EECS230 Energy Efficiency Wireless Power Transmission

Achyuth Shivapuja (13847462) Anirban Samanta (32924289) Harsh Sahu (60363275) Tarun Prakash (51841744)

Dr. Nader Bagherzadeh Winter 2013 University of California, Irvine.

ABSTRACT In this report, we preset different concepts for transmitting power without using wires. Here, we discuss the concepts of transmitting power via Inductive Coupling, Resonance Coupling, Microwave Power Transmission and Laser power Transmission. We will also discuss the history and technical developments of Wireless Power Transmission. The advantages, disadvantages, few environmental impacts, few current applications and the future prospects for this technology are also discussed. INTRODUCTION

during transmission and distribution is the resistance of wires used for grid. The efficiency of power transmission can be improved to certain level by using high strength composite overhead conductors and underground cables that use high temperature superconductors. But, the transmission is still inefficient. These problems can be solved by choosing an alternative option for power transmission which could provide higher efficiency and low transmission cost. Wireless Power Transmission is one of the promising technologies and may be the righteous alternative for efficient and cheap power transmission. HISTORY

One of the major issues in power system is the losses occurring during the transmission and distribution of electrical power. As the demand increases day by day, the power generation increases and so does the power loss. The major amount of power loss occurs during the transmission and distribution. The main reason for power loss

Early visions of wireless power were thought by Nicola Tesla (Figure 1) about 100 years ago. Nikola Tesla demonstrated the transmission of electrical energy without wires" as early as 1891. In 1893, George Westinghouse was awarded the contract to electrify the Worlds Columbian Exposition,

in Chicago. Tesla was Westinghouses lead engineer and was given complete control over the project. Tesla not only demonstrated his alternating current platform by illuminating the entire grounds with a wired AC lighting system, he also demonstrated his wireless alternating current system. Using high voltage, high frequency alternating current, he illuminated wireless gas-discharge lamp. Tesla successfully demonstrated the illumination of vacuum bulbs without using wires for power transmission. Tesla had shown that power could be transmitted with no wires by the means of Electrical Resonance.

Figure 2: Tesla in his Colorado Springs Laboratory Three years later in 1902, Tesla shifted his laboratory to Shoreham, Long Island where he built the Wardenclyffe Tower (Figure 3). This project was largely funded by J.P. Morgan. The main purpose of this facility was to transmit power wirelessly. Teslas main plans were to send power form USA to Europe, the main idea was to fit a receiver on any device which uses electricity and the device would get free power wirelessly.

Figure 3: Wardenclyffe Tower Figure 1: Nicola Tesla In 1899, Tesla moved to Colorado Springs and continued his research, he began to study on various forms of wireless energy transmission (Figure 2). However, due to economic crisis funds were stopped, and J.P. Morgan refused to invest further. Westinghouse would not invest in a technology that would make the new electric grid obsolete. At that time there

was no means to meter the wireless consumption of power which raised concerns among investors. Teslas plans were never realized, and in 1917 the Tower was demolished due to security reasons. Imagine the implications of this technology. Power transmitters fed from generating plants could send power into the atmosphere, and all the portable devices like cell phones, laptops and tablet devices could grab it from the air, no batteries needed. All cars could be electric with zero emissions. Power losses would be minimal. There would be no transmission line congestion, which creates large spikes in locational pricing in wholesale electricity markets due to transmission line limitations. Infrastructure costs to safely transmit power which is usually trillions of dollars would be eliminated. We could have used carbon free power from space. With this technology we could relay power from one continent to other and solving crises situations for many underdeveloped nations. TECHNOLOGY The various methods of wireless transmission can be broadly categorized according to the electromagnetic field used for power transmission, electric field or the magnetic field. Non-Radiative: When the magnetic field is used for power transmission then there is very little power in the electric field and this

method is termed non-radiative due to the lack of radiation. The two processes currently in research are 1. Inductive Coupling: The underlying idea is based on Faradays Law which states that any change in the magnetic field around a coil of conductor will induce an emf in the coil irrespective of how the change was caused. Mathematically

Where With B being the magnetic field intensity and A being the effective area of the coil. The direction is set by Lenzs law which states that the resultant emf in the coil will be generated so as to tend to oppose the incident magnetic field. If the original change in magnetic field is brought about by putting an AC current through a primary coil then the resultant rapid change of magnetic field will result in a current in a secondary coil. This is the basic principle of inductive coupling.

Figure 4: Inductive Coupling

The primary limitation of inductive coupling is that the strength of the magnetic field drops off very rapidly with distance from the primary coil. The maximum distance of efficient transmission is about 1/6th of the wavelength used. 2. Resonance Coupling: The principle of inductive coupling is limiting in the essence of the drop off of the magnetic field coupling. Using resonance the coupling distance can me magnified many times, resulting in the field producing emf in a secondary coil a long distance away from the primary. The MIT group of Dr. Soljacic discovered that they could achieve 40% efficiency over distances of many meters. They could also effectively transmit power around solid objects since the resonance ensures that the power is directly coupled to the secondary coil.

The coils use capacitors and inductors built into the design to tune the coil. The accuracy of the matching while improves the efficiency, is found to tolerate a fair degree of mismatch. The tuning thus works in the same way as matching of frequencies of RLC circuits, which is what the coils are.

Figure 6: Resonant Coils The current efficiency levels are around 50%. This technology has found a great deal of public exposure due to the work by Dr. Soljacic and the company he founded, Witricity. Figure 7 displays the overlaying nature of the technology.

Figure 5: Coil Design

Figure 7: Configuration used by Witricity A secondary level of transmit-receive coils are used to amplify the coupling by spreading the current over a larger coil area allowing the receiving coil to collect the

field flux over a greater area increasing current densities and increasing the effective voltages produced in the secondary coil. Figure 8: Functioning of resonance coupling

Radiative: The electric field is more easily used to transmit power since the traditional power transmission already uses the electric fields. Its easy to convert the current in pulses of electromagnetic waves of a different frequency spectrum simply by exciting an appropriate source with the incoming current to be transmitted. Two technologies have adequately matured to do this conversion in the past century 1. Microwave Power Transmission (MPT): The microwave EM spectrum is very attractive due to its maturity both in terms of the technology being proven in critical environments and also due to its ability to transmit power over great distances. Developed during WWII microwave technology has already been studied extensively for transmission of power. In 1975 NASA JPL conducted an experiment at Goldstone laboratory and

successfully transmitted and received 34kW over a distance of 1.5kms. NASA has even explored the possibility of using the technology to beam power to satellites and also to receive power from space solar satellites. The range is the major motivation towards investigating this technology. However the size of the antennas are a serious limitation. Called Rectennas short for Rectifying Antennas they are used to convert between AC and DC and transmit-receive, the receiving antenna needs to be much larger than the transmitting antenna due to the microwave beam spreading out during transmission. This limitation can be mitigated by the use of shorter wavelengths however atmospheric losses increase severely with the use of shorter wavelengths. Figure 9. MPT proposed config.

Figure 10: Goldstone Observatory The sheer size of the antennas are the current major design limitation, however further limitations in the use of microwaves to transmit power is the adverse effect of microwaves on organic tissues. Microwaves generate high heat densities in organic cells by heating the water molecules in the cells. This tends to cook the organic matter. Such damaging power will need to be controlled with great care in order to prevent life losses. Also security issues may need to be taken care of. 2. Laser Power Transmission: LASERS have been developed in the past 50 years for communication, navigation and weapon purposes. However lasers also allow transfer of power by the same principle as in the other applications of laser. The greatest motivation of using lasers for power transmission is the possibility of

very high power densities. Added advantages include zero radio interference and also the components of lasers can be relatively quite small, also indirectly due to the power densities. However serious limitations exist. The receivers are essentially PhotoVoltaic(PV) Cells, which are yet to be developed to have high efficiencies. One major limitation is the necessity of Line Of Sight(LOS). Figure 11: Lasers used for power

APPLICATIONS OF TRANSMISSION :

WIRELESS

POWER

a small on-board battery capable of only a few minutes of flight.[4]

We discussed all types of wireless power transmission and the concepts behind evry one. Now we would discuss some of the applications of all the types of wireless power transmissions : 1. Laser Power Transmission : Lasermotive company has investigated numerous applications for its laser power beaming technology, including transmission of power both to and from the ground, spacecraft, aerial vehicles, satellites, and a lunar rover.[1] The company's stated first goal was to win the Beam Power Challenge, part of the Space Elevator Games, to power a small climber up a vertical tether. They partnered with Boeing, which provided them with test facilities, as well as specialized solar cells.[2] 1. At the 2009 Challenge, on November 6, 2009, LaserMotive successfully used lasers to drive a 4.8 kg (11 lb) device up a 900 m (2,950 ft) cable suspended from a helicopter. Energy is transmitted to the climber using a high-power infrared beam.[3] 2. On October 28, 2010, LaserMotive set a flight endurance record at the Future of Flight Center by powering a quad copter UAV for more than 12 hours using laser propulsion. The vehicle was equipped with

3. On August 7, 2012, LaserMotive equipped a Lockheed Martin Stalker UAS with a laser receiver, and the system was successfully demonstrated during day and night operations in the desert. This series of demonstration flights is described as "the first-ever outdoor flight of a UAS powered by laser".[5]

2. Microwave Power Transmission Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex does experiments in the tens of kilowatts. In 1975 NASA JPL Goldstone Demonstration of high power long distance wireless power transmission successfully transmitted 34kw of electrical power a distance of 1.5km at an efficiency of greater than 82%. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC)commonly called the Goldstone Observatoryis located in the U.S. state of California's Mojave Desert.

Operated for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, its main purpose is to track and communicate with space missions. It includes the Pioneer Deep Space Station, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The current observatory is part of NASA's Deep Space Network. The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex is one of just three in the world; the others being the Madrid Deep Space Communication Complex and the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex. Goldstone is named after Goldstone, California, a nearby gold-mining ghost town. 3. WiTricity (Magnetic Coupling): There are numerous applications of WiTricity in our daily life. We use this application very often and regularly. They are : 1. Electrical vehicle Charging 2. Mobile Phones Charging 3. Electric Toothbrush Charging 4. Laptop ,Tablets and Notebooks 5. Head Phones 6. Table Lamps charging 7. Wireless TV There are many companies working in this field. They have come up with some exciting products in this field. 1. Sony shows a wireless electrodynamicsinduction powered TV set, 60 W over 50 cm.[6]

2. Haier and SHARP Group debuts the world's first completely wireless LCD television at CES 2010 Its based on electro dynamic induction wireless energy transmission method and the Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI). [7] Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) is a consumer electronic standard for a wireless HDTV connectivity throughout the home. WHDI enables delivery of uncompressed high-definition video over a wireless radio channel connecting any video source (computers, mobile phones, Blu-ray players etc.) to any compatible display devices. WHDI is supported and driven by AMIMON, Hitachi Ltd., LG Electronics, Motorola, Samsung Group, Sharp Corporation and Sony.

Figure :

3. Palm (now a division of HP) launches the Palm Pre Smartphone with the Palm Touchstone wireless charger. Not only Palm but Nokia Lumia, LG Google Nexus, Samsung etc companies have also come up with wireless charging pads and pillows.

induction and Prof. John Boys group's 1988 follow-up experiments by wirelessly powering a nearby light bulb with 75% efficiency. [9]

Figure . 4. HALO - A standard for Wirelessly charging vehicles with relatively high efficiency using Resonant inductive coupling created from more than 10 years of research at Auckland University [8]. Also Delphi automotive systems have come up with the same type of Wireless charging Pad.

Figure : You just keep the EV on the right Spot and you EV would be automatically charged. 5 Intel reproduces the original 1894 implementation of electrodynamics

References : APPLICATIONS : 1.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4410739 1/ns/technology_and_scienceinnovation/t/forget-fuel-lasers-could-beampower-drones/ 2. "LaserMotive at Space Access '08". Space Prizes. 2008-04-01. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 3. Moskowitz, Clara (2009-11-06). "Seattle Team Wins $900,000 in Space Elevator Contest". Space.com. Retrieved 2009-11-07. 4. http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/ 5.http://www.lockheedmartin.com/us/new s/pressreleases/2012/august/120807ae_uas-laserpowered.html 6. http://presscentre.sony.eu/content/detail.a spx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=4993 7. Group Finalizes WHDI Spec For MultiRoom HD Streaming". Twice.com. Retrieved 2011-03-30. 8. "Our research stories - The University of Auckland". Auckland.ac.nz. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2012-11-25. 9. "Intel imagines wireless power for your laptop". TG Daily. 22 August 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2009.