Practical Power Beaming Gets Real: A Century Later, Nikola Tesla's Dream Comes True
Abstract
Wires have a lot going for them when it comes to moving electric power around, but they have their drawbacks too. Who, after all, hasnt tired of having to plug in and unplug their phone and other rechargeable gizmos? Its a nuisance. Wires also challenge electric utilities: These companies must take pains to boost the voltage they apply to their transmission cables to very high values to avoid dissipating most of the power along the way. And when it comes to powering public transportation, including electric trains and trams, wires need to be used in tandem with rolling or sliding contacts, which are troublesome to maintain, can spark, and in some settings will generate problematic contaminants.Many people are hungry for solutions to these issueswitness the widespread adoption over the past decade of wireless charging, mostly for portable consumer electronics but also for vehicles. While a wireless charger saves you from having to connect and disconnect cables repeatedly, the distance over which energy can be delivered this way is quite short. Indeed, its hard to recharge or power a device when the air gap is just a few centimeters, much less a few meters. Is there really no practical way to send power over greater distances without wires? Can the same basic physics be harnessed to replace wires today? My colleagues and I at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, in Washington, D.C., think so, and here are some of the reasons why.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 21, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1170775
Entities
People
- Paul Jaffe
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory