Effort to reduce battery weight may soon hit brick wall.

• Author: Parsons, Dan
• Position: Energy

Industry and military scientists continue the search for lighter and more efficient batteries, with a renewed focus on reducing loads carried by soldiers that affect their mobility and health.

Batteries, particularly those that power communication systems, are heavy and in many cases are single-use. Using new materials and power-regulation devices, engineers have been able to improve incrementally on the traditional lithiumion batteries used by U.S. troops, providing a commodity that has proven as vital as ammunition in modern warfare.

"Power is most often taken for granted because everyone expects it to be there," said Kooshiar Deylami, lead general engineer for the power and environmental engineering branch of the Army's Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center. "But it is one of the most important things a soldier can have."

While strides are being made to lighten power sources, some researchers are concerned that batteries alone cannot solve the load problem because their construction is determined by scientific principles that are not easily circumnavigated.

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CERDEC is focused on soldier power, but is taking a holistic approach to providing power to the battlefield to include more efficient generator and power-grid systems.

Breakthrough technologies like the Soldier Worn Integrated Power Equipment System, or SWIPES, have already been fielded. About the size and shape of a single body armor plate, the system's rechargeable battery fits into a soldier's vest and tricklecharges all of the electronics he or she is carrying using a high-density Zincair battery. The system conserves energy by keeping the devices fully charged at all times through a managed "trickle" of electricity from the central battery, requiring fewer charges and reducing battery weight by up to 30 percent.

Deanna Tyler, an electronics engineer with CERDEC's battery technology development team, said the Army is moving toward adoption of hybrid power systems that can draw a charge from several sources.

"Many times, when people think power, they think batteries, which is certainly a large and important component," Tyler said. "But many of our requirements are based on operational reality where small units or individuals or [forward operating bases] dictate the power sources that are required."

But better batteries alone can't solve the problem of supplying efficient and sufficient energy to troops in the field, said...