In this paper, we use convex optimization to maximize power efficiency through cascaded multi-coil wireless power transfer systems and investigate the resulting characteristic spacing. We show that although the efficiency is generally a non-convex function of the coil spacing, it can be approximated by a convex function when the effects of higher-order couplings are small. We present a method to optimize the spacing of cascaded coils for maximum efficiency by perturbing the solution of the convex approximation to account for higher-order interactions. The method relies on two consecutive applications of a local optimization algorithm in order to enable fast convergence to the global optimum. We present the optimal configurations of coil systems containing up to 20 identical coils that transfer power over distances up to 4.0 m. We show that when spacing alone is optimized, there exist an optimal number of coils that maximize transfer efficiency across a given distance. We also demonstrate the use of this method in optimizing the placement of a select number of high-Q coils within a system of low-Q relay coils, with the highest efficiencies occurring when the high-Q coils are placed on either side of the largest gaps within the relay coil chain.

In this paper, an experimental study is carried out while charging the sealed lead acid battery bank using a series-parallel (SP) compensated contactless power transfer (CPT) system. Constant current (CC) and constant voltage (CV) modes are used for charging the battery bank. An expression of optimum operating frequency is derived to maintain the maximum compensated coil efficiency throughout the load variation in charging process. An experimental setup of SP compensated CPT system is built for charging the battery bank. The variation of compensated coil efficiency and the load phase angle with respect to different operating frequencies in CC and CV modes is verified with the measurement. Based on the analysis, the control parameters are identified.