Millimetre wireless power for sustainable windows
Guru Wireless in the US aims to use wireless power to simplify the retrofit process for smart windows more accessible and cost-effective.
A grant from the US government will see GuRu Wireless integrate its 24GHz wireless power and control with electrochromic windows for more energy efficient buildings.
The Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Technologies Office (BTO) will fund research on making building upgrades more accessible and economically viable. The technology can reduce the cost to retrofit electrochromic windows in existing commercial buildings by up to 90% compared to hard-wired solutions.
Electrochromic windows enable dynamic control of the amount of light and heat passing through them to significantly improve building energy efficiency. Despite the promise of this sustainable technology, adoption in existing commercial buildings faces significant barriers due to the extensive infrastructure and installation costs of power cables.
Instead the GuRu Wireless system uses 24GHz mm-wave phased arrays and a proprietary RF smart lensing technology developed to efficiently deliver wireless power over distance. The system architecture is designed in a scalable and tiled format to enable different applications, use cases, form factors and power/distance requirements.
For electrochromic windows, each system can not only power and control several windows but can also act as an access point for data aggregation within a building, as the company’s transmitters can connect to building and cellular networks. GuRu Wireless has already demonstrated this capability in other applications.
This means the wireless power transfer technology can eliminate the need for hardwired installations. GuRu Wireless will use the Phase 1 SBIR award to develop and customize its wireless power beaming system for a proof-of-concept deployment in a dedicated government laboratory installation. This will form the foundation for development of a commercial-grade solution.
“Our technology delivers power over the air to enable applications where batteries or wires are too expensive or impractical. Electrochromic windows in commercial buildings are a great example of this,” said Narbeh Derhacobian, CEO, GuRu Wireless. “Our approach not only decreases up-front costs, but also offers greater flexibility in window placement and design, as there’s no longer a constraint of proximity to power sources.”
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