Single-Transmitter Multiple-Pickup Wireless Power Transfer: Advantages, Challenges, and Corresponding Technical Solutions

As an emerging research topic, wireless power transfer (WPT) with a single transmitter for multiple pickups (STMP) shows salient advantages of reducing the number of power inverters, increasing the power density, and so on, which has profound implications for various applications, such as wireless charging for electric vehicles (EVs) and smart homes. First, this article introduces the concept of STMP-WPT and three critical issues, namely, misaligned transmission, resonance shifting, and energy security. Then, the corresponding solutions are elaborated from the perspectives of the magnetic and electric fields, respectively. Finally, the technical challenges for STMP-WPT systems are discussed.