Wireless Power Technology Market Trends

Wireless power is a technique to transfer energy from a source (transmitter) to a device (receiver) without using ports, cables and wires. Wireless power differs from wired power in that the transfer of energy occurs through electromagnetic fields. In addition, wireless power technology often relies on the coupling to an intermediate resonant system and has significant inherent loss due to ohmic heating effects as well as radiation losses.

The primary advantage of wireless power technology over wired is convenience: devices can be powered/charged without a direct ‘wired’ connection to an energy source. This could save considerable installation costs by removing the need for electrical wires during deployment and removing the need for batteries or frequent charging required by some portable applications such as mobile phones and laptops. THere are also other several benefits and drivers towards adoption of wireless charging technology.

Wireless power is the transmission of energy by electromagnetic waves in free space without interconnecting wires. Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) is a fundamental physics phenomenon based on the principle of conservation of energy that allows powering electronic devices over near and far distances - without the need for batteries, wired connectors/ports, ions, or charging stands to be changed or plugged in. The presence of magnetic fields at the point where the wireless power receiver and wireless power transmitter are placed allows converting electrical power into radio frequency signals transmitted through free space, which are then received by an antenna/coil tuned to this specific frequency range to recover electricity at low efficiency.

The benefits of wireless power

Wireless power market has long been recognized, but the technology has failed to gain widespread adoption in consumer devices. The underlying issue is that inductive charging, which transfers energy wirelessly by magnetic fields through physical contact between two components, doesn't provide a complete solution for powering devices everywhere. To some extent some of the existing technologies are not truly wireless power by nature.

Wireless power research pioneers and technology providers are now tackling this problem by finding new innovative ways to wirelessly transfer power over distances greater than cms, inches feet or even kms. Wirelessly charging at various distance levels are currently being tackled by using different wireless power technologies and techniques, which then use different frequency levels and are based on different industry standards or proprietary solutions. While many companies compete and use similar technology i.e. same frequency band, the success depends on the innovative techniques being used by them and the efficiency level they deliver.

Wireless power in transportation

Wireless power technology is also being used across the infrastructure sector which also includes transportation systems such as cars, trains, buses, trucks, airplanes, cruises, ferries, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), other robotis devices and even drones. The technology has advanced to that level where one can not only charge devices inside these types of vehicles, but can also wirelessly charge these vehicles such as electric cars, electric buses, electric taxis, electric trucks, electric ferries, etc. And to add further, these electric vehicles can be charged wirelessly in a static (non-movable) mode and/or also while in motion (dynamic) i.e. while they are being driven on roads or on air (drones). The wireless power technology being used could vary from being coupled (in proximity) or distance charging (over the air), using different frequency-based solutions.

 

The future of wireless power

As an example, researchers at the University of Washington have proposed the concept of a wireless power transfer system that can efficiently beam electricity to moving objects. Using ultra-wideband pulses, this new method uses ‘mid-air’ charging to wirelessly charge devices inside an office or home without having line-of-sight with the wireless power transmitter.

So how does this work? The researchers suggest transmitting ultra wideband pulses (UWB) which minimizes interference between multiple transmitters and receivers in close proximity, similar to how white noise works for radio tuning. By tuning into these signals using the rectenna (rectifying antenna) which is capable of converting electromagnetic waves into direct current (DC), they were able to wirelessly devices by focusing on the wireless power receiver.

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), a prominent industry body governing the much-adopted wireless power technology standard, introduced Qi, an inductive power specification that is expected to unify the various wireless charging technologies used around the world into one universal standard. The WPC hopes these new specifications will help speed up the adoption of wireless power transfer for consumer and other application sectors.

While wireless power has been a technology for decades, it is only recently that the frequency and efficiency of this energy transfer have reached levels necessary to make it commercially viable to adopt across a wide range of applications/devices. As more and more companies begin to recognize the benefits of wireless power technology like convenience, increased safety because there are no wires or cables involved, coupled with reduced installation costs due to decreased labor hours, we expect demand for wireless power systems will continue growing rapidly over the next decade.

Wired and Wireless Technologies (WAWT), a strategic technology analyst and consultancy firm, provide the most comprehensive research-based data with the short (5 years) and long (10 years) term forecast, insights, latest trends, and market intelligence on the wireless power technology market across 30+ application sectors and devices, adopting various wireless power technology solutions, frequency types and power levels.  WAWT is the leading and most trustworthy research and insights provider on the wireless power technology market.

 

WAWT’s, comprehensive reports on wireless power technology market provides all the knowledge and insights to help your company understand this growing technology market from various aspects - be it different wireless power technology types, industry standards, proprietary solutions, key players, solution providers, semiconductor companies, component manufacturers, regulatory requirements, company market shares, etc.

 

Our subject matter experts have more than 25 years of extensive research and consultancy experience of working across the technology industry, including wireless power. WAWT, a leading research company in the wireless power industry offers syndicated as well as tailored bespoke solutions to companies across the value-chain, suitable for any needs that arise in today's or tomorrow’s business world! If you’re looking for more information on the topic, please visit our website. Thanks for reading!