Remote power through electric fields

Magnetic fields aren’t the only means of sending power between devices without using wires. This demo at the booth of Efficient Power Conversion used an electric field to power a set of LEDs. A company called Solace Power in Canada created the display of its technology, which it calls Resonant Capacitive Coupling. The 13.56-MHz electric fields used to beam power are generated using GaN FETs from EPC, which explains its place at the EPC booth. The applications for RCC include non-contact slip rings and dashboard electronics powered wirelessly. In real uses, sticking you hand in the electric field (right) wouldn’t affect power transfer. The capacitive coupling in the show demo wasn’t quite bullet-proof, so the LEDs would dim a bit when passers-by got curious.

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