APPLICATIONS AND SUITABILITY OF RENEWABLE AND HYBRID POWER SYSTEMS FOR REMOTE DISTRIBUTED SPECIAL OPERATIONS AND U.S. MARINE CORPS EXPEDITIONARY FORCES IN CONTESTED ENVIRONMENTS

Expeditionary forces are overwhelmingly reliant on diesel generators to sustain mission-critical command, control, communications, computers, combat systems intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C5ISR) and life support systems on small- to medium-sized tactical power grids. This reliance presents significant logistics and maintenance challenges when employed in support of remote Special Operations Forces (SOF) and Marine Corps expeditionary operations in contested environments. The primary objective of the research is to measure the effectiveness of current or near-to-market energy storage and photovoltaic (PV) charging solutions to augment or replace diesel fuel power generators in support of expeditionary military operations. The secondary objective is to measure the impact of running these energy storage and charging solutions in tandem with diesel fuel generators on a unit’s fuel consumption, particularly the effect on existing fuel resupply schedules. This research concludes that existing and near-to-market renewable energy systems can effectively integrate with tactical diesel generators and produce enough energy to meet a substantial portion of the energy required in support of expeditionary operations in remote locations.Civilian, Department of the NavyCommander, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited