Directed high-energy infrared laser beams for photovoltaic generation of electric power at remote locations

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 an electrical output power of 3000 W 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 thermoelectric generator. Finally, practical considerations related to infrared power beaming are discussed and its potential applications are outlined.