DARPA plans to build a wireless power infrastructure to provide near-constant power to US military bases around the world. According to Popular Mechanics, the plan is to use laser technology to transmit electricity around the Earth. This was Nikola Tesla’s famous dream over 100 years ago, and if the technology, aptly named POWER Enough (Permanent Optical Wireless Energy Relay), succeeds, it will be a success. . Intercepted or destroyed by enemy forces.
“First, the environment has changed, and military operations are in dire need of more sustainable methods of transporting energy,” explained Colonel Paul “Promo” Calhoun in an exclusive interview with Popular Mechanics. The U.S. military operates around the world, as do the special operations forces he joins as a C-17 truck pilot, from outposts in the South China Sea to the deserts of Iraq. Without an easy way to power them, many forces rely on radars, microwave anti-drone weapons, lasers, or other power-hungry equipment. Over time, the severity of this problem is increasing.
“From a technology standpoint, significant advances have been made in the areas of high-energy lasers, wavefront sensors, adaptive optics, high-altitude electric aerial platforms, protective interlocks, and tunable, high-efficiency, narrow-bandwidth photovoltaic systems,” Colonel Calhoun explained.
“POWER is an optical energy emission program,” Calhoun said. “In future projects, we intend to explore other potential methods of energy transfer, such as microwaves. For POWER, a propagating wave is a laser that provides the ability to transmit energy over long distances and with high flux when transmitting at high altitudes. Relays do not convert the laser. The energy is then redirected to the end user using narrow bandgap tunable monochromatic photovoltaics to convert the laser energy back into electricity,” he added.
Another key piece of the puzzle is a reliable relay. “Building on these advances, DARPA sees a significant opportunity to revolutionize power distribution by developing efficient relays. These relays will effectively combine existing technologies to form resilient, adaptive, multi-path wireless power networks,” said Calhoun.
Relays in the form of long-lasting drones and satellites will play a vital role in the future. Hovering at high altitudes, the drones will transmit laser energy to each other over long distances and then deliver it to US military bases. Likewise, satellites perform the same tasks in space.
“POWER is developing stratospheric platforms with small apertures and node-to-node distances of approximately 100 kilometers. With larger apertures and a more favorable space environment, it is reasonable to have node-to-node distances of up to 1,000 kilometers,” Calhoun said. road added. The result will be a “globally scalable energy distribution network.”
As with all projects, once DARPA proves that POWER is theoretically feasible, it will transfer it to other government agencies for practical implementation. In addition, POWER has clear applications in the commercial sector, such as powering remote communities, research centers and other challenging locations. Additionally, energy can come from renewable resources, making it environmentally friendly and widely available.
Post time: Dec-13-2023