Directed High-Energy Infrared Laser Beams for Photovoltaic Generation of Electric Power at Remote Locations

TL;DR

This paper explores the feasibility of transmitting energy via high-energy infrared laser beams over long distances to generate electricity at remote locations, evaluating different energy harvesting methods and their efficiencies.

Contribution

It introduces an optimized hybrid photovoltaic and thermoelectric system for laser energy harvesting and discusses practical infrared power beaming applications.

Findings

Laser illumination can produce up to 3000 W electrical power from a 20 kW laser.

Thermo-radiative cells are inefficient for this application.

Hybrid photovoltaic and thermoelectric modules improve energy harvesting efficiency.

Abstract

Transferring energy without transferring mass is a powerful paradigm to address the challenges faced when the access to, or the deployment of, the infrastructure for energy conversion is locally impossible or impractical. Laser beaming holds the promise of effectively implementing this paradigm. With this perspective, this work evaluates the optical-to-electrical power conversion that is created when a collimated laser beam illuminates a silicon photovoltaic solar cell that is located kilometers away from the laser. The laser is a CW high-energy Yb-doped fiber laser emitting at a center wavelength of 1075 nm with ~1 m2 of effective beam area. For 20 kW illumination of a solar panel having 0.6 m2 of area, optical simulations and thermal simulations indicate electrical output power of 3000 Watts at a panel temperature of 550 K. Our investigations show that thermo-radiative cells are rather inefficient. In contrast, an optimized approach to harvest laser energy is achieved by using a hybrid module consisting of a photovoltaic cell and a thermo-electric generator. Finally, practical considerations related to infrared power beaming are discussed and its potential applications are outlined.