Simulating the charging of electric vehicles by laser

Abstract

At present, wired and wireless charging methods for electric vehicles (EVs) have a number of drawbacks including short charging ranges and long charging times. Laser power transfer (LPT) is a wireless power transfer technique which can be used for UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) and satellite charging. Recent developments in photovoltaic cells and laser technology allows the transfer power using light which might overcome many of the issues related with other charging methods. In this paper, we describe the design and implementation (in MATLAB) of a novel, high-power charging method using a laser (monochromatic light) to charge electric vehicles. The paper examines the overall efficiency of the LPT for a various input power-level. In addition, it also examines the safety and the possible charging infrastructure for LPT technology. Using this technique, we believe that an overall efficiency of 10-37% can be achieved using existing technology.