Ocean Wave Energy Harvester With a Novel Power Takeoff Mechanism

The potential for electricity generation from ocean wave energy in the US is estimated to be 64% of the total electricity generated from all sources in 2010. Over 53% of the US population lives within 50 miles of the coast (NOAA), which means ocean waves offer ready opportunity for harvesting power. This paper will present a details progress of developing an innovative ocean wave energy harvester, with adopting an innovative power takeoff mechanism named mechanical motion rectifier (MMR), which will directly convert the irregular oscillatory wave motion into regular unidirectional rotation of the generator. It marries the advantages of the direct and indirect-drive power takeoff methods, with a much higher energy conversion efficiency and enhanced reliability and compactness. Experiment has been carried out and the results verify that the novel power take-off mechanism improved the performance of wave energy harvester.