Eco‐green portable wireless power charger design with low‐voltage, high‐current fuel cell power source features

Summary Since portable wireless power charger devices have grown rapidly in the market, this device has potential to become standard power charger for portable electronic devices. It offers enhanced consumer convenience and experience. This article presents an innovative portable wireless power charger that is more environmental‐friendly because it uses a hydrogen gas fuel cell as the power source. Compared with fossil energy, the fuel cell is clean and renewable, which does not contribute a negative impact on the environment. A wireless power transmission (WPT) system was developed based on the electromagnetic induction technique in order to propagate electromagnetic energy from the transmitter to the receiver with operating frequency at 110 kHz. A four‐cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) planar module with open type at cathode side was applied to provide 4.11 W with its low‐voltage and high‐current features. A single‐cell PEMFC produces output voltage ranging from 0.6 to 0.7 V and configures in serial to form a four‐cell PEMFC planar module. Two DC‐DC boost converter module in a parallel configuration was used to convert to a suitable voltage and current to the WPT module. The experimental validation shows that the developed system provides power around 1.6 W to the device battery under recharging with power efficiency delivery up to 70%. The charging experiment reveals the device battery capacity under recharging (cell phone) increases 1% in 3.3 minutes and it consumes the hydrogen at around 1.2 L. This article presents innovative eco‐green portable wireless power charger system for portable electronic devices which offers more environment‐friendly, enhanced consumer convenience and experience. It applied a wireless power transmission system using magnetic induction technique and a four‐cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell planar module with free air‐breathing cathode as a clean power source. With low‐voltage and high‐current fuel cell features, the apparatus provides power around 1.6 W to the device battery under recharging.