This paper presents a novel switched damping method which is able to improve the operational bandwidth of a linear electromagnetic energy harvester. In this system, different damping coefficients, in which values are computed based on the adaptive percentage-varying factor, are electronically switched at different points within the predefined oscillating quadrants. An analytical model of the switching damping device is presented, and the predictive results indicate that a reasonable large range of frequency shifts can be achieved for the proposed output resistances. The outputs for a range of values of internal coil resistance and electromotive force (emf) constant are recorded, and for the proposed system, the frequency can be shifted up to range of +19.50 to �81.46 away from the initial resonance. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016.