US Patent 9106159 System to harvest energy in a wellbore

A system to harvest mechanical energy in a wellbore, wherein the mechanical energy comes from motion. The system uses mechanical energy coming from at least one of: motion of a drill bit, motion of a drill string, motion of flowing air or drilling mud down the drill string to the drill bit and up an annulus between the drill string and the wellbore, and motion of a bottom hole assembly connected to the drill string. The system can include a plurality of piezoelectric stand bundles, wherein each individual piezoelectric strand can vibrate as the pressure housing moves in the wellbore, thereby producing electricity.