Scientists test high-power laser system that redirects lightning

[Jan]

Scientists successfully test laser system than can redirect lightning

European researchers have successfully tested a terawatt-level laser pulse system that can be used to protect power plants and other infrastructure from lightning strikes.

The laser system can redirect lightning towards a 26-foot (8-metre) rod and can be deployed to protect broad areas of up to 180 metres. It also penetrates clouds and fog.

 

[Moosedrool]

terawatt-level laser

Eskom says no.

 

[WollieVerstege]

 

[Gordon_R]

LOL, a terawatt laser to protect domestic solar panels!?

could be useful in housing complexes with rooftop solar panel installations.

 

[Vrotappel]

Can we redirect it to Luthuli House?

 

[Not_original]

Can we redirect it to Luthuli House?

I have a much more portable solution we can direct there. Bonus is, it usually moves on tracks and can be sourced readily at a mine near you

 

[Johnatan56]

LOL, a terawatt laser to protect domestic solar panels!?

It's not permanently on...

From the press release:

Tests at an altitude of 2,500 m
The LLR project meant that a new laser had to be developed with an average power of one kilowatt, one Joule per pulse and a duration per pulse of one picosecond. The rod is 1.5 m wide, 8 m long and weighs more than 3 tons, and was designed by TRUMPF scientific lasers. This terawatt laser was tested on the summit of Säntis (in Appenzell, at a height of 2,502 m) already instrumented by EPFL and HEIG-VD / HES-SO to observe lightning. It was focused above a 124 m transmitter tower belonging to the telecommunications provider Swisscom, which was equipped with a traditional lightning rod. This is one of the structures most affected by lightning in Europe. «The main difficulty was that it was a life-size campaign. We had to prepare an environment in which we could install and protect the laser,» says Pierre Walch, a PhD student in the Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée (LOA), a joint research unit CNRS, École Polytechnique, ENSTA Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, Palaiseau, France.

The laser was activated every time storm activity was forecast between June and September 2021. The area had to be closed to air traffic in advance. “The aim was to see whether there was a difference with or without the laser”, explains Aurélien Houard, a research scientist in the Laboratoire d’Optique Appliquée (LOA) and coordinator of the project. “We compared the data collected when the laser filament was produced above the tower and when the tower was struck naturally by lightning”.

Deflecting lightning with a laser lightning rod - Press Release - UNIGE

 

[netstrider]

For some reason the picture that popped into my head was the Ion canon from Tiberian Sun.