Where Does the Energy Come From
The Tesla Pump operating regime is formed within a specific path of the system: pulsed switching followed by a system of coupled high-voltage Tesla-type resonators. Measurements taken upstream, within and downstream of this path record the sequential development of the operating regime.
Changes in voltage and current between internal measurement points reflect the transformation of the operating regime and the intensive circulation of energy within the system’s internal loop. Returned energy passes repeatedly through its elements and sustains the operating state. These internal quantities describe the dynamics of the regime; the energy balance is determined separately at the system boundary.
The open question arises where energy leaves the internal operating loop and passes through the galvanically isolated Block 13 into the load-side circuit: which energy-transfer channels close the system’s energy balance under load, and in what proportions.
This quantitative attribution has not yet been completed. Nor does the published scientific literature present a quantitative energy attribution for such an architecture.
Internal voltage and current measurements show the transformation of the operating regime, charge circulation and circulating energy. Energy delivery to the load has been measured. The operating mechanism has been established through engineering development. What remains open is the quantitative energy attribution: which energy-transfer channels close the system’s energy balance under load, and in what proportions.
Tesla Pump
The name of the regime and what it covers.
Tesla Pump is the controlled operating regime created by pulsed switching and a system of coupled high-voltage Tesla-type resonators. Tesla refers to the coupled high-voltage resonator topology. Pump refers to the cyclic formation, maintenance and restoration of the operating regime within the closed internal loop while energy is transferred into the energy-extraction path.
The system of coupled high-voltage Tesla-type resonators (Tesla resonators) consists of a transmitting and a receiving resonant node that interact through the electromagnetic field. Here, a resonator means the entire oscillating node: the inductive structure, its intrinsic and circuit capacitance, the electric and magnetic fields, and the coupling to the adjacent resonator. The coil is one structural part of it.
What the measurements show
Upstream of the path, within it and downstream of it.
| Position | Point | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstream of the path | Startup | 9 V battery, about 10 seconds, then physically disconnected. After the battery is disconnected, the operating state is sustained by the return branch of the internal operating loop. | Measured |
| Within the path | Between switching and the coupled resonators | 24 V, 24 A, mean values. An internal working point of the loop. | Measured |
| Within the path | Resonant state | Amplitudes up to 30 kV and 150 A. | Measured, with model-based conversion |
| Downstream of the path | Output of extraction node 10–11, before the diode bridge | About 450 V. | Measured |
| Downstream of the path | Energy in the load | 1 litre of water heated from 20 to 100 °C in 240 seconds, five repeats: 1.40 kW of mean thermal power. | Measured |
| Downstream of the path | Duration | 532 hours of continuous operation under load; more than 1,000 hours in total. | Run duration |
Measurements were taken by the VENDOR team. Operation of the historical prototype under a real load is shown on the Endurance Test page.
What science says
The mechanisms the literature describes.
Science describes the processes that make up Tesla Pump:
- ionisation creates mobile charge carriers, and the electric field does work on them — Scientific Foundations;
- resonance provides energy storage and intensive internal circulation of energy;
- distributed capacitance and displacement current transfer active power between coupled Tesla-type resonators [1];
- time modulation of the coupling and parametric exchange redistribute energy between frequencies and circuits [2], [3].
These processes explain how the operating regime is formed and how energy is stored, circulated, redistributed and transferred within it.
Published science describes the listed mechanisms. A quantitative energy attribution for the Tesla Pump architecture as a whole under sustained load is not presented in the scientific literature.
The next stage
The control measurement.
The next stage is an independent measurement of the energy balance at a defined system boundary and over a defined time window. It will establish the quantitative relation between the output, the known ports and the change in internal stores, with a stated uncertainty; upper bounds are set for the remaining significant exchanges.1
1 A calorimetric test is a mandatory part of the measurement: the energy delivered to the load is determined from heating, independently of the electrical measurements.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions this page is most often opened with.
Where does the energy come from?
The Tesla Pump operating regime is formed by pulsed switching and a system of coupled high-voltage resonators. The operating mechanism has been established through engineering development, and energy delivery to the load has been measured. What remains open is the quantitative energy attribution: which energy-transfer channels close the system’s energy balance under load, and in what proportions.
What is Tesla Pump?
The controlled operating regime created by pulsed switching and a system of coupled high-voltage Tesla-type resonators. The regime runs in a closed internal loop, from which energy is transferred to the load through the galvanically isolated Block 13.
Does the startup battery supply the output after startup?
The 9 V battery is connected for about 10 seconds and is then physically disconnected. After the battery is disconnected, the operating state is sustained by the return branch of the internal operating loop.
References
The publications cited on this page.
- Wang S., Ludois D. C. Floating single-wire power transfer between two points in space via Tesla resonators. IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics (2025). doi:10.1109/JESTPE.2025.3569480
- Wang X., Krois I., Ha-Van N., Mirmoosa M. S., Jayathurathnage P., Hrabar S., Tretyakov S. A. Time-varying systems to improve the efficiency of wireless power transfer. Physical Review Applied 21, 054027 (2024). doi:10.1103/PhysRevApplied.21.054027
- Chen S. C., Yeung L. K., Runge K., Deymier P. A., Wang Y. E. Frequency controlled energy absorption in parametric mixing. Scientific Reports 16, 9509 (2026). doi:10.1038/s41598-026-39994-3
Where to go next
The adjacent pages, each with its own question.
