U.S. Army Stands to Gain Lightweight Portable Power

Wilmington, Delaware [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] DuPont Fuel Cells and SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG announced the U.S. Department of Defense has completed a successful initial review of its program to introduce a reliable, lightweight, portable fuel cell power system for soldiers in the field using a modular power capability integrated onto the soldier’s ensemble.

The M-25 Land Warrior Soldier Power Generator System (LW SPGS) combines DuPont Fuel Cell’s direct methanol technology with SFC’s off-the-shelf fuel cell systems, products, and integration expertise. The M-25 LW SPGS consists of SFC’s fuel cell system (1.5 lbs/0.7 kg), a hybrid Ultralife Battery Inc. LI-145 battery (2 lbs/1 kg), DuPont Membrane Electrode Assemblies and soldier fuel pouches. The goal of the M-25 LW SPGS is to provide mission-weight savings of up to 80 percent over conventional power sources for long duration missions. If successful, it would have the capability to revolutionize wearable portable power sources in the field, by easily extending soldier mission times to 72 hours and beyond. The M-25 LW SPGS would be able to power a wide range of soldier equipment such as GPS navigation, communications, computers, sensors (unattended ground, buried and others), C4ISR gear, robots, UAVs, etc. Additional advantages would be unparalleled high-energy density, safe and easy handling, low-weight, and considerably reduced logistics costs. The program was reviewed by the U.S. Army’s Defense Acquisition Challenge Program (DACP) government team. Once two more reviews are achieved, low volume initial production may be awarded. DuPont Fuel Cells and SFC project completion of these reviews is 2008.