3 ms·

Can Starlink type phased array technology be used to achieve wireless power transmission?

• ben_w 2y ago
  Yes but. The main advantage of a phased array isn't related to efficiency, it's that it can be "pointed" a different direction purely in software. The ability to focus electromagnetic radio power from any source is: "how many wavelengths across is the antenna?" This applies to receiving as well as transmitting, which is also why radio telescopes need to be physically so much larger than optical telescopes, but for beamed power you don't care about the receiver's ability to focus, so the size of the receiver is determined by the smallest region the transmitter can focus on. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction-limited_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinned-array_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinned-array_curse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_pattern https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phased_array