NGK, Energous and e-peas collaborate on wireless power systems

WPT is a technology that uses radio frequency to transmit power to remote areas. As society shifts toward IoT, power cables and primary batteries (disposable batteries) have been used to power IoT devices. But wiring and the hassle of replacing batteries were a big issue. WPT is attracting attention as a power supply technology that promotes the realisation and spread of maintenance-free IoT devices. It enables power supply edge devices to place where wiring and maintenance presents difficulties.

NGK and Energous initially entered into a partnership in October 2022 to develop solutions that combine Energous’ WattUp technology with NGK’s lithium-ion rechargeable EnerCera battery to enable maintenance-free IoT devices. Alongside e-peas, the three companies have now developed a temperature and humidity sensor evaluation kit and are also proposing WPT systems aimed at powering tracking devices used in logistics and other IoT applications such as electronic shelf labels. As part of this efforts, an evaluations kit will be provided to support the development of WPT devices.

This kit can be connected to any type of end-devices in need of energy harvesting technology such as sensors or electronic shelf labels. The EnerCera battery that comes with the kit effectively stores a small amount of energy transmitted through WPT and is capable of releasing an amount of energy large enough to power devices despite being ultra-thin and ultra-small, so it can be used in many kinds of applications.