can electricity (power supply) travel like mobile phone signals ?

Question

I mean wireless transmission & distribution of elecrical supply

Answer 1

Wireless energy transfer has been around for a long, long time.

Just look at the sun (not literally!). The sun is a huge fusion reactor that produces, among other things, a huge amount of light which is transmitted across millions of kilometers to produce numerous effects here on Earth.

There have been man-made attempts too, of course. Tesla built a prototype energy transmission tower which actually lit up flourescent lights fifty miles away, and was even hired to produce a wireless energy transmission tower for New York. This later tower was never finished, though, and was subsequently torn down for scrap metal. His theory seems nonetheless sound though the effort was not repeated.

Part of the problem with a global energy transmission system such as Tesla's can be inferred from the sun as well. Even though enough energy reaches the earth to move the atmosphere and oceans around, more that 99% is just radiated out into empty space. Tesla's system would have been hardly more efficient - much of the energy would have simply been lost in the atmosphere. And there's always the problem of billing... if everyone can get energy by putting up an antenna, how do you stop people who aren't supposed to be using it from taking advantage of your system?

Other, more directional systems have been deisnged, such as using a combination of a laser and a photoelectric cell. In this system, very little energy is lost en route, and in a vaccum the amount of loss through distance is theoretically almost zero. Unfortunately, lasers are notoriously poor for energy efficiency, as as solar cells. I think the theoretical maximum efficiency for the latter is around 30%, while most lasers would be LUCKY to have a 1% energy efficiency rate. Which means that although you lose little of the energy along the way, you lose lots and lots of it just to get it going and get it back.

So, in short, while it is certainly possible and well within our technological means to transmit energy wirelessly right now, it is a far less attractive solution than even the miles and miles of wire we have to lay to get electrons from point A to point B. But who knows what the future may bring? Crystal radios used to be powered solely by the energy in the radio signal they were listening to, and as devices become more energy efficient and the atmosphere more crowded with various signals, energy-harvesting wires may become as popular as solar cells on calculators! Hope that helps!

Answer 2

Electricity requires a current of electrons moving at a speed much slower than the speed of light. Mobile phone signals require the transmission of radio waves similar to massless photons traveling at the speed of light. The radio waves are so weak they can pass right through your house without causing a problem. Passing electricity through your house in a similar manner (like a lightning bolt?) would not be as safe. The short answer is that the use of wires to guide electricity (electrons) from the power plant to your house and throughout your house (including a power meter to bill you for the power used and fuses to protect against fires) is likely to remain popular for a long time into the future. Hope that doesn't come as a shock.

Answer 3

Possibly. Mobile phones work by sending and recieving electromagnetic waves. Electromagnetic waves are, essentially, a form of energy - so, with a powerful enough signal, you can transmit energy from one place to another.

One way to do this is with microwaves. Microwaves are an electromagnetic wave; what's useful about them is that they can be transmitted directionally. So, with a powerful enough microwave source, you can beam energy from that source to a reciever somewhere else.

Another idea (this one untested) is to set up a standing electromagnetic wave between the ground and the ionosphere; supposedly, any person with a reciever for the frequency that the transmitter is working on would be able to draw power from atmosphere. Although the idea is sound, it's never been succesfully tried, and may not be practical in terms of efficiency and safety.

Answer 4

It would not be wise to transmit electricity in that form (the flow of electrons) around the surface of the earth. It could potentially be hazardous to your health. Microwave can be used to transmit it, but microwaves are ionizing radiation which are implicated in being cancer causing. Microwave is used to transmit mobile phone signals, the hope is that the radiation exposure is not sufficient to cause these health problems ... we will find out in a generation or two.

Laser could be used. But that would be akin to solar power, with a concentrated, artificial source. The concern still is to not have animals or humans step in the middle of the beam.

When we begin to colonize other planets, the microwave transmission solution could be promising. However, as long as we are living on one planets surface that we should be able to move around freely on ... it would be advisable to keep energy caged up in wires.

Answer 5

As others have said, energy can be transmitted wirelessly. It is not in the form of electricity when transmitted however. The real questions are as follows:
1. Can it be done safely?
2. Can it be done cost effectively?
3. How can you supplier track usage in order to charge customers correctly?

Answer 6

It does a crystal radio uses the power transmitted with the radio signal to drive the speakers. But unless you do something like a microwave laser the power is going to radiate off and you'll loose most of it.

Answer 7

Well, the idea of electricity traveling wirelessly has been around for sometime but it's never been tried on a large scale.

Read up on Nikola Tesla, he had a theory on how we could wirelessly power everything for free.

Answer 8

There actually is research being done to try to transmit electricity wirelessly! I don't know much about the specifics, but I think that DC power can be transmited wirelessly over modest distances.

Answer 9

Two thousand years ago Mount Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii. Today, a larger, far more deadly supervolcano lurks on the other side of Naples. If it erupts, Campi Flegrei could wipe out all life in Europe.

Answer 10

I think it would be nearly impossible to determine where it would be received. Electricity goes from Positive to Negative, so the first highly negative charge it encounters will induce an energy release.