LaserMotive: Wireless Electric Power Via Laser Beaming
Imagine what you could do if you could transmit energy without wires. It might sound crazy but this is precisely what LaserMotive is developing – i.e. wireless electric power beaming with the help lasers.
Laser beaming could make power lines obsolete
A company in Washington state is developing wireless technology that delivers electricity via laser beams. The scientists and engineers who run the company, LaserMotive, are using the lasers to power aerial drones but say their technology could also replace conventional power lines to deliver electricity to homes.
Original story by Jane Ross for Reuters:
About Lasermotive:
LaserMotive is a Seattle-based company developing wireless power delivery systems using laser beams to transmit electricity without wires, for applications where wires are either cost prohibitive or physically impractical. The company was launched by winning the 2009 NASA Power Beaming Challenge and taking home the $900,000 prize. Currently Lasermotive is working for NASA to design the architecture for using lasers to launch rockets, power satellites and, eventually, power a lunar base. At the same time the company is pursuing terrestrial applications such as mid-flight recharging of unmanned aerial vehicles.
LaserMotive was founded on the belief in wireless power as a “powerful” solution for a variety of applications, near-term and in the future, on Earth, and, especially, in space. Recent advances in commercial laser technology are bringing many exciting applications within the reach of economic and technical viability, from powering underwater sensors and drones to launching rockets via laser power to beaming limitless solar energy from space to the Earth. The Power Beaming Challenge, followed by a record-setting flight of a UAV for 150 times battery life, have been excellent initial steps along LaserMotive’s path to realizing the physical and economic viability of laser power beaming.
