Army to use solar to power remote bases

The increasing array of electronic equipment United States Army soldiers carry on them or with them to set up a mobile base station requires a lot of power. The Army’s Communications-Electronics, Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) is developing solar/wind hybrid power systems for forward-operating bases in remote locations as an alternative to bulkier conventional generating systems.

Last month CEA reported on the Army’s newest REPPS system, now being tested in Afghanistan. But the Army also is developing a mobile power center that will allow units to charge larger electronics, suitable to serve as a mobile command center. CERDEC officials are now developing the Reusing Existing Natural Wind and Solar system (RENEWS).

Tony Bui, a materials engineer with CERDEC, explained that the “RENEWS program was developed for the missions soldiers are facing” in Afghanistan.

“Most are located in very mountainous, remote areas,” he said. “And they need forward-operating bases. The problem is that the areas lack sufficient grid-power and relay stations.”

That need for power can be met with generators and batteries. But that is increasingly difficult in areas that are inaccessible by vehicles,

“Bringing batteries is a very logistical burden,” he said. “And the second issue is the high price of fuel for delivery and transporting that fuel to those locations.”

“When you send soldiers to remote areas, the RENEWS can be used to recharge batteries,” said Rafael Casanova, battery team leader for the power division at CERDEC. “You can use RENEWS to power other systems in tactical operations systems, especially in remote areas, because it’s difficult to resupply.”

The RENEWS project will be capable of holding 1 to 2 kWs of electricity in BB-2590 lithium-ion rechargeable batteries, which Casanova explained are batteries often used by the Army.

Bui said the RENEWS system will use five flexible thin-film CIGS PV panels to produce about 350 watts of power. They are the same panels used for the single-panel REPPS system, he explained. According to Bui, they chose the panels for a number of reasons, including cost-effectiveness and their 8 to 10 percent efficiency range.

While the PV aspect of the system is almost ready to go, the wind aspect still needs work, according to Bui. He explained that wind is more difficult, primarily because of the mast.

He said the main problems are hoisting the turbine and then stabilizing it into the ground in a terrain that is likely to be sand or too loose.

Once they work that out, Bui said, CERDEC will start testing systems. He projected that the organization would start receiving prototypes in 2011. But before it ships any systems, CERDEC must test the system.

Since CERDEC hasn’t received any RENEWS prototypes yet, there’s no timeframe for when the Army plans to deploy test systems to the front, he explained. But given the success and interest in the project, we may see soldiers benefitting from RENEWS soon.