The dawn of the era of wireless electricity

Imagine a scene on the street where you live if there are no cramped power lines but households are still on.

Wireless electricity does not emit radiation. This picture seems impossible at first glance but is being realized gradually through an idea called “wireless electricity”. From the Tesla coil From 2021, Powerco, New Zealand’s second largest electricity distributor, will work with start-up Emrod to bring wireless electrical technology to life. It all stems from the ambitious dream of the Serbian engineer, Nikola Tesla. Back in 1899, in the city of Colorado Srpings, USA, Nikola Tesla created a 50m high coil with a current of 12 million volts, called the “Tesla coil”. The coil has an activation switch. Just flip the switch, a flash will flash from the coil, carrying wireless current to light up 200 nearby bulbs. During the test, no one was injured. This experiment hypothesizes that the Earth can conduct electricity by itself without the need for a transmission device. And the technology of transmitting electricity in the air can be quite safe for humans or other living things. After that, Nikola Tesla continued to experiment with electromagnetic induction, discovered by scientist Michael Faraday from the 1820s. According to this experiment, around the electromagnet has a changing magnetic field, creating an electric current in a wire is nearby. Electric currents in a wire create electrical energy in the air, which can exist as a magnetic field. From his experiments, he modified and perfected the Tesla coil, the first system to wirelessly transmit electricity. The Tesla coil consists of two parts: a primary coil and a secondary coil. Each coil carries its own capacitor. The two coils and capacitors are connected by an ignition slot and can produce a spark. In general, the Tesla coil is two open circuits connected to an ignition slot. It needs a source of high voltage messages, passed through a transformer to produce thousands of volts. First, the primary coil will be connected to a power source. It will absorb electrical charges like a absorbent sponge. The primary coil is usually made of copper, a material that conducts electricity well, as it must be able to withstand very large charges and many electric waves. When the primary coil’s capacitor has accumulated a lot of charge, it will escape and create a magnetic field. Magnetic energy induces an electric current in the secondary coil. The compressed voltage through the air between the two coils creates a spark in the air. When the charged charge in the capacitor of the secondary coil rises, it will escape in the form of an electric arc. When this happens, an energy is enveloped between the two coils. The high frequency voltage can light fluorescent bulbs a few feet away without the need for a transmitter. Wireless power network infrastructure Inspired by Nikola Tesla’s invention, New Zealand-based Greg Kushnir founded the Emrod Energy Company. The company plans to deploy wireless power infrastructure. To do this, Emrod uses a system consisting of a power source, a special antenna capable of converting radio waves into electricity, called “rectenna,” the base stations. The transmitting antenna converts electricity into microwave particles. In the area using wireless electricity, Emrod installs base stations fitted with square pads. The microwave particles transmitted to the receiver will be gathered into a beam, leading to the rectenna in the area. The rectenna’s job is to convert the microwaves back into electricity. The reason that the receiver is square is because it needs a large surface area, which helps to collect all microwaves passing through. “We have developed a long-range wireless transmission technology,” said Greg Kushimir. The technology itself has been around for a while. Our project is a continuation of Tesla’s achievements ”. However, Kushimir commented that Tesla can generate alternating current from the Tesla coil but he cannot control the electric beam at a long distance. In contrast, Emrod can keep the electric beams tightly connected, stable transmission thanks to two technologies. First, it must be mentioned is the technology related to transmission lines. The microwaves passing through the collimator are converted into a parallel beam of light. Next, Emrod used metamaterials designed in microscopic samples, highly efficient in microwave reception. The Rectenna acts like an invisible cable. Their job is to transmit electricity to the people. By eliminating the traditional wiring, Emrod can bring electricity to areas with difficult terrain, difficult to access because the infrastructure here does not support electricity networks. This technology also has a positive impact on the environment as people do not have to depend on generators that run on gasoline or oil. Power generation stations can also be quickly installed after a natural disaster. Thus, bad weather does not affect the wireless power transmission system. However, Kushimir expressed the challenge now is communication and public orientation. Like the advent of 5G, many people may oppose this idea due to concerns about the negative effects of radiation. But Kushimir asserted, the wave beam transmitted in the new technology does not emit radiation harmful to humans.