A Critical Review of Recent Progress in Mid-Range Wireless Power Transfer

Starting from Tesla's principles of wireless power transfer a century ago, this critical review outlines recent magneto-inductive research activities on wireless power transfer with the transmission distance greater than the transmitter coil dimension. It summarizes the operating principles of a range of wireless power research into 1) the maximum power transfer and 2) the maximum energy efficiency principles. The differences and the implications of these two approaches are explained in terms of their energy efficiency and transmission distance capabilities. The differences between the system energy efficiency and the transmission efficiency are also highlighted. The review covers the two-coil systems, the four-coil systems, the systems with relay resonators and the wireless domino-resonator systems. Related issues including human exposure issues and reduction of winding resistance are also addressed. The review suggests that the use of the maximum energy efficiency principle in the two-coil systems is suitable for short-range rather than mid-range applications, the use of the maximum power transfer principle in the four-coil systems is good for maximizing the transmission distance, but is under a restricted system energy efficiency (<50%); the use of the maximum energy efficiency principle in relay or domino systems may offer a good compromise for good system energy efficiency and transmission distance on the condition that relay resonators can be placed between the power source and the load.