I have a couple of ideas to create oscillation in a structure driven by the wind, this could provide wind power. I believe it is possible to extract electrical power using Dielectric Elastomers. But I have not yet understood how the associated electronic drivers should be configured. I would also like to know what the frequency limits are like with such power generation equipment.
Strain driven energy harvesting using dielectric elastomers has been explored by many teams.. but with limited success.. A typical experimental setup for DEA will be something like this:
http://people.seas.harvard.edu/~sshian/publications/Huang%20et%20al.%20-%202013%282%29.pdf
With regard to strain dependent energy conversion, this paper gives a good overview.. 10.1109/TMECH.2010.2089635
IMO, DEA as energy harvesters is not so good idea.. mainly due to 'strain(stress) hardening' of elastomers.
Thank you very much that is helpful. It sounds like we have many hurdles to cross to get a practical system. I had not heard of the hardening problem before.
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