Piezoelectric Road at Toll Plaza-1

Abstract

The proposed project, “Piezoelectric Road at Toll Plaza”, is an innovative smart-road system designed to generate electrical energy from the mechanical pressure produced by moving vehicles. In this system, piezoelectric plates are installed beneath the road surface at the toll plaza. Whenever a vehicle passes over these plates, the applied mechanical pressure is converted into electrical energy through the piezoelectric effect. The generated electrical energy is collected, stored and monitored through an electronic control system. A mobile-based monitoring system is also proposed to display the amount of electricity generated by the vehicles in real time. Along with energy generation, the system can automatically detect and record the number of vehicles crossing the piezoelectric road. This information can be transmitted to the mobile application, allowing the user to monitor both vehicle count and electricity generation from the toll plaza remotely. The proposed system combines renewable energy generation, smart transportation monitoring and IoTbased data communication. It can help utilize the continuous movement of vehicles at toll plazas as a potential source of electrical energy while providing useful traffic and energy data. The project demonstrates the potential of integrating piezoelectric technology with smart-road infrastructure for sustainable and intelligent transportation systems. The increasing demand for clean and sustainable energy has encouraged researchers to investigate unconventional sources of renewable energy. One promising approach is the use of piezoelectric technology in road pavements to convert mechanical energy produced by moving vehicles into electrical energy. A piezoelectric road consists of piezoelectric transducers embedded beneath or within the pavement. When vehicles pass over the road, their weight and the resulting pavement deformation generate mechanical stress in the piezoelectric material. Through the piezoelectric effect, this mechanical stress is converted into electrical charge. The generated electrical energy can subsequently be rectified, regulated, stored in batteries or supercapacitors, and used for low-power applications such as road sensors, traffic monitoring systems, warning lights, wireless communication devices, and street lighting. Research during the last two decades has demonstrated the technical feasibility of pavementbased piezoelectric energy harvesting. However, practical deployment remains challenging because of relatively low and variable power output, high installation costs, mechanical durability requirements, environmental exposure, energy-conditioning requirements, and uncertainty concerning long-term economic performance. Recent reviews emphasize that piezoelectric roads are most realistic as a supplementary energy source for localized transportation infrastructure rather than as a replacement for conventional electrical grids. Keywords: Piezoelectric road, piezoelectric effect, energy harvesting, smart road, renewable energy, pavement, PZT, PVDF, traffic energy.