Wireless power continues to inch toward consumers

By Aaron Burkhart

I’ve been trying to keep an eye on upcoming wireless power options (which is like watching grass grow), and it looks like the big wireless power developers are still crawling toward consumer solutions.

In an article I wrote for the April 15 issue of The Northern Light, I examined the different methods of generating wireless power and a few of the companies to watch. Since then, there have been a few new announcements that give me hope the technology isn’t too far from store shelves.

Since then, Fulton Innovation (whose eCoupled technology is one of the most promising wireless power options) has acquired the assets of Splashpower, a competing wireless power developer that ran out of funds some time ago (read the short press release on the aquisition). To buy out a defunct competitor must mean Splashpower had some technology that eCoupled didn’t; that means a likely improvement in Fulton’s already impressively strong eCoupled technology, which uses an inductively coupled power circuit, as did Splashpower.

Also of note is Powercast’s statement that it has come to an agreement with Pure Energy Visions, maker of rechargeable batteries. Unlike the inductive coupling technology mentioned above, Powercast uses radio frequency harvesting to trickle power to its enabled devices. While RF harvesting will never power a running laptop like eCoupled technology can, it can charge small devices from a much greater distance. Rechargeable batteries with this technology could be put in any device and you would never have to replace the batteries or place them in a charger — it would all be done through the airwaves without you doing a thing. This is very promising, although rechargeable batteries in general still haven’t caught on as well as they should have.

Most recently, HoMedics, maker of massaging cushions and other home health products, partnered up with Powermat to create products with wireless power capabilities. The press release doesn’t give much detail, but it won’t be full wireless yet, since any wirelessly powered device would still need a wireless power giver – which, ideally, would be embedded in the floors, walls and furniture. That’s the biggest obstacle to this technology: it’s almost a catch-22 of putting out wireless devices while still needing to plug-in a powermat to give off the wireless power. That is, until enough homes have wireless power-givers already embedded, which nobody will make until they see a market filled with wirelessly powered devices.

Anyway, it’s a step in the right direction, and I’m excited to see where wireless power goes next; the true potential of the technology is barely even tapped.