Integrating power beaming and communication through laser modulation

Abstract

Laser Power Transfer (LPT) can serve as a potential solution to powering solar cells that are out of contact with the sun. It also has the potential to be combined with communications through beam modulation. This research aimed to integrate LPT and communications into a dual-use system, thus decreasing the Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) of a rover, which would in turn reduce its cost. The two main focuses of this research were to characterize data rate and power transfer to a solar cell through the modulation of a laser beam by comparing different modulation methods. An off-the-shelf monocrystalline solar cell detected 30kbps of LED modulation with a maximum loss in power of 5.5%, and it detected 2.7kbps of laser modulation with a maximum loss in power of 20.1%.