Kilowatts will travel long distances almost unhindered.
New Zealand startup Emrod has developed a way to securely transmit power wirelessly over long distances that does not require the use of copper wire. One of the country's largest energy companies, Powerco, is already planning its implementation. Reported by New Atlas.
At the moment, a working prototype of the new technology is ready. Initially, it will only be able to transfer a few kilowatts, but the power reserve is scalable.
For remote transmission of electricity, the system uses a transmitting antenna, a relay group and a rectenna, which convert the electromagnetic field incident on it into DC energy. In the diagram, each element looks like a simple square on a pole.
The spectrum of waves used in innovative generators intersects with the frequencies of industrial, scientific, medical enterprises, as well as frequencies used in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Emrod claims that their technology is weather-independent and that the power transmission range is limited only by the line of sight between each relay.
Energy exchange occurs between specific points without additional radiation around the main beam, transmitted from the antenna to the rectenna. A special safety mechanism instantly stops transmission as soon as it detects the approach of any object.
In addition to the main prototype, Emrod plans to build another one for the Powerco plant by October 2020. After that, the developers will spend several more months on laboratory research, after which they will begin field tests.
