Effect of series tuning inductor position on power transfer capability of CCPT system

Capacitively coupled power transfer (CCPT) technology offers an alternative contactless power transfer solution with the advantages of being able to transfer power across metal barriers and having low power losses in metal surrounding circumstances. In a series tuned CCPT system, a designer may tend to believe that the position of the tuning inductor in the circuit makes no difference. It has been found in this reported research that the output power capability exhibits clear difference under misaligned conditions when the same tuning inductor is placed at the primary and secondary side of the circuit owing to the existence of the cross-coupling between the metal plates. Both theoretical and experiment results show that placing the tuning inductor at the primary side of a CCPT system can significantly increase its output power under a misaligned condition.