Long-duration operation of 100W power over fiber unit

Power over Fiber (PoF) is getting closer to commercialization for telecommunications and other industries, including for “high” power (meaning output more than 10W electrical). Beyond demonstrating basic performance metrics, hardware needs to be tested under a variety of conditions to ensure it can operate as expected before it can be sold and deployed. To that end, PowerLight has been operating Power over Fiber units for extended durations. This paper reports on a PoF unit that remained operational for 12 months nearly continually, powering multiple devices in the 10 W to 100 W electric power range. The system involves a temperature-controlled laser transmitter system that provides continuous optical power out in a thermally stable condition. The system features a fiber-coupled laser(s) with 20m of optical fiber connected to a receiver unit that performs the optical to electrical conversion. The system was rated and tested to deliver more than 150W of continuous electrical power out. The long-term operation powered three devices that consumed an average of ~70 W and was witnessed by numerous visitors to PowerLight Technologies’ (PLT’s) facilities. In addition to power delivery, a data-exfiltration system was integrated to log run-time statistics such as power delivery and component temperature. It describes the PoF system and highlights progress toward field-ready systems capable of providing continuous power to distributed assets.