Reliable Tactical Silent Power Generator for Austere Environments

Mesodyne’s Light-Cell technology was developed at MIT and is being commercialized for the small UAV market. In this effort, the UAV generator is being adapted to meet the needs of dismounted warfighters. Mesodyne’s patented Light-Cell generator converts fuel into electricity via light. Specifically, a microcombustor heats a nanophotonic material to incandescence. The nanophotonic material, which was developed at MIT, is engineered to emit certain wavelengths of light preferentially when heated. The emitted light drives specialized photovoltaic (PV) cells to generate electricity. Mesodyne’s Light-Cell generator is significantly more efficient than traditional thermophotovoltaics because the light emitted by the nanophotonic material nearly perfectly matches what the PV cell can convert into electricity. Mesodyne’s founders demonstrated the world record efficiency for this type of energy conversion in 2017 during their PhDs at MIT. Specifically, the adaptations required to adapt to a soldier wearable solution are (A) moving from an OEM component designed for integration into a full system to a standalone generator, (B) miniaturization and scaling down of the power output, (C) modification of the microcombustor and fuel system to accommodate JP-8 fuel, (D) development of a cooling system based on forced air rather than ram air. Objective A requires developing packaging, control, and power conditioning systems with the eventual goal of hardening the generator to perform in a battlefield environment. Objective B requires redesigning the microcombustor and PV cell array in a smaller form factor. Objective C requires redesigning the existing mcirocombustor and fuel injector system to handle the unique challenges posed by JP-8 fuel, with the eventual goal of being able to convert all tactical fuels. Objective D requires redesigning the cooling system to accommodate lower air flows and higher ambient temperatures. At the conclusion of this effort, we propose to have a proof-of-concept prototype soldier wearable unit.