Re:Harvesting Electricity from High-Voltage Transmission Lin...
by arwineap on Sunday January 28, 2024 @09:59PM
(#39172239)
Would that be the case if the power lines were properly isolated?
Re:Harvesting Electricity from High-Voltage Transmission Lin...
by littlestymaar on Monday January 29, 2024 @07:32AM
(#39175506)
Define “properly isolated”. From the electric current perspective, the cables are properly insulated, and the insulating material is air. But here what's at stake is electromagnetic (EM) waves generated by the oscillating current flowing throw the cables, and while EM shields can reduce these I'm not sure it would even be possible to shield an entire cable in order to contain the field, and even if it was theoretically possible, it's almost certain that it wouldn't be realistic at the scale of a power grid.
The antenna array is actually distorting the electromagnetic field and whatever is plugged to it is actively draining power from the power line. If there's no antenna the power line lose no energy through the field[1], it's not as if you were collecting lost power.
[1] in fact, you can even say that the energy is not carried in the cables themselves but in the air surrounding the cables!