
New startup develops wireless electricity - Sam_Odio
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5708216?nclick_check=1
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mattjaynes
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Takahashi: New idea? Electricity researchers work on cutting the cord

By Dean Takahashi

Mercury News

Article Launched: 04/19/2007 07:12:46 PM PDT

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Who ever heard of wireless electricity? Seems impossible.

I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen a demo myself at PowerBeam, a Sunnyvale
start-up. The technology they showed off makes me believe that big,
revolutionary ideas are still possible in Silicon Valley - even after decades
of innovation. Don't close down the patent office yet.

PowerBeam co-founders David Graham and Xiaobing Luo showed me how they could
power up a little toy with a spinning fan without using either batteries or a
wired power source. They can do so with an invention that seems suspiciously
simple.

They pointed a laser beam at a solar cell. The solar cell collects the light
energy from the laser and converts it into electricity. Light in, electricity
out.

Then the electricity travels from the solar cell into the device. They call it
an "optical power beam."

It's the same principle that powers your pocket calculator with a solar cell.
But in this case, PowerBeam gets a lot more electrical power from a laser as
far away as 65 feet.

In a patent application, PowerBeam says it can produce much more electrical
power than other methods because it has tamed a dangerous laser. It uses a
powerful laser of the sort that could cut through your hand, but it has
integrated a safety system, allowing it to channel a lot of energy into the
solar cell.

I can't be a good judge about the PowerBeam technology (other than vouching
that the demo worked). But I love the vision. I believe Advertisement that
someone who pioneers this market will find a bonanza.

Graham envisions someone using a laptop without plugging it in at all. You
could, for instance, sit at a cafe or in the middle of a hotel ballroom and
draw power from a light fixture above the center of the room. A laser atop the
light fixture would seek out any solar receptor in the room with help from a
detection system, such as a camera. When it finds it, the laser would
concentrate its light beam on the laptop's solar cell.

The size of the solar cells needed would vary based on how much power is
needed. A cell phone could be charged with a solar cell the size of a silver
dollar, says Graham. For a laptop, the cell would be bigger and be mounted as
a pad on the laptop's cover. If PowerBeam systems improve and became popular,
you wouldn't need batteries for your laptop as you travel.

Another application is security cameras, which often need to be placed where
it's not convenient to string an electrical cord. A security camera can run on
just four watts, which Graham says his device can produce using a very small
solar cell. Still another application is to use the PowerBeam system to
connect high-end audio speakers anywhere in a room without having an unsightly
electrical cord attached to it.

It's a big dream for a little company. PowerBeam is just a two-person company
in Sunnyvale's Plug and Play Tech Center, a building that houses scores of
start-ups. The company still has perhaps two years or more before it gets a
product on the market. But Graham says the company has filed for patents on
the basic invention and is now talking to potential partners about
applications.

"We produce wireless electricity," Graham says. "Think of us as PG&E.; Our
partners will do interesting things with it."

As for competition, it isn't hard to find patents for "wireless electricity."
In the early 1900s, radio pioneer Nikola Tesla unsuccessfully tried to
commercialize a wireless electricity invention. Many wireless power solutions
aren't really useful because of problems relating to how much power they can
transfer over distance.

Last year, a research team headed by Marin Soljacic at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology said it could transfer electricity wirelessly using a
concept called electromagnetic resonance. Powercast, a Pennsylvania start-up,
says it has a safe wireless power system that uses radios to transmit power.
The company says it will be used in lots of devices by the end of 2008. And
another start-up, WildCharge, is preparing to start selling a pad that
wirelessly charges cell phones that are placed on top of it.

PowerBeam's Graham says his solution uniquely combines a powerful laser with a
safety system.

This isn't his first start-up. He sold a previous software company to National
Semiconductor in 2003 for an undisclosed sum. After a year at National, he
left to start something new. He dreamed up the PowerBeam idea about two years
ago and later recruited Luo, a former National colleague who is an optical
scientist.

The two men were able to get a short-range demo working in December, and I saw
it work across the width of a sizable room. The company is self-funded so far,
but it plans to raise venture money. The solution eventually has to solve
somebody's problem, and it has to be inexpensive.

"About 10 percent of this is science," Graham says. "The rest of it is
engineering."

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Sam_Odio
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<http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_5708216>

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sharpshoot
Splashpower from the UK have been doing this for years. They got funded in
2001.

See <http://splashpower.com>

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danw
Splashpower and powerbeam work differently. Splash power recharges devices
wirelessly in a way that is more useful than powerbeam. I've been waiting a
long time to get splashpower in my phone, ipod, etc but still no sign of it :(

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Sam_Odio
I'm guessing Splashpower uses electromagnetic induction.

The advantage of lasers is that they work over longer distances, and can
therefore can be used in situations where Splashpower couldn't - i.e.,
powering a whole room full of laptops.

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Sam_Odio
Pretty cool concept. I've been waiting for this for a while... Although I was
thought the technology would use electromagnetic induction - not lasers.

For more on powerbeam, also see: <http://venturebeat.com/2007/04/20/powerbeam-
the-wireless-electricity-start-up/>

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madanella
I like the potential ability to enable a truly wireless home environment where
electronic devices all use wireless tech in place of physical cables. Speakers
would be the first thing I would want to receive wireless power in addition to
the wireless data signal.

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nrohan
Interesting. Would it replace Solar cells to power home/big devices?

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nickb
Very cool! Another Tesla invention is gaining acceptance.

