1. What factors should businesses consider when transitioning from battery-powered to wirelessly powered IoT networks?
There are 3 important factors to consider when looking at wireless power – Location, Coverage, and Data.
Maintenance and waste concerns typically limit the number of battery-powered sensors that can reasonably be used for any given application. For example, retailers that we have spoken with require thousands of sensors for in-store applications such as electronic shelf labels, which are quite the task to maintain with disposable and rechargeable batteries.
With our wirelessly powered solutions, that maintenance is eliminated, and can allow for larger-scale deployments with the additional benefit of more granular data. Speaking of data, wireless power solutions allow for more edge computing, which can decrease the amount of data and traffic from IoT devices flooding a network.
Wirelessly powered sensors are very versatile and can be added to hard-to-reach locations, embedded in walls, floors, and ceilings, enabling larger, more detailed coverage areas. This allows for highly customizable deployments that are more efficient and flexible for businesses across industries. Projects that were once written off due to maintenance concerns or coverage limitations are achievable with wireless power.
Perpetual power can have a significant impact on sustainability efforts, reducing waste from both disposable and rechargeable batteries, while more efficiently delivering power to low-power devices.
2. What strategies can be implemented to minimize the carbon footprint of energy storage and power distribution?
Beyond simply eliminating battery waste, wireless power mitigates energy used from a “truck roll” to change batteries and process downtime due to dead batteries which may require operating in a less efficient mode to catch up. Sensors can also be placed where they are needed rather than where there is line power, allowing for extended application areas.
Another example would be utilizing wirelessly powered occupancy or vacancy sensors to enable more granular control over energy usage, saving energy by turning lights off when people leave the room. Deploying multiple sensors on each floor of a building can control lighting and HVAC zones more effectively than the single sensor per zone of traditional systems. This can help building managers address seasonal sun loads in the building’s outer rooms with finer control over HVAC zones, without over-cooling inner rooms.
3. What are the long-term cost benefits of adopting wireless power transmission in automation and energy management?
A single Powercast wireless power transmitter puts out 1W of power which costs a few dollars a year and is about what your TV uses when it’s plugged in but not powered on. That single watt of electrical power is sufficient to power numerous wireless sensors that can enable smart control of devices and systems that use kilowatts of electricity. Depending on the application, both the cost savings and reduction in energy consumption can be immense.
4. How can businesses navigate regulatory challenges when implementing wireless power technology in different regions?
Powercast’s wireless power transmitters are designed to operate in the sub-giga hertz range, typically 915/868MHz which has well-defined regulatory requirements globally.
5. What are the environmental and economic implications of battery waste in large-scale IoT deployments?
There are significant end-to-end implications across the industrial ecosystem with wireless power for large IoT deployments. Using less batteries means less mining, less money to conflict countries, less usage of precious minerals and metals, less material waste, less emissions from shipping, less energy in battery production, less chemicals in landfills, and ultimately less process downtime and product development costs.
6. What role does government policy play in accelerating the shift toward battery-free, wireless power solutions?
Government policies requiring sustainable, efficient products are driving innovation in product development, recycling, and waste reduction. For example, Japan has mandated net zero emissions by 2050, and wireless power technology will be a key to reaching that goal with more efficient and intelligent devices. In the US, the FDA’s food traceability mandate aims to make our food supply safer and more trackable with sensors from farm to kitchen, and wireless power can enable those sensors and data. Additionally, the EU’s digital product passport (DPP) program, which aims to enhance transparency across product value chains by providing comprehensive information about each product’s origin, materials, environmental impact, and disposal recommendations, can combine with Powercast’s technology to recharge small consumer electronics to eliminate battery disposal and elongate battery life by limiting the battery depth of discharge.
- About Dr. Charles Greene
- About Powercast Corporation
Dr. Charles Greene is the Chief Operating and Technical Officer of Powercast Corporation, the leading provider of far-field RF-based wireless power, inductive technologies, and magnetic resonance. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2001, 2002, and 2006, respectively. Dr. Greene specializes in RF, Antenna Design, and RFID. With over 20 years of experience, he is a co-inventor of over 100 patents and has numerous other foreign and pending applications in the wireless power and RFID fields. Dr. Greene has published numerous articles and presented at various industry-leading conferences in the US, Europe, and Japan. For more information visit https://www.powercastco.com/
Powercast Corporation, founded in 2003 and based in Pittsburgh, PA, is the go-to resource for wireless charging solutions, ranging from short to long distances and from microwatts to kilowatts, with the industry’s broadest technology portfolio backed by over 300 patents worldwide. Powercast designs, develops, and manufactures semiconductor chips as well as complete wirelessly powered products, enabling various levels of customer integration.
Powercast’s solutions include RF power-over-distance charging, high-performance inductive charging systems, and low-power sensors with up to 25-year battery life. With flexible magnetic resonance systems, Powercast positions itself as the industry’s most comprehensive source of wireless power technology. For more information, visit https://www.powercastco.com/.
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