A DARPA-led research team, in collaboration with scientists from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, has set a new optical power beaming record by sending 800 watts of power over 5.3 miles in just thirty seconds, shattering the previous power and distance records of 230 watts and 1.7 miles.
“It is beyond a doubt that we absolutely obliterated all previously reported optical power beaming demonstrations for power and distance,” said Persistent Optical Wireless Energy Relay (POWER) program (POWER) Program Manager Paul Jaffe.
DARPA Says Power Beaming Will Deliver Energy to the ‘Edge’
America’s military leaders believe power beaming could eliminate the costs and complexities of transporting fuel and power generation equipment to remote locations. By generating power in one location and sending that power to one or more distant locations, power beaming could eliminate these costs and complexities.
“Energy is a fundamental requirement for military operations, and traditional means of getting energy to the edge (battlefields, disaster zones, etc.) are often incredibly slow, risky, and resource-intensive,” DARPA explained in a statement announcing the successful tests.
DARPA has previously explored beaming power directly to aircraft and drones while in flight and beaming power directly into war zones. Several other projects have explored beaming power from Earth to power satellites in space, beaming power collected by satellites down to Earth, and even sending power between spacecraft. However, power beaming technology still suffers from power and distance limitations, reducing its practical applications.
The recent POWER Receiver Array Demo (PRAD) experiments, which took place at the High Energy Laser Systems Test Facility (HELSTF) at the U.S. Army’s White Sands Missile Range, increased those thresholds while also demonstrating a viable level of energy transfer efficiency.
Custom Receiver and High-Energy Optical Laser Shatter Previous Records
According to the team’s statement, the first step to increasing optical power beaming efficiency and distance was creating a customized receiver with a compact aperture. This design prevents the power-transmitting beam generated by the facility’s high-energy optical laser from losing energy as it passes through the aperture.
Once inside, the high-energy laser beam strikes a parabolic mirror. This mirror reflects the beam onto dozens of photovoltaic cells, like those used in solar panels, placed within the enclosed receiver, thereby converting the power beam back into usable energy.
Although DARPA says the primary objective of the test was to “rapidly validate the capability of a new design to massively extend potential distance,” and not the efficiency, their system was relatively efficient. According to the test data, about 20% of the transmitted energy was converted back into electricity.
The team celebrated the moment by using some of the transmitted energy to pop popcorn in homage to the 1980s movie Real Genius.
Notably, the team tested the system with the transmitting laser and the new receiver positioned on the ground. The researchers say this makes the results “even more impressive” since the atmosphere is thickest at ground level.
“It’s a lot easier to send a power beam directly up or down relative to the ground because there is so much less atmosphere to fight through,” Jaffe explains. “For PRAD, we wanted to test under the maximum impact of atmospheric effects.”
Power Increases and Efficiency Improvements Key Goals of POWER Phase 2
PRAD program leaders emphasize that the short turnaround time of the experiments resulted in “trade-offs” in efficiency. For example, the customized receiver built by Teravec Technologies, with support from Packet Digital and the Rochester Institute of Technology, was completed in just three months.
For their next effort, dubbed POWER Phase 2, the team is looking to test several potential improvements to their existing design that could further increase the distance, power, and efficiency of optical power beaming thresholds. They will also explore the system’s scalability to higher power levels and its adaptability to different platforms, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“With the PRAD testing successful, the POWER program has significantly reduced risk for a key element of making long-distance power beaming a future reality,” DARAPA explains. “The program is now moving forward to demonstrate the benefits of integrated relays and vertical power transmission and is seeking the creativity and innovation of potential partners to accomplish this as part of POWER Phase 2.”
NOTE: Today, May 21st, is the last day to register for the POWER Phase 2 Industry Day, which will be held on May 29, 2025. According to DARPA, the event will “promote teaming arrangements between researchers; provide potential performers with information on whether and how they might respond to government R&D solicitations; and increase efficiency in proposal preparation and evaluation.”
“This demonstration broke through misconceptions about the limits of power beaming technology, and it is already spurring industry to reimagine what’s possible,” added Jaffe.
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.