Safety and Reliability
Energy harvesting systems must operate safely and reliably throughout their intended service life, often in challenging environments where maintenance is difficult or impossible. Safety considerations span electrical hazards from high voltages in piezoelectric and photovoltaic systems, thermal hazards from concentrated solar and thermoelectric applications, and mechanical hazards from moving components in vibration harvesters. Reliability engineering ensures these systems deliver consistent performance over years or decades of operation.
This category explores the principles and practices that enable safe, reliable energy harvesting deployments. From understanding failure mechanisms and implementing accelerated testing protocols to developing prognostic systems that predict remaining useful life, these topics provide the foundation for transitioning energy harvesting from laboratory demonstrations to production systems that power critical applications in consumer electronics, industrial automation, medical devices, and infrastructure monitoring.
Articles
Failure Modes and Reliability
Ensure long-term performance through understanding failure mechanisms and reliability engineering. Topics include fatigue failure analysis, environmental degradation, material aging effects, electrical failure modes, mechanical failure modes, thermal failure mechanisms, moisture ingress effects, UV degradation, corrosion resistance, delamination prevention, interconnection reliability, solder joint reliability, accelerated testing methods, prognostics and health management, and reliability prediction models.
Safety Systems and Protection
Prevent hazards and damage through comprehensive protection mechanisms. Coverage encompasses overvoltage protection, overcurrent protection, thermal protection systems, mechanical stress limits, electrical isolation, ground fault protection, arc fault prevention, emergency shutdown systems, fail-safe mechanisms, redundancy strategies, safety monitoring systems, hazard analysis methods, risk assessment procedures, safety certification requirements, and protective packaging designs.
About This Category
Safety and reliability represent the critical bridge between energy harvesting innovation and practical deployment. While harvesting technologies continue advancing in efficiency and capability, their value is only realized when systems operate safely and maintain performance throughout their intended service life. This category provides engineers with the knowledge to design, test, and deploy energy harvesting systems that meet demanding safety requirements and reliability targets across diverse applications and environments.