Wind-Driven Triboelectric Nanogenerators: A Critical ReView of Research Trends, Structural Principles, and ProSpects for the Built Environment

Energy conservation and carbon reduction in the building sector are critical to addressing climate change. This paper presents a building-oriented critical review of wind-driven triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), aiming to clarify their research maturity, realistic functional roles, and key limitations in the built environment. Bibliometric analysis reveals a rapid growth of TENG-related studies, with research activity concentrated in East Asia and North America, while work directly connected to architectural applications remains limited. Keyword evolution indicates a shift from fundamental energy-conversion mechanisms toward device optimization and sensing-oriented functions. Based on a structured review, two representative device categories—rotational systems and flutter-based designs—are examined with respect to their operating characteristics and suitability for low-wind building conditions. Reported building-related applications are currently focused on hybrid rooftop harvesting concepts and self-powered sensing components integrated into building systems, particularly for environmental monitoring. However, most demonstrations remain at a laboratory or prototype level, and their architectural integration is constrained by issues including low power output, durability, environmental adaptability, and system-level compatibility. Rather than positioning wind-driven TENGs as near-term power sources for buildings, this review highlights their more realistic short-term potential as supplementary micro-energy units and self-powered sensors, while emphasizing the technical and architectural challenges that must be addressed before broader building adoption can be achieved.