From Army AL&T Magazine, this article written by Marnie de Jong, Research Project Manager for the Renewable Energy for Distributed Undersupplied Command Environments program in CERDEC CPI Army Power, discusses the concept, challenges, and potential solutions to using the "Micro-Grid" to provide a more economical and available source of power for soldiers in austere environments.

1. MICRO-GRID
POWER
Working intelligently and working together
by Marnie de Jong
LIVING EFFICIENTLY
The Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System is a lightweight, portable power system capable of recharging batteries and/or acting as a continuous
power source. It combines anti-glint solar panels, connectors, and adaptors for increased charging options, and can charge most common military
battery types in five to six hours. (U.S. Army photo.)
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2. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
T
ihe Army traditionally has
addressed power generation
through a collection of appli-
cation-specific, stand-alone
solutions. But no matter how good the
individual technology, variations in loads
lead to inefficiencies in operation. It is
nearly impossible to keep generators oper-
ating at peak efficiency when they are
operating by themselves. That’s why the
right solution is a mix of all technologies.
Micro-grid systems are currently the only
solution that allows the incorporation
of multiple technologies, such as renew-
ables and energy storage systems, to
supplement traditional power generation
techniques. This allows us to create plat-
forms that manage and distribute power
efficiently while using smaller generators.
This type of integrated generation and
distribution system is a sustainable
practice that has applicability across all
echelons, from the forward operating
base down to the individual Soldier.
A DEVELOPING CONCEPT
GETTING SOLUTIONS TO SOLDIERS
In 2007, the Army Power division of the
The Reusing Existing Natural Energy from Wind and Solar (RENEWS) system, which leverages
Communications-Electronics Research, wind generation, solar power, and power storage, is undergoing testing at Communications-
Development and Engineering Cen- Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center’s Command, Power, and Integration
ter’s Command, Power, and Integration (CERDEC CPI) Directorate (formerly the Command and Control Directorate). The system will be
Directorate (CERDEC CPI), formerly shipped out for user evaluations upon completion of testing. Here, NCOs view the RENEWS
the Command and Control Directorate, system as part of the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command’s Quarterly
NCO Professional Development program. (U.S. Army photo by Allison Barrow.)
in technical support of Project Manager
Mobile Electric Power within Program
Executive Office Command, Control,
and Communications – Tactical, was while reducing maintenance and the logis- Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power Sys-
one of the first DoD organizations to tical footprint. tem kit features a photovoltaic panel for
work in this area with the start of the solar charging of multiple batteries, thus
Hybrid Intelligent (HI) Power pro- This is all transparent to the Soldier; ensuring continuous power for sensors
gram, an initiative funded by the the plug-and-play system has an open, and radios. (See related article on Page 12.)
Office of the Secretary of Defense. user-friendly architecture that allows for
Its goal is to network generators and greater operational flexibility. The Soldier Power Manager takes this a
loads to a common grid to enable source step further by calculating available and
and load management, keeping in Earlier versions of this concept, focusing required power and allocating power
check redundancy of power generation on renewable energy, have been fielded to loads according to availability and
and optimizing generator performance at the Soldier level. For example, the priority. It also allows multiple power
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3. MICRO-GRID POWER
generation sources to be hooked up LOOKING AHEAD Power Equipment System (SWIPES) is
simultaneously, using energy based on a Most micro-grids centralize the intelli- a first-generation example of where we
predetermined set of energy costs. gence (see Figure 1), but CERDEC CPI are going. SWIPES incorporates a vari-
is working to make all of the devices ety of pouch-mounted chargers and
The Reusing Existing Natural Energy smart so that each piece of the grid can power cables for batteries, GPS units,
from Wind and Solar (RENEWS) communicate and operate in an intel- shot detection systems, and handheld
system, which leverages wind genera- ligent manner: smart generators, smart communications within the Modular
tion, solar power, and power storage, is storage, and smart renewables. This col- Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment
undergoing performance and safety lection of autonomous systems would (MOLLE) vest. This provides power and
testing at CERDEC CPI. Once this have the capability to determine which protection for extended missions without
testing is successfully completed, the source is delivering power to a given load the burden of power source swaps or sep-
RENEWS systems will be shipped out and what to do if there is excess energy. arate power source charging.
for user evaluations.
The next step would be incorporating With these combined capabilities, the
Next up is Renewable Energy for smarts into the loads so that they can Soldier has a highly versatile system that
Distributed Undersupplied Command request power as well. That would pave is easy to use, greatly reduces the num-
Environments (REDUCE), a new mis- the way toward additional fuel reduc- ber of batteries carried, and can save 30
sion program in FY12 that is geared tion by allowing the scheduling of loads to 50 percent of battery weight on long
toward operating in the 1 to 5 kilowatt to keep peak power demands at a mini- missions. But while SWIPES provides
power space. The program focuses on mum. That said, with the large number the distribution for the Soldier, it doesn’t
incorporating renewables and energy of power-consuming systems in the have the smarts to control all of the dif-
storage on a trailer that can be towed by Army, implementing a solution like this ferent loads and sources, nor to provide
a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled is still a ways off. The idea is to go after the Soldier an interface for situational
Vehicle and can interface with traditional the larger power consumers, such as the awareness of remaining power. We
JP-8 fueled generators. Environmental Control Units, then move are not there yet, but that is where we
forward. This type of fully automated are heading.
As with HI Power, the goal of REDUCE system would require less training and
is to make things easier on the Soldier by oversight than currently fielded systems, CONCLUSION
letting the systems manage all the power. thus freeing up troops to do other tasks. The shift to micro-grids represents a
Ideally, the technologies from both pro- change in the way we do business, but it
grams will be complementary, resulting CERDEC CPI is also working on incor- is more than intelligent control and dis-
in power grid technology that addresses porating smart grids into wearable Soldier tribution of power. In order to be really
power generation, distribution, loads, platform technologies, to reduce the successful, systems will need to be able to
renewables, and storage across the full weight and number of batteries on each work intelligently with one another. The
Army power spectrum. Soldier. The Soldier Wearable Integrated key is to produce a solution that works
for everyone across the military services.
No matter how good my system is, if my
MICRO-GRID SYSTEMS ARE CURRENTLY THE ONLY system can’t talk to yours, we still have
interoperability issues.
SOLUTION THAT ALLOWS THE INCORPORATION
All of these systems have played a part
OF MULTIPLE TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS in the learning process. We’ve been able
to develop numerous point-based micro-
RENEWABLES AND ENERGY STORAGE grid solutions that are specific to size,
platform, and application. But we’ve yet
SYSTEMS, TO SUPPLEMENT TRADITIONAL to establish a common operating environ-
ment for micro-grids within DoD—and
POWER GENERATION TECHNIQUES. this is important. We need an integrated
74 Army AL&T Magazine

4. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
effort whereby A plugs into B, which
plugs into C, and systems can grow or
Desired Performance Attributes
decrease with the changing demands of
the environment—scalable micro-grids.
Figure 1
All of our previous work has paved the
way for scalable micro-grids, which
allow users to add units, whether 20
or 100, without changing technologies,
platforms, or cables. Basically this is a
matter of applying the smart-grid archi-
tecture from the Soldier platform up to
the tactical operations center. Scalable
micro-grids can affect size, weight, and
power by decreasing weight while pow-
ering the same amount of equipment,
and will dramatically reduce fuel logis-
tics—especially with the incorporation
of renewable technologies.
In addition to developing a proof-of-
concept system with specifications, we
are hoping to establish working groups of
DoD and industry in this arena—or use
existing groups—but coordination across
the two communities is a major challenge.
The Power Sources 2012 conference
June 11-14, in Las Vegas, NV, will focus
on energy generation and storage tech-
nology for military application. It will
be an opportunity for Joint collabora-
tion, as it is sponsored by CERDEC CPI
Army Power and the U.S. Army Research
Laboratory in conjunction with the U.S.
Air Force, U.S. Navy, Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, U.S. Depart-
ment of Energy, and NASA.
Micro-grid systems allow Army engineers to create platforms that manage and distribute power
efficiently while using smaller generators. Most micro-grids centralize the intelligence, but CERDEC
The conference (http://powersourcescon- CPI is working to make all the devices smart so that each piece of the grid has the capability to
ference.com) will feature demonstrations communicate and operate in an intelligent manner. (SOURCE: CERDEC CPI.)
and information concerning what we are
working on in regard to scalable micro-
grids, and we invite you to participate. for Distributed Undersupplied Command engineering from Pennsylvania State Uni-
Environments program in CERDEC versity, and an M.B.A. from the University
CPI Army Power. She holds a B.S. in of Maryland. She is Level III certified in
MARNIE DE JONG is the Research Proj- electrical engineering from the Univer- systems planning, research, development,
ect Manager for the Renewable Energy sity of Delaware, an M.S. in electrical and engineering.
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