Design and Performance Evaluation of a “Fixed-Point” Spar Buoy Equipped with a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Unit for Floating Near-Shore Applications

n the present work, a spar-buoy scaled model was designed and built through a “Lab-on-Sea” unit, equipped with an energy harvesting system. Such a system is based on deformablebands, which are loyal to the unit, to convert wave motion energy into electricity by means ofpiezo patch transducers. In a preliminary stage, the scaled model, suitable for tests in a controlledripples-type wave motion channel, was tested in order to verify the “fixed-point” assumption in pitchand roll motions and, consequently, to optimize energy harvesting. A special type of structure wasdesigned, numerically simulated, and experimentally verified. The proposed solution represents anadvantageous compromise between the lightness of the used materials and the amount of recoverableenergy. The energy, which was obtained from the piezo patch transducers during the simulations inthe laboratory, was found to be enough to self-sustain the feasible on-board sensors and the remotedata transmission system.