In the world of infrared and bluetooth and wi-fi, where data is exchanged at such high speeds and over considerable distances, I want to know if it is possible to charge batteries ‘wirelessly’ or is there any on-going research to make this possible if it already isn’t? Can energy be transferred remotely / without wires to charge batteries of cell phones,laptops,mp3 players? What are the possibilities?
Some electric toothbrushes are charged wirelessly by an electromagnetic coupling, but it’s generally quite difficult to transmit useful power wirelessly and safely.
Nikolai Tesla (yes, think Tesla Coil) was working on that same thing back at the turn of the 20th century.
But as this points out,
Someone is working on commercial applications of this technology, but it requires special batteries and circuitry:
Yep. Shoot a medium-power laser at a thermopile. Should work great.
Better yet, let the sun be the power source, and plop a photovoltaic cell in a patch of sunshine to keep your RV battery charged while it’s parked.
was more keen on knowing the commercial applications of this possibility if any, and if anything is being done in a big way this regard.
everyone, thanks a lot for the reponses!
Vivek
Well, there often seems to be mention of the idea of an orbital solar array, beaming power down to a receiver on Earth by microwave.
The trouble with any of these methods of meaning power is that humans are more than adequate receiving apparatus, that is to say that anyone wandering through the path of transmission (when there are many watts of power being transmitted) is going to absorb that power pretty much as effectively as the intended target. When people absorb large amounts of electromagnetic radiation in a short space of time, they get cooked.