An installation at the Nikola Tesla experience centre in Karlovac, Croatia: Tesla believed electricity could be transmitted wirelessly over long distances and potentially worldwide. Photograph: Denis Lovrovic/AFP
Edison used direct current electricity at relatively low voltages. Tesla’s AC system used fluctuating current and was licensed by Tesla to the Westinghouse company. Inductive recharging is beginning to be used for electric cars and even buses. A vehicle’s battery is recharged simply by parking over a special mat, without any cable. A number of demonstrations in Italy, Sweden, Germany and Israel have even trialled recharging moving vehicles, by driving over a length of road embedded with
As with Edison’s challenges to Tesla and his AC system, one of the major challenges of microwave wireless power is convincing the public that the technology approach is safe. Emrod claims to follow applicable industry standards. The microwave beam is concentrated, an invisible cable in the air, rather than a broadcast system that transmits signals in every direction. Their system is designed to detect threats that could interrupt the beam – such as birds or drones – and temporarily pause.