Energous 2W PowerBridge transmitter doubles wireless power for IoT devices

Energous has launched the 2W PowerBridge transmitter that doubles the energizing capability of Energous’ 1W transmitter found in WattUp 1W active energy harvesting developer kit, the “Wirelessly powered sensor evaluation kit“, and various deployments in the field.

Energous wireless transmitters are used in IoT applications across the supply chain, logistics, retail, industrial and agricultural industries, which benefit from lower maintenance and wiring costs, and the new 2W transmitter will provide better RF coverage and power levels.

Energous further explains its 2W PowerBridge helps reduce the need for replaceable batteries and charging cables since it can power IoT devices at a distance in industrial, commercial, and residential settings leading to a reduced need for maintenance or human intervention, enabling a more automated workflow, and the deployment of “Active Energy Wireless Power Networks”. So while there will also be wasted energy with at-a-distance wireless power, it could still make financial sense for some applications.

A single PowerBridge transmitter can not only wirelessly charge multiple devices simultaneously from a distance (we are not told how far, probably just a few centimeters or meters for really low-power devices), but it can also function as data links for connected IoT devices. One potential application I can think of would be updating e-Paper labels in a store with transmitters scattered throughout the store and data such as price and promotions managed from the cloud or a computer in the store. Believe it or not, another application is coffee cup tracking and monitoring.

Energous’ 2W PowerBridge will be available for testing by the end of Q2 2023 via a 2W Evaluation Kit that should probably include the transmitter shown above together with a few sensors as is the case for the (1W) “Wirelessly powered sensor evaluation kit”.  The 2W transmitter should eventually be added to the Energous devices page along with the 1W and 5.5W PowerBridge transmitters already listed, but right now, the only public information is the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

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