Ericsson conducted a proof-of-concept (PoC) demonstration that used a laser to beam high-intensity light to a radio base station. The light beam was captured at the base station and transformed to electricity.
The base station site was completely ‘powerless’ until wirelessly powered over the air through a laser beam.
The demo was performed in Seattle using an Ericsson Streetmacro 6701 – a 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) radio base station. It was achieved using PowerLight’s laser technology to transmit hundreds of watts over hundreds of meters through the air.
Kevin Zvokel, Head of Networks for Ericsson North America, says: “Both PowerLight and Ericsson are focused on innovation. This opens new possibilities for Ericsson and our customers. The ability to safely transfer power across distances without having to be connected to the power grid eliminates one of the big obstacles we have when building new cell sites. The time savings and flexibility gains will make this an attractive solution for our customers.”
Claes Olsson, Executive Chairman, PowerLight Technologies, says: “Most people are aware that wireless charging technology is available today for small electronic devices, such as cell phones and watches. This breakthrough demonstration, which utilized the best innovative technology from PowerLight and Ericsson, underscores the major leaps we have made recently toward the commercialization of safe, wireless power transmission for larger-scale systems. PowerLight is developing systems today to transfer kilowatts of safe power over distances of kilometers that will be commercially available in the next few years.”
