Wireless/cableless electricity transmission – is it possible?
Homes without cables and sockets? Wireless transmission of energy? Although it may sound a bit like science fiction, work is constantly underway on solutions that would make it possible. Implementing them on an industrial scale could revolutionize the power industry and open up huge opportunities. The only question is whether and when it is possible?
Both in micro and macro perspective, we are accompanied by various types of cables in our daily lives. Phone charger, laptop charger, power line, cables for various types of devices – these are all elements necessary for individual electrical devices to operate. How different would the world look if it were possible to transmit electricity without cables? The introduction of such solutions on a large scale would be a real revolution in the power industry. However, it should not be forgotten that in some aspects of life, wireless energy transmission is no longer a thing of the future, but a well-known… everyday reality.
What is wireless power transmission?
Trying to define what wireless power transmission is, we can call it the transmission of electrical energy that is carried out without a physical connection in the form of electrical wires. This means that on the one hand we have a transmitting device, which is an energy carrier, on the other – a receiving device that gets power, and everything happens without using cables. Applying this definition to everyday life, we can conclude that such solutions already exist and it is very likely that they are in your immediate environment. An example would be inductive chargers for smartphones.
Wireless power transmission using induction has its limitations, of course. For example, it requires the transmitter and receiver to be in close contact. In recent years, we have already seen some development in this area, as it is increasingly no longer necessary to precisely position both devices in order to enable wireless power transmission. However, this is not the only solution on power transmission without cables.
Electricity without cables – technology development for over 100 years
Research into the possibilities of transmitting electricity without cables is not a recent phenomenon. Nikola Tesla was already working on such solutions at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, investigating, among other things, the aforementioned phenomenon of induction, but also the possibilities of using electromagnetic waves (microwaves) for this purpose. Work on such solutions has been going on for decades, and their development involves both governments of individual countries, powerful institutions such as NASA, and private companies.
Some solutions have already been implemented, such as the aforementioned technology of inductive charging of devices. Scientific journals and media increasingly report on new solutions or successful experiments in this area. Scientists from the University of Tokyo have developed a demonstration room in which electricity without cables has become a reality. The transmission of electrical energy takes place using resonance, and this technique has been called “quasi-static multimode cavity resonance”.
Another example is the experiments carried out by the US Army or NASA, creating a helicopter or airplane powered by electrical energy transmitted wirelessly. Inductive charging technologies, radio wave technologies, electromagnetic waves or ultrasound technologies are currently used for work on wireless energy transmission.
The potential of wireless energy transmission
The technology that enables the transmission of electrical energy without cables has not yet been mastered by humanity in a way that would allow its industrial application on a large scale in the case of high power. But the potential of this solution is enormous. Its eventual popularization could change, for example, the way we use various types of devices or household goods, it could also revolutionize transport and eliminate the limitations of electric cars, it would also leave its mark on the military industry.
One of the areas that would also undergo a revolution would be the power infrastructure. Effective implementation of such technology would potentially create energy grids without wires. Over time, power lines or a power pole that we know from everyday life could become a relic of the past. Of course, the implementation of this solution would also have an impact on other aspects of the power infrastructure, such as the designation of transmission easements or issues of power connections. These issues would certainly become an element that would have to be regulated in connection with the popularization of the new technology.
Technology of the future
Although work on wireless transmission of electricity is constantly developing and in some areas of life these solutions are already possible, it seems that ideas such as houses without cables and sockets are still a melody of the future. However, technological development and increasingly advanced research make it reasonable to ask the question, not whether, but when wireless transmission of energy will become a part of our everyday life.