The Era of Wireless Power Transfer

As one of the most epoch‐making technologies, the wireless power transfer (WPT) can realize the energy transmission in a cordless way, which is obviously changing our traditional usage pattern of the energy, thus promoting the pervasive application of sustainable energies into our daily life. This chapter begins with a great man, namely Nikola Tesla. Tesla's focus moved to a wireless power distribution system, which can wirelessly deliver the power directly to everywhere in the world. From the perspective of the transmission distance, the WPT can be mainly divided to near‐field transmission and far‐field transmission. The near‐field power transfer is based on the electromagnetic field coupling theory, including the inductive and capacitive coupling mechanisms. The far‐field power transfer can be realized by means of acoustic, optical, and microwave methods, which are applied in low‐power sensor networks and military fields. The chapter also presents an overview on the key concepts discussed in this book.