind harvesting component can deliver up to 26 milliWatts.

To put this in perspective, a single milliWatt can light up almost 100 small light-emitting diodes (LEDs), according to the researchers. Just four of these devices installed on a roof of a model home could power LED lighting inside as well as a temperature-humidity sensor. Installed in large enough numbers on roofs around cities, these nanogenerators could help enable smart cities.

Zhong Lin Wang from Georgia Tech and his colleagues have published their findings in the journal ACS Nano.