Power receiver including Faraday cage for extracting power from electric field energy in the earth

A power receiver for extracting electrical energy from the earth's electric field, said power receiver comprising:

• a resonant transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding;
• a high voltage power supply connected across the primary winding of the resonant transformer;
• a pair of electrodes separated by a spark gap, said electrodes interposed between the high voltage power supply and one side of the primary winding of the resonant transformer, and configured to generate a spark when a voltage difference between the electrodes reaches a predetermined level;
• a coupling capacitor connected between the primary winding of the resonant transformer and a ground electrode disposed below the surface of the earth, and operative to capacitively couple the resonant transformer to ground;
• and
• a power conversion circuit connected to a secondary winding of the resonant transformer to convert electrical current flowing through the secondary winding to a desired form;
• wherein the grounded terminal of the coupling capacitor comprises the shield of a Faraday cage enclosing the high voltage power supply, the electrode pair, and the resonant transformer.