On November 21^st 2018, the Battle of the Innovators marked the end of the Defence Team Innovation Challenge (DTIC). The winning innovation was Defence Renewable Energy Autonomous and Modular System (DREAMS),  an initiative from a team of very talented and skilled personnel within 35 Brigade Group, Quebec.

The project aim is to pursue the development and testing of portable and scalable electrical production and management based on renewable energies. Supporting many Federal and Provincial strategies, including the Defense Energy and Environment Strategy, this innovation offers a new system applicable in the Whole of Government approach for any type of security intervention in remote areas, either in Canada or abroad.

We checked in with Sgt Patrick Levesque, G6 Plans/Ops, Quartier-Général de la 35e Brigade du Canada , to hear how the prototype and testing has progressed.

“The first prototype was commissioned in January 2014 and tested in Iqaluit in early March of the same year. Built by Sgt Thomassin, it gave us enough autonomy to operate a simple command post and keep members safe there.  Since then, we have produced other prototypes to enable soldiers, platoons and sections to be energy-autonomous, regardless of weather conditions. These prototypes have been tested at Resolute Bay, Iqaluit, Goose Bay, Newfoundland, Kangiqsujuaq (QC) and Valcartier.”

In March 2019, the DREAMS team had the opportunity to test their latest prototypes during Ex Guerrier Nordique in Nunavut. The Beyond 2020 Team was invited to Resolute Bay to see how the prototype was holding out and to speak with the people whose safety relied on having renewable energy throughout their exercise.

“One of the goals of our Nordic exercise was to robustly test all the components and capabilities of the soldier’s solar charging kit and Peloton’s solar charging kit.  [W]e have found that our systems work very well [in] extreme conditions (-58oC with the wind factor).  For the first time, a platoon has recharged all these communications equipment with a solar charging kit […] This allowed us to see the usefulness and viability of this system and to find points of improvement.  We’re going to have to find cables that are more resistant to the cold because some of them have come back broken by this journey. »

If you would like to hear more about the progress of the DREAMS initiative, you can reach out to 35 Brigade and Sgt Patrick Levesque at [email protected]. You can also learn more about the other finalists DTIC here .

The Defence Team Innovation Challenge (DTIC), a Blueprint 2020 initiative, now falls under the Beyond 2020 portfolio that has been folded into the new  in 2019. For more information, reach out to the DIA Innovation Team by emailing +Innovation@ADM(DIA).