Wireless Charging: Seamlessly Sending Power Over the Air

2024-05-10 | By Antonio Velasco

Growing up, wireless charging was something that I never even would've thought of. It feels extremely surreal--and even more unbelievable given that a great deal of technology uses it today. My cell phone, earphones, heck, even my toothbrush all utilize wireless charging today, and it feels like magic to send electricity through the air. This futuristic concept turned ordinary daily occurrence has changed how we power our devices, and in this article, we'll go over how it works and what is actually happening.

So, How Does It Work?

Wireless charging actually isn't a very new concept. Believe it or not, the idea existed since 1831 when Michael Faraday found out that a magnetic field can induce an electric current into a nearby conductor. This, also known as the principle of induction, is why wireless charging works--since all we need to do at this point is create a focused magnetic field. When we have a solenoid (or a coil of wire), by Faraday's law of induction, whenever the flux of the surface changes, an emf is acquired. Because the current is in AC, the flux is constantly changing, and thus an induced current is constantly created.

Specifically, for wireless charging, we can utilize a coil to create a magnetic field. Since power is delivered in the form of alternating current (AC), a magnetic field will be created wherever there is a coil. If we transmit this through a transmitter coil, we can receive the induced electric current through a receiver coil (still in AC). Then, we can convert the alternating current to direct current for the battery of the device.

Wireless Charging: Seamlessly Sending Power Over the Air

Why Is It Better?

You may notice that it seems like the world is starting to shift towards wireless charging--and that's for a number of reasons. The first is that I can't possibly begin to count the sheer number of wired cables that I've had--mainly because they stop working and I have to buy more. Their durability is very low, whereas I've had the same wireless charger for my toothbrush for years. Whenever something is constantly plugged in and out, wear and tear is inevitable, and wireless charging removes that frictional interaction.

Wireless charging can be a little inconvenient because you can't carry around or use your phone while it's charging, but I say that's a fair price to pay for an overall better experience.

Incorporating It Into Projects

Wireless charging is starting to be used everywhere, and with more research and development being put into its efficiency, there's no telling how good it'll be in just a couple of years. In fact, with the strides being made in the distances for wireless charging, you may be able to just sit in a room and have your device charged from the get-go. That's probably a couple of years out though.

What you can do now, though, is utilize wireless charging in your own projects.

Wireless Charging: Seamlessly Sending Power Over the Air

Linked below is just one of the wireless charging coils DigiKey sells for you to utilize in your own projects. You can charge your projects wirelessly by incorporating these into your design--and it's super simple. All you'll need to do is find a place to encase and put the coils, and you're all set.

Overall, wireless charging has made significant strides in the past few years. It's something that I never thought could be possible, yet here we are. One can only imagine what the next charging technique will be (or if we'll even need to charge our phones anymore)?