The transmission control unit 112 may also determine the existence or non-existence of the external metal material based on an attenuation factor of the resonant energy and a predetermined reference attenuation factor (threshold value).
First, the transmission control unit 112 temporarily suspends the operation of the LC resonant circuit of the wireless power transmitter 100 in a periodic manner or when a period of time set by the user has passed (S11). For example, the transmission control unit 112 temporarily suspends the operation of the LC resonant circuit of the wireless power transmitter 100 during a period of time for detecting the existence or non-existence of the external metal material 300 (for example, during a period of time from a time point at which the operation of the LC resonant circuit of the wireless power transmitter 100 suspends to a time point at which resonant energy becomes zero) even in a state that the wireless power receiver 200 is not connected to the wireless power transmitter 100.
The transmission control unit 112 detects an attenuation factor of resonant energy of the LC resonant circuit of the wireless power transmitter 100 when the operation of the LC resonant circuit of the wireless power transmitter 100 suspends (S12).