Updated: 5 October 2026

This article now provides a checklist for evaluating wireless-power demonstrations. The earlier reproduced APS report has been removed; the original research coverage remains available from its publisher.

Define the system boundary

A headline may report power at one point in a circuit. Draw a simple boundary around the entire transmitter and receiver and ask what enters and leaves it. Do the reported figures describe that whole boundary or just one component? If the receiver uses an additional supplied signal, include it in the questions you ask about energy accounting.

Separate demonstration from deployment

List the conditions that were held constant in a demonstration, then list what would vary in use: location, orientation, movement and the environment. An experiment can establish a mechanism under its tested conditions without establishing a consumer product's performance.

Compare like with like

Before comparing two results, check that distance, receiving load and efficiency definitions match. Otherwise a larger number may describe a different measurement rather than a better system.

For context, read the companion guide to the 2018 study. Together these questions help keep a technical result separate from an advertising promise.