EEVblog #55 - RCA Airnergy WiFi Hotspot Free Energy Harvesting Marketing BS

Dave can smell marketing bullshit a mile away, so checks out the new RCA WiFi Free Energy Harvesting "Airnergy" device with some back of the envelope calculations. Marketing BS or can it actually work?

Watch the RCA video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMMbihbeIls

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• rca
• airnergy
• free
• energy
• harvesting
• device
• wifi
• ces
• mobile
• phone
• charger
• battery
• blackberry
• nokia
• iphone
• hotspot

[wowerman]

i have some question.why cell phone companies do not support ideas to install some solar cells at the back of phones just to extend battery life between charges,i do not know how much current you can get from small surface of phone cover but some ideas with bigger projects have been proven,so would it work?

[EEVblog]

@wowerman Because most mobile phones sit flat on desks, ori n pockets or bags when not being used, so the solar cell on the back wouldn't be of much use.

[Zed1967]

I think there is a legal issue here as well because technically it's theft of someone's electricity. A wireless version of tapping into your neighbours electricity supply.

[EEVblog]

@Zed1967 No it's not, nothing is "stolen" from anyone. If they radiate the energy away then it's your to pick up at no loss to them.

[LinuxRaymaker]

The Suits at RCA obviously thought this was a good idea during a bit of brainstorming.

Maybe they knew it was bullshit. So the tragedy here is that the average consumer is clueless.

[EEVblog]

@LinuxRaymaker Sadly, that's true.

[EEVblog]

@waynep72 That's hilarious! It doesn't really work, so they add another method to charge the battery. Rev 3 will have a magnet and coil and you can just shake it for 5 minutes. Shape it like a dick I recon.

[EEVblog]

Oh, for sure, there is a huge future in wireless power, and much research being done. It's just in this instance they are stupidly trying to apply very low power energy harvesting to a relatively high power application, so it won't work. But if you put a correctly designed high power resonate induction coil under your desk or in your wall, this type of thing can be made to work. Just not by sniffing WiFi I'm afraid!

[wizardofthevoid]

I found this site today, thank you for your informative reviews, it helped me avoid a huge $2K mistake on the TDS2000 series scope with tiny sample memories. On this video I love your very accurate commentary on Corporate Engineering life, "spot on" as you say.

[ingiethingie]

@wowerman i have seen them for sale as add-ons... but as dave says, they are very limited in everyday use... i've had one for camping/travelling with - where you may be more inclined to ensure your phone is in good light when not using it - and it was okay for trickle charging.

[DjRaveKing]

Electronics Engineers Make The Best Debaters , and BULLSHIT BUSTERS !

[wowerman]

@EEVblog thta is it flat on some surface so if you are away from any source of AC power it would help a lot.back in time was popular in some calculators and wrist watches.also solar energy panels are getting better and better.

[Kilohercas]

put that into microwave and will see that will take lot of time to charge it :D

(well, it will melts, but still, that what you say is right ! )

[CoolDudeClem]

So in short, just get a power strip and some AC adatpetrs instead.

[deltaray3]

5 people live in an alternate universe without the inverse square law, but which still has the Internet.