FCC Permissive Change Extends Energous Wireless Charging Distance to 1 Meter

A Class II permissive change to Energous’ existing MS-550 FCC grant lets the company and its partners develop and market products that can be charged wirelessly within 1 meter of the transmitter, said the company Wednesday. The change allows expansion of Energous’ non-beamforming wireless charging technology, announced earlier this year, it said, adding it’s the first time a non-beamforming transmitter has been permitted with a charging zone of up to 1 meter under Part 18 guidelines. This broadens wireless power transfer applications that can be supported by the technology, “a less costly, less complicated path to commercialization,” said CEO Stephen Rizzone. The company continues to support its beamforming technology, he said. The pandemic “temporarily impacted” Energous’ ability to send engineering and application resources to customer sites, “slowing the advance of multiple product and sales cycles” that were expected to generate Q3 revenue, said Rizzone. He called the disruption a “delay.” Energous expects its WattUp-enabled products to be in commercial markets before year-end. “Over-the-air wireless charging has the potential to fundamentally change how we interact with everyday devices,” said Omdia analyst Dinesh Kithany. The research firm estimates 2 billion wireless power products will be shipped 2020-29.