Smart Walk: Case Studies on Hybrid Power Generation System of Piezoelectricity and Solar Power

Earth is the only home we’ll ever have. And it is currently suffering from human-made problems like global warming and pollution. This led activists, who care about the future of the next generations, to think of new ways to power mother Earth. Therefore, the switch to renewable energy has appeared. Judging from this information, this paper presents a new innovative electricity generation technique.A combination of piezoelectric elements and a solar panel on the sidewalk were utilized to generate electricity. This paper developed a system prototype that generates electricity whenever pedestrians step on tiles installed on the sidewalk, and from a solar panel.The prototype has a set of piezoelectric cells installed in the lower side of a tile and a power generating solar panel. When someone steps on the tile, the cells generate electricity. Also, the solar panel is used to harness solar power. The generated electricity charges a rechargeable battery. The rechargeable battery powers an LED, a WIFI access point, and a phone charger. The final output for the prototype was that; the Piezo tile generated 0.045 W per step and the solar panel generated 3 W per hour.After observing and identifying the ideal areas for installation, the chosen area was the University of Jordan’s Primary gate, because it had the most pedestrian rate. With an average of 18,318 students per day, the Piezo tile had a 91% saving percentage.