Power harvesting is indeed a major trend as of late. Many companies at the ESC expo were showing off their offering in this vein. Heat conversion using Peltier junction blocks used in reverse, was very common. Vibration energy absorption using piezoelectric devices on everything from cars to shoes were present. And of course wind turbines were fluttering everywhere. But the most discussed and inspiring of all were the wireless energy harvesting concepts (related article). Wifi, cellular, and other radio signals were analysed for their energy potential by many groups.
One speaker, replying to a question of whether power could be harvested from wifi and such signals said without hesitation, "It ain't going to work." And a little later followed that up with a confident, "can not work." I am skeptical. I believe it's possible. If Tesla could do wireless power transfer 70 years ago, why can't it be done today?
At another lecture a different speaker had the complete opposite view on wireless power transfer. He said that wireless power options were yielding results in the uW ranges in his experience. However, he didn't discuss how the results were achieved. Very dichotomous views, I thought.
I want to know, since I have not attempted such a feat, is wireless power harvesting a viable option? Has anyone tried this, or have experience in such things?
Cabe
