Design of Capacitive Power Transfer Using a Class-E Resonant Inverter

This paper presents a capacitive power transfer (CPT) system using a Class-E resonant inverter. A Class-E resonant inverter is chosen because of its ability to perform DC-to-AC inversion efficiently while significantly reducing switching losses. The proposed CPT system consists of an efficient Class-E resonant inverter and capacitive coupling formed by two flat rectangular transmitter and receiver plates. To understand CPT behavior, we study the effects of various coupling distances on output power performance. The proposed design is verified through lab experiments with a nominal operating frequency of 1 MHz and 0.25 mm coupling gap. An efficiency of 96.3% is achieved. A simple frequency tracking unit is also proposed to tune the operating frequency in response to changes in the coupling gap. With this resonant frequency tracking unit, the efficiency of the proposed CPT system can be maintained within 96.3%–91% for the coupling gap range of 0.25–2 mm.