Determining the Optimum Parameters of an Energy harvesting System using Simulation

Ethiopia has a small percentage of its population accessing electricity with some energy utilized by the transportation sector, also there are frequent power outages at the Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit Services which takes a long while to return. From this former statement, it is clear that demand for energy is high and there is too much dependability on the current energy source. The aim of this study is to simulate an energy harvesting system using vibration from the track using a two degree of freedom oscillator. Secondary data was collected, then a damped Mass-spring-two degree of freedom oscillator was modeled and the energy harvested from the system simulated. This oscillator produces mechanical energy to power signaling and communication equipment of the railway line. The optimum parameters of the energy harvester were determined; the mass of 1 kg, a spring stiffness of 0.12 N/m and a damping coefficient of 5.5Ns/m. The cumulative mechanical power harvested by Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit's lowest speed was calculated to be 8.06 ��. The damped two-degree-of-freedom oscillator produces higher mechanical energy, therefore meeting the energy demand of the signaling and communication equipment.