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I want the flora of my world to harness their energy from the wind. I ran across this design on DeviantArt that is very similar to my idea.

Credit: jocarra

How can this design be improved upon to make it more effective? Could a tree harness kinetic energy through the wind blowing long flexible branches?

Anubia-Bastet
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  • What makes you believe the artist was designing a piezoelectric tree? You might be showing us a picture of a sailboat and asking us to improve it so it's a better racecar. Piezoelectric trees, if even viable, might look or behave totally different to what's shown. – BMF Aug 07 '22 at 01:49
  • This is a very open ended and subjective question. You seem to be asking for commentary on your design rather than any specific answerable ask. Such questions are not permitted on this site. – sphennings Aug 07 '22 at 02:52
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    You ask how "this design be improved upon..." I don't think you understand that you didn't provide us with a design. You provided a vague concept - and you're not asking us to improve on it, you're asking us to engineer it.[1][2] Basic research shows sunlight (think: photosynthesis) produces 1,360 watts/m^2. Compare this to the recently announced Siemens offshore 14MW wind turbine, generating 361 watts/m^2. Wind is weak compared to the sun. (*continued*) – JBH Aug 07 '22 at 05:53
  • ... But does that mean your question has no merit? actually, the graphic might be distracting people from what you're trying to ask, which is an interesting question. First, you might want to use our Sandbox for new questions to help perfect your questions before posting them here on Main. It'll help you understand how to write a good question. Second, consider deleting everything and asking, "On my world there is wind averaging X m/s but almost no sunlight. Don't worry about how that's true, that's not ...(*continued*) – JBH Aug 07 '22 at 05:55
  • ... part of the question. My question is this, is there a [tag:science-fiction] explanation for why a tree can derive or extract energy from the wind?" You'll notice that I didn't limit the question to just your vision. The [help/dont-ask] teaches not to give your own answers and then expect more. You have an answer: your tree's design uses a piezo design to create energy from the pressure of wind. Cheers! You're done. Don't do that. Give us the freedom to explore other options. You might be surprised by what we come up with. Yes, some may think the Q needs more details. (*continued*) – JBH Aug 07 '22 at 05:59
  • ... force them to explain what details they think are missing, then [edit] your Q to provide those details or to explain why those details aren't necessary. In the end, this question could produce some really interesting answers. But we need to get rid of that graphic, first, and improve the focus of the question, second. – JBH Aug 07 '22 at 06:00
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    Does this answer your question? Kinetically powered plant .. VTC, duplicate, it even has the same source inspiration. – Pelinore Aug 07 '22 at 06:46
  • This question is eligible for the hard-science tag, if desired, as there is ongoing practical research in this field. (This is also far more narrowly cast than asking about "kinetic energy") – Mike Serfas Aug 07 '22 at 10:30
  • Related: Kinetotrophic evolution. – Escaped dental patient. Aug 07 '22 at 10:52
  • (A) What is a piezoelectric tree? (B) Why does it have to be purple? – Daron Aug 08 '22 at 12:32

2 Answers2

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You asked two questions.

1- "How can this design be improved upon to make it more effective?"

There is no original design. The picture you have shown has nothing to do with piezoelectric energy.

2- "Could a tree harness kinetic energy through the wind blowing long flexible branches?"

Answer is as follows.

Using Mechanical Vibration to generate Electricity.

One way is shown here in which, a lead zirconate titanate wafer is used as tranducer. In it, LED can be replaced with a bridge rectifier and connected to a battery to charge it.

Multilayer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) films can be attached to the vibrating branches of the trees with proper wiring and circuit to charge batteries.

As told here

For functionality test, the highest voltage produced for a single film PVDF is 0.368 V which charges up a capacitor to 0.219 V in one minute. The highest voltage produced by multiple PVDF films is 1.238 V by stacking 10 films of PVDF in parallel which charges up to 0.688 V in one minute. For application test, 5 pieces of PVDF films were attached to a glove to generate some voltage during fingers bending activity. The highest output voltage recorded is 0.184 V which stores 0.101 V in a capacitor after 200 times of hand bending and releasing.

imtaar
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This is under development...

From McCloskey, 2017:

...In previous efforts, Oh et al. (2009) built a miniature wind energy-harvesting tree of ten plastic leaves bearing polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) inserts that generated 47 mV peak voltage [3], and Zhang et al. (2014) fashioned a “leaf generator” from PZT nanofibers that produced 820 mV peak voltage in wind of 17 m/s [4]. Li et al (2011) developed a far more effective piezo-leaf with a “vertical flapping stalk” that generated ~ 100 to 300 μW in modest wind [5], and “for practical application” suggested assembly of devices with “hundreds or thousands of the Piezo-Leaves, like ivy, tree and forest.” Solar Botanic plans to tap both wind and solar energy from groves of “Energy Trees” sprouting their patented “Nanoleaf” [2]. The VTT Technical Research Center in Finland took this concept a step further by 3d printing of solar energy-harvesting leaves “capable of harvesting kinetic energy from a surrounding environment such as wind” [6].

Also: "in a 10 mph breeze a cottonwood tree with 500,000 leaves may dissipate 80 W via leaf motion alone"

To be sure, the study I cite was not really showing practical applications, but the idea is interesting.

Mike Serfas
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