THE BIRTH OF WIRELESS POWER TRANSFER
The concept of WPT is nothing new; in fact, this idea has existed since the 1800s. Many inventors and researchers at the time were contributed several theories and experiments to test WPT, but the lack of a coherent theory and understanding within the scientific community hindered its progress. It wasn't until the work of Nikola Tesla, that we see strong impetus and understanding for how WPT works.
Portrait of Nikola Tesla.
Photo from biography.com
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Tesla's sketch of Tesla coil.
Photo from biography.com
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TESLA'S DREAMIn the 1890's, an eccentric and genius inventor, Nikola Tesla envisioned a world with out wires, where electrical energy could be transmitted through the air. He wanted to create an all encompassing global wireless power grid that any home, business or vehicle could tap into at will.
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THE TESLA COILThroughout his testing and research, Tesla was able to create the Tesla Coil. The Tesla coil which was table to produce high voltage, high frequency alternating currents, was able to wirelessly power three electric bulbs 6o feet away form the power source.
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With the Tesla coil, Nikola Tesla was able to transfer large amounts of power over short distances without connecting wires. The Tesla coil proved to be too inefficient. Because of this, the Tesla Coil showed a lot of promise, but proved to lack practical applications at the time. This lack of application, coupled with Tesla's history with money, he never got enough funding to further pursue the his idea of a global wireless power grid.