"Unexpected Green" Finalist: US Army Rechargeable Batteries

Now this is something I would like to do obviously on a smaller scale. I know you can buy solar powered battery chargers. But I am looking to do a charging station that will be used to charge cell phones, PDA's, etc. So I need something that will store the energy during the day and then charge my devices at night.

I have been looking for something similar. Idid find this: http://www.steves-digicams.com/icp_solar.html

Too bad nobody sells it anymore.

I was just looking into a solar recharger and came across a couple of options. There are some smaller chargers (most of the ones available) which take about 10-16hours in the sun to charge a set of AA batteries. I also did find some High Speed Chargers but they cost a little bit more and are not in a nice elegant package.

I don't really know what else is out ther in the area of recharging stations but I think you would have to piece it together with a large solar panel and accessories.

There is also the solio which charges cell phones and ipods...

Re: Solar chargers. There are actually quite a few options, although you will be horrified at how expensive the good stuff is. Solar is not quite there yet in the "price" arena.

For instance, I personally have a Brunton SolarRoll
[http://www.brunton.com/catalog.php?subcat=7]
which is pretty sweet. Used it to recharge NiMH AAs during a climbing expedition on the border of Kyrgystan and Tajikistan. Then used the NiMHs for a shortwave radio, headlamp, GPS, electric razor, electric toothbrush (hey, I gotta have my comfort items), and MP3 player and speakers. Yes, we rocked out to George Clinton in the middle of nowhere.

The company that makes the panels for the US Military's battery recharge program is Global Solar. Go to www.globalsolar.com and you'll see that there are many, many variations and options that one could use. I THINK, but am not sure, that GlobalSolar makes Brunton's square panel models.

"Nanotechnology is promising to improve batteries to the point where they may become the sole power source for a car or truck without huge performances sacrifices."
- Daniel & Mark Ratner, Nanotechnology and Homeland Security

"Soldiers currently carry more than 20 pounds of batteries and portable power supplies into battle."

"Military applications of molecular manufacturing have even greater
potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the balance of power."
- Admiral David Jeremiah

Josh, look here for a portable solar charger. I don't see that it stores the energy for later, but you could charge an item in your office window or something. Might still help you.

Actually I did find this product by iSun. http://www.21st-century-goods.com/page/21st/PROD/PREP/COLPPK

The only problem that I can see now with this is the fact that it may not have an adaptor for my Treo.

usually you see the eco green vs the dollar green go the way of the dollar.....look at walmart shoppers.

its nice to see that something thats good is getting done, although it would be nice if it got done irrelevent of saving money. The "cost" of an item is larger than the price on the sticker.

Props to the Army! (no pun intended).

The Air Force actually is the largest government purchasers of renewable energy in 2005, per the EPA.

Given the number of computer screens around here that I see without a screensaver/power conservation (bad idea for energy conservation and security), they could do even better (and ironically end up dropping from the #1 position of buying renewable power). They'd also do well to shutdown (or at least put in standby) all their desktop machines. Security updates could be scheduled for one day a week or on an as needed basis.

Bravo! That's good to hear. The US military is doing a lot more than people often think, and isn't asking for any praise for it. I'm glad we're making mention of it here. Thanks Zen!

Great Ken! How is the renewable energy "treehugger"-stuff going over with the Army? Is there really any interest in eco-issues, or is it just all about practicalities?

Thanks in advance.

Answer to CKE:

Well, it's hard to generalize, as of course with 140,000 soldiers you have 140,000 different opinions! My personal impression is that the average soldier is more focused on the job, and the environment is not exactly at the top of the list. But really, if you were being shot at, dependability and reliability of your radio system would probably outweight an item toss to the landfill.

Still, now that these new LiIon batteries are almost as long lasting, and not much heavier, they are a welcome substitution. Fewer disposables means fewer logisticis resupply runs, which keeps soldier off the roads, in turn keeping them safer.

Don't get me wrong, there are certainly many environmentally aware soldiers out there, it's just that in the face of daily operational reality, it's hard to push for a cause like that.

Luckily, as Sean points out, sometimes environmentalism is NOT in conflict with good business (saving money) or improved operations (reduced logistics for both cost and personnel risk). It's a win-win, and the only thing keeping the Army from making a snap changeover is the education process involved. But it WILL happen, especially in the face of the bugeting issues the Army is facing in recent days. Interesting times I tell you, interesting times.

Ken,

Do you ever have to worry about being power self-sufficient on your own? Or are you always near base supply. I'm wondering if emergency spares (like zinc-air, or foldable PVs) is ever a concern - or is that just for small SOF field teams. Thanks for the great job y'all are doing.

CKE-

Well, it's very, very dependent upon the location. In Afghanistan, if dismounted, you had to be very independent, as resupply was never a sure thing. We rigged a way to recharge AA batteries from "dead" commo batteries to leverage/scavenge the energy left over, and that worked great.

The problem with solar is it still takes TIME, and, regarldess of the camo solar, isn't that low of a signature. Once mounted (vehicle) or near a base (anywhere in Iraq), and you're not all that far from power. That said, we're about to send out 5 solar panels here to help recharge at locations with low(er) power, and the ZnAir's are pretty good too; we're starting to use those. Still, all come at a cost. Zn-Air doesn't come much cheaper at a $ per Wh compared to the other disposables, it's mainly just a bit cheaper, and a lot lighter. And you still throw it away. But then it takes a special adapter....

Not sure that really answered your question, but the answer varies from base to base, mission to mission, and, mostly, with soldier education. In my humble opinion, if the users had the right chargers and batteries AND education, there is almost no reason to use disposables at all in Iraq (one situation I can think of, but it's 1/1,000 of the battery load out here). Yet we go through millions of dollars worth probably every month. It will change, but it will take time and, again, mainly education.

Ken,

"recharge AA's"? What do you use those for? I thought everything was 390's, 2590's or 2800's, or custom-y things for satphones, RPDA's, or survival radios.

Also, have you heard about the new Li-ion rechargeables coming down the line that will recharge from dead to 80% full in 60 seconds, and 100% in 180 seconds! They don't have any higher capacity, but I'm guessing that's going to be a big deal.

Reply to CKE:

Ahh, there's lots on the individual soldier that takes AAs: PEQ2's (laser and IR laser sights), a very few of the holosights, NODs (e.g. PVS7 and 14), and the Garmin eTrex GPS. If you have a whole squad who at least has PEQ2s, Garmins, NODs, and you're doing night movements, you can blow through quite a few batteries in a few days. Met a squad leader who carried no fewer than 50 AAs with him to support his squad in case resupply didn't come. We rememdied that. See www.warfightersolutions.com on the do it yourself pages to see pics of how we achieved this with a simple 5590 to cig socket adapter. Saved batteries, saved weight, and saved money. Also note, with the cig socket, we got away from proprietary custom adapters for things like satphones and PDAs: we could just recharge them using a regular car cig socket adapter and a "dead" 5590. Takes some discipline and education, but it works.

Yeah, I heard about the fast charge batteries, although NOT in military format; know something I don't? Do tell. I know A123 is doing the cells for the new 36VDC Dewalt tools, which should have (allegedly) 5x the power density, more recharges before the batteries are dead, and charge most of the way in 5 min; is that what you're referring to?

Ken -
A123systems is one, there's also Toshiba & Altairnano in Li-ion, and Powergenix in NiZn. They're in various states of dev'p. All pushing the same high surface area electrodes thing. Don't know if BT has mil pkgs yet. For solo dismounted, there's also some nifty startups stuff happening on the field pwr sources side (fueled & nonfueled). Not all in Darpa/CECOM. Could discuss.