You know that commercial- the one GM killed (in more ways than one)- that this car is not your father’s Oldsmobile?  Well, this is not your father’s solar energy, either.

Nestled between Seattle and Tacoma is a company called LaserMotive (Kent, Washington).  It is working on using lasers to direct power from one location to another without wires.  How?

First, you need a laser.  The one they are working with emits a very wide beam- 20 cm wide- which spreads further as it travels.  The beam is aimed at a photovoltaic collector- on a helicopter, a drone, or a small plane. The photons in the light beam get converted to electricity, just as if sunlight hit the collector.  However, because the laser is comprised of only one wavelength of light, the conversion efficiency is higher than with “white” (composite) light.

Right now, LaserMotive can only transmit the laser for power for a kilometer, so it’s not very practical. (It is impressive, though.) Once that distance can be extended, their devices should have tremendous utility.  Remember,  this concept only requires a physical installation at the transmission point and the collector at the other end- nothing in between.

And, like my article linking the ends of an era (NASA and the Military seeking alternative fuels), this is another confluence.  LaserMotive received $ 900K in funding from NASA and is now trying to convince the military of its applications.  NASA is considering using this to power a lunar rover, when sunlight is not readily available.

It is also possible that the laser could be used with fiberoptic cables to provide the energy to the collectors- which would certainly extend the distance.  However, this won’t be of use to the military, which wants untethered uses, obviating the need to lay cable.  Oh, and they perfecting the detector for recognizing an unwanted object in the path of the laser to turn the power off- so that people are not blinded by the laser.

Share this: