Powerful System To Transfer Wireless Energy

The new wireless system for energy transfer is based on a laser beam and a photovoltaic cell. The prototype managed to transfer 480 watts at a distance of 300 meters.

Image by Javier Rodriguez from Pixabay

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Wireless energy transfer sounds awesome. But for the time being it is being limited by the fact that it is usually only short-range. That is why the companies Ericsson and PowerLight Technologies are cooperating at developing a wireless energy transfer system that will have vastly superior range compared to current technologies. Recently, they tested a prototype by transferring energy to a mobile 5G network station.

Some of you might already have experience with wireless energy. There are devices that charge your smartphones, smartwatches, or headphones. But it usually works only at a very short distance and requires you to put the charged device on top or at least very close to the charger. But in that case wireless energy sort of loses its purpose as it would just be simpler and more energy efficient to just charge the device with a cable. There are some efforts into developing systems that could transfer energy to devices throughout a whole room but it will take some time before we see them in our daily lives.

Then there’s Ericsson and PowerLight. These companies want to go a step further. They are working on a system that will wirelessly transfer energy outside. The system is made from a transmitter and a receiver that can be separated by hundreds or even thousands of meters. This is because the devices don’t transfer energy as electricity. Instead, the transmitter turns the energy into a laser beam that is being shot at a special photovoltaic cell on the receiver. There’s the laser beam’s energy is turned back into electricity.

This may sound dangerous. A high-energy laser beam can certainly do a lot of damage. Thus, the creators of the technology are highly focused on safety. The device is full of sensors that watch its surroundings and especially the surroundings of the laser beam. Whenever something comes close to it it will shut down the beam in just a millisecond. These short interruptions shouldn’t affect the function of the system and longer interruptions will be compensated with batteries.

During a recent test, the system provided energy for a portable 5G network station that was not connected to any other source of energy. The system successfully transferred 480 watts at a distance of 300 meters. But its creators say it is already capable of transferring 1 kilowatt at a distance of a kilometer. And they are certain they can improve their system with time.

Sources:

• https://newatlas.com/energy/wireless-power-transmission-ericsson-powerlight/

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