Looking For An Outlet? With Wireless Power, You May Not Need One Soon

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No more searching for that elusive, functioning outlet in the airport to charge your dying cell phone as you wait to board, or worrying about your laptop dying during an important presentation.

That’s what one Virginia-based company envisions. The concept is to get your electric power wirelessly just as you get access to the internet wirelessly.

Wireless power is the focus of WiGL, or Wireless-electric Grid Local Air Networks. The idea is to bring WiGL (pronounced wiggle) networks to local communities so there is no more frantic searching for outlets, blocks, or cords.

“WiGL’s goal is to get these transmitters and receivers out into the communities, into buildings, into hospitals, into street lights,” WiGL Chief of Innovation and Partnering Marie Wise said. “You can connect to a WiGL network and power or recharge your devices.”

Finding Good Partners?

To make the goal a reality, Wise says WiGL is working on developing strategic partnerships such as the one the company has with Florida International University and some corporations.

“We want to further develop the methods to be able to bring WiGL networks to the public…soon,” Wise said.

Recently, WiGL announced a partnership with the hardware technologies of California-based Energous Corp. WATT to build a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) transmitter network allowing for greater distance between a device and a wireless connection to a power source. WiGL has similar COTS partnerships with other technology companies.

One drawback is that wireless networks may not be as consistently effective and reliable as simply plugging a device into a wall, Wise said, but the whole concept more than makes up for that because it’s far more convenient than the conventional approach. Home products such as remotes and medical applications that rely on a battery could also benefit from the new wireless networking approach.

“I think it’s going to be a game-changer because not only is it going to provide power in your homes, it is also environmentally going to help with harvesting power,” Wise said. “It could also help in life-saving operations.”

The global wireless power transmission market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 23% from 2019 to 2024, according to ResearchAndMarkets.com. Major companies involved in developing wireless power transmission technologies include Qualcomm Inc. QCOM and Texas Instruments Inc. TXN, according to the report.

For more information, check out startengine.com/wigl.

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