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Top Tech: Solar Blankets

Filed under Energy, Top Technology by jtozer on May 7, 2013 at 7:33 am {no comments}

The Top Tech series highlights the latest and greatest federal laboratory inventions that are available for transfer to business partners. Want to suggest an invention? Email us at science@dma.mil.

Flexible solar blanket of aSi solar cells. (photo provided by the Naval Research Laboratory)

Technology: High Power Flexible Solar Blankets

Agency: Naval Research Laboratory

What is better than a warm blanket on a cold night? How about a blanket that can produce energy by soaking up rays from the sun? We’re talking about the Naval Research Laboratory’s high power flexible solar blankets (or Blanket 2.0 I like to call it). The common comforter is getting an upgrade.

What is it?

It’s like a blanket on solar steroids. NRL is developing photovoltaics (solar cells) that combine high power output with lightweight and flexibility. It works by using crystalline, high efficiency multi-junction solar cells, which are lifted off the growth substrate and laid down onto a lightweight, flexible blankets. This forms a blanket with potentially three TIMES the power output of current technologies.

What does that mean?

This is, essentially, how we create portable solar panels.

Think about some of the advantages this blanket can have, starting with convenience. Being able to transport a regenerating power source that doesn’t weigh a ton is awesome. Also, given the particular environment with which troops tend to find themselves, using the natural resource of the sun just makes sense. It’s also eco-friendly, which means these blankets are in keeping with the Department of Defense’s going green initiative. They’re also more cost effective, since they’re designed to be used over and over again and they can recharge equipment in the field.

Truthfully, people in general could benefit from this technology. (more…)

The ‘Green’ Military Installation Of The Future

Filed under Energy by jtozer on April 16, 2013 at 7:02 am {no comments}

Army and sustainability?

Solar panel arrays form a canopy at a construction site in Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., March 12, 2013. The construction site is for phase 1 and 2 of a solar microgrid project at the installation, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District. (Photo by John R. Prettyman, USACE)

Using those two words in the same sentence several years ago would have probably been considered the punch line to a joke.

But today, a military base that is both environmentally friendly and meets the needs of warfighters, is quickly becoming a reality.

Fort Hunter Liggett, with nearly 162,000 acres of forest, mountains and rivers, is located in Monterey County, Calif., and is one of several U.S. Army pilot installations selected to be net zero energy and net zero waste by 2020.

This means the installation will create as much energy as it uses, and reuse and recover all of its waste products.

“The net zero initiative is going to provide energy security for this installation and it’s also a priority for the Army,” said Col. Donna Williams, garrison commander for Fort Hunter Liggett.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is leading the way in managing construction on major energy projects at Fort Hunter Liggett and is nearing completion on the second phase of four solar microgrids.

“Phase one of the solar project was completed last year and it’s generating one megawatt of power. Phase two is going to add another one megawatt of power,” said Bob Roy, project engineer with the Corps’ Sacramento District.

One megawatt is enough energy to power up to 300 homes.

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Iowa Army Ammunition Plant Embraces Renewable Energy Resources

Filed under Energy by jtozer on April 7, 2013 at 7:00 am {no comments}

Iowa Army Ammunition Plant is undertaking a two-phase installation of geothermal and photovoltaic systems at its administration building to help meet the Army Energy Security’s mission to “make energy a consideration for all Army activities to reduce demand, increase efficiency, seek alternative sources, and create a culture of energy accountability while sustaining or enhancing operational capabilities.”

Pipes coming from the underground geothermal system lead to the heating and cooling systems inside the administration building at Iowa Army Ammunition Plant. (U.S. Army photo)

To this end, Iowa Army Ammunition Plant, or IAAAP, is undertaking a two-phase installation of geothermal and photovoltaic systems at its administration building.

“Through this project, IAAAP is helping the Army gain ground in the Net Zero Energy campaign,” said Dennis R. Lacy II, energy execution project manager with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who provided specialized support on the project.

A Net Zero Energy Installation is an installation that produces as much energy on site as it uses, over the course of a year.

One of the new systems at IAAAP uses geothermal energy resources. Geothermal energy refers to the heat from the Earth. It is clean and sustainable and exists, literally, right under our feet.

The other renewable resource harnessed at IAAAP is the sun’s energy. A photovoltaic system was installed and uses solar panels to convert sunlight into electricity.

Both of these systems will allow IAAAP to heat and cool its administration building via renewable energy sources.

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Rigid Walls > Canvas Tents

Filed under Energy by jtozer on March 28, 2013 at 7:17 am {no comments}

When it comes to providing comfortable living spaces for deployed soldiers while saving time, money, fuel and water, rigid walls beat canvas every time.

Rigid-wall camps promise to provide a better quality of life for deployed soldiers while saving time, money, fuel and water. (By David Kamm, NSRDEC Photographer)

If you doubt that, just consult the experts at Product Manager Force Sustainment Systems, or PM FSS, at Natick Soldier Systems Center, who have been comparing rigid-wall test camps at Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Bliss, Texas, with the existing “Force Provider” 150-man tent system.

“The soldier piece is the big one,” said Mike Hope, Combat Field Service Equipment Team leader for PM FSS. “If he or she is more comfortable, we did our job.”

Hope, lead project engineer Bob Graney and assistant product manager Capt. Micah Rue have no doubts that rigid-wall camps represent a step up from the Temper Tent (air supported) Force Provider base camps currently found in Afghanistan.

According to Hope, a rigid-wall camp “provides a high quality of life, much higher than standard tents and canvas.”

(more…)

Army Reserve Working To Reduce Wasted Energy

Filed under Energy by jtozer on March 7, 2013 at 7:10 am {no comments}

Fort Brag’s Directorate of Public Works partnered with Army Reserve’s Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment on an existing training mission to see where light energy was being wasted in an effort to reduce Fort Bragg’s energy consumption. (U.S. Army photo by Timothy Hale/Released)

In an ongoing effort to save taxpayer dollars, the post’s Directorate of Public Works reached out to Army Reserve aviation for help.

Garrison energy officials figured the best way to look for wasted energy was to go up – literally.

Partnering with the Army Reserve’s Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 169th Aviation Regiment, based at Simmons Army Airfield, a DPW official boarded a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a previously-scheduled night training mission to find the hotspots on post.

The mission to find wasted light energy was in response to a Jan. 23, 2013, memorandum from the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Energy, and Environment. The memo outlines the way ahead for installations to save energy costs and holds commanders “accountable for energy use in the facilities they occupy.”

Gregory Bean, the garrison DPW director, said this Army-wide effort ties directly into the utility consumption reports his office sends out to organizations on Fort Bragg.

“If you don’t take ownership of your costs, you will never conserve,” Bean said. “If you don’t know what it costs to operate your facility, it’s not real to you. What we’re trying to do is showcase where we are wasting energy … and encourage you to conserve energy and conserve costs.”

What is the best way to find who is wasting energy?

Fly over an installation at night, take photographs of areas in question, and see who is unnecessarily burning the midnight oil, so to speak.

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Using Microbes to Generate Electricity

Filed under Energy, Featured, Videos by jtozer on February 28, 2013 at 7:22 am {no comments}

Humanity is running on full power.

From the lights in our houses to our mobile devices, we are an energized society. And future energy sources could come from some pretty unlikely places.

Dr. Lenny Tender, an NRL research chemist, explains the mechanics of his benthic microbial fuel cell. A recent recipient of the Arthur S. Fleming Award, Tender is an internationally recognized leader in microbial fuel cell research. (Photo: Jamie Hartman, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

Dr. Lenny Tender, a research chemist at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), has co-invented a device, known as a benthic microbial fuel cell, that persistently generates electrical power in marine environments. The fuel cell is being developed to persistently operate oceanographic sensors.

“It’s able to generate electricity just like a windmill,” Tender said. “It’s an energy harvester.”

The fuel cell draws electricity from the sea floor, creating an interface between the sediment on the bottom of a marine environment and the overlying water.

“At the bottom of the marine environment we have sediment, and the mud at the bottom of a harbor, river, lake or the ocean actually has quite a bit of fuel in it,” says Tender. “If you can think of anything that has ever lived in the marine environment, phytoplankton, sea creatures, etc., when they die they settle on the sea floor. And like leaves on the lawn, they start decomposing. This represents a pretty potent fuel source. What we do is put electrodes into this already made battery.”

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Breaking The Efficiency Barrier

Filed under Energy, STEM by jtozer on February 7, 2013 at 7:06 am {no comments}

Schematic diagram of a multi-junction (MJ) solar cell formed from materials lattice-matched to InP and achieving the bandgaps for maximum efficiency.
(Photo: U.S. Naval Research Laboratory)

U.S. Naval Research Laboratory scientists in the Electronics Technology and Science Division, in collaboration with the Imperial College London and MicroLink Devices, Inc., Niles, Ill., have proposed a novel triple-junction solar cell with the potential to break the 50 percent conversion efficiency barrier, which is the current goal in multi-junction photovoltaic development.

“This research has produced a novel, realistically achievable, lattice-matched, multi-junction solar cell design with the potential to break the 50 percent power conversion efficiency mark under concentrated illumination,” said Robert Walters, Ph.D., NRL research physicist.

“At present, the world record triple-junction solar cell efficiency is 44 percent under concentration and it is generally accepted that a major technology breakthrough will be required for the efficiency of these cells to increase much further.”

In multi-junction (MJ) solar cells, each junction is ‘tuned’ to different wavelength bands in the solar spectrum to increase efficiency. High bandgap semiconductor material is used to absorb the short wavelength radiation with longer wavelength parts transmitted to subsequent semiconductors.

In theory, an infinite-junction cell could obtain a maximum power conversion percentage of nearly 87 percent. The challenge is to develop a semiconductor material system that can attain a wide range of bandgaps and be grown with high crystalline quality.

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Renewable Energy for Kandahar University

Filed under Energy by jtozer on February 5, 2013 at 7:09 am {no comments}

Kandahar University, located in western Kandahar City, received 36 pallets of solar panels from a private U.S. company Jan. 8, marking an important day for energy independence in the Kandahar region. The panels, worth nearly $1 million, were donated by First Solar of Arizona and will provide enough electricity to fully support the campus.

U.S. Army Civil-Military Operations Center Director Maj. Narvaez Stinson of the 450th Civil Affair Battalion (Airborne) coordinates the convoy movement while at Forward Operating Base Walton Jan. 8. Arizona based company First Solar donated more than 900 panels to the university, their second donation here since last year. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Jeff Neff)

With support from the local municipal government and the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, a total of 900 solar panels which will generate 135 kilowatts of electricity, were delivered to the university. After installation, the university will boast about 170kw with unused energy available to give back to the grid.

Chancellor Dr. Hazrat Mir Totakhil and Vice Chancellor and Lead Engineer Abdul Tawab gladly welcomed the convoy of local flatbed trucks, escorted by U.S. military personnel and the Infrastructure Team.

Infrastructure Team lead Navy Lt. Jason Gabbard and Army Civil-Military Operations Center director Maj. Narvaez Stinson, planned, coordinated and executed the overall movement from Kandahar Airfield to the university.

“Today is possible because of the tireless efforts of my predecessor, Mr. Gerry Paulus, who never wavered in his vision of energy independence for Kandahar University,” said Gabbard. “I am honored to continue his legacy.”

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