Power over fiber system using high power optical source operating at 1550 nm for transmission over single and multimode optical fiber

Abstract We report on the properties of a Power over Fiber (PoF) system operating at 1550 nm. We used an Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser (EDFL) as the high-power optical source and an InGaAs experimental Photovoltaic Power Converter (PPC) for converting optical power to electricity. We demonstrate the powering using single mode optical fibers and we experimentally proved the powering to 19.9 km for electrical devices with consumption up to 236 mW and to 5.2 km for devices with electrical power consumption up to 414 mW using single mode fiber and EDFL with optical power 1.5 W. We also estimate the possibility of powering a device at distances up to 100 km using EDFL with the input optical power of 12 W and the expected delivery of the electric power around 63 mW.