Abstract Wireless sensor networks have a wide range of applications. However, the battery-constrained energy limits the scope of network applications and timeliness. In this paper, we study how to schedule charging and allocate charging time simultaneously for a wireless sensor network for the purpose of prolonging network lifetime and improve charging efficiency. To this end, a mixed integer optimization model for simultaneous charging scheduling and charging time allocation is established through the maximization of the charging efficiency. Then, an offline algorithm is developed to solve the problem. Further, an online charging node insertion algorithm is developed for real-time service. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve near 100% charging success rate under periodic and hybrid services, which is significantly superior to the results obtained by the compared algorithms.