Cell phones, laptop computers, mobile robots, even electric vehicles capable of re-charging themselves without ever being plugged in. Flat screen TV’s and digital picture frames that hang on the wall—without requiring a wire and plug for power. Industrial systems and medical devices made more reliable by eliminating trouble prone wiring and replaceable batteries.
WiTricity Corp. is working to make this future a reality, developing wireless electricity technology that will operate safely and efficiently over distances ranging from centimeters to several meters—and will deliver power ranging from milliwatts to kilowatts.
WiTricity Corp.’s vision is to develop a family of wireless electric power components that will enable OEM’s in a broad range of industries and applications to make their products truly “wireless.” Wireless electric power delivered over room scale distances, and with high efficiency. Wireless electric power that is safe for people and animals.
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Ideas about wireless electricity have been floating around the world of technology for more than a century. Nikola Tesla started toying with the ability to send electricity through the air in the 1890s. Since then, though, making wireless electricity technology safe and cheap enough to put on the market has been an arduous task for researchers.
Engineers have developed several ways to convert electricity into something that's safe to send through the air without a wire. Some of their technologies are available on commercial scales, but they have some limits.
How efficient is wireless power?
The energy consumption of battery chargers has two main contributors: charging efficiency and standby power consumption.
STANDBY POWER CONSUMPTION
Unfortunately, many people leave the chargers and cradles connected to mains power when the charger is not used. The standby power consumption (also called “no-load power consumption”) is significant.
CHARGING EFFICIENCY
The other contributor is charging efficiency. Our wireless chargers have the same ingredients as a wired charger (an AC-DC adaptor plus charging electronics) and one additional ingredient: the copper wire between adaptor and the mobile phone is replaced with a wireless link. That link is not efficient as a copper wire (what can beat a copper wire?), but careful design made it possible to achieve at least 70% transfer efficiency. And that percentage can go up a bit if a manufacturer is willing to spend more on high-quality components.
In less than a decade from now, the wireless electricity technology would be a common thing, if WiTricity has their way. WiTricity is in the midst of research and fine tuning their wireless electricity technology where electrical equipment no longer required physical cords.
thank you tesla for this
