The history of wireless power transmission

The history of wireless power transmission at microwave frequencies is reviewed with emphasis upon the time period starting with the post World War II efforts to use the new microwave technology developed during the war. A nationally televised demonstration of a microwave powered helicopter at the Spencer Laboratory of the Raytheon Co., in 1964 was the result of these early efforts and broadly introduced the concept of wireless power transmission to scientific and engineering communities and to the public. Subsequent development efforts centered on improving the efficiency of the interconversion of d.c. and microwave power at the ends of the system to reach a demonstrated overall d.c. to d.c. system efficiency of 54% in 1974. The response to the requirements of applications such as the Solar Power Satellite and high altitude microwave powered aircraft have changed the direction of technology development and greatly expanded the technology base. Recent and current efforts are centered on examining the use of higher frequencies than the baseline 2.45 GHz, and in reducing the system costs at 2.45 GHz.