Radioisotopes decay, the process of decay generates
heat,
for example americium-241 decays with an initial
0.114W/g - for centuries. Simply using a few hundred
grams of this and a brutally inefficient solid-state
thermoelectric generator, a voltage regulator & some
shielding we can create
a more-or-less forever phone
charger the size and weight of a house brick!
Now, this might need a little refinement. I suggest a
burly
exterior with a robust handle, think small ammo case.
There's easily room in the package for a couple of
rechargeable cells, which, given the 24/7 nature of the
output could charge constantly, allowing the charging of
up
to 4 phones for 6hrs/day! Careful design of the insulation
properties of the casing would allow for a hot spot on the
upper surface, for coffee. In addition, the whole unit, in
the bottom of a sleeping bag might be a useful
companion
in chillier environments.
So, how do we sell these? Obviously, the market is
military,
which means the cost per unit can be pleasingly
astronomical. But initially, we don't sell them, we give
them away. So, at one of the big defense "conferences",
the type with the really cool green/grey stuff is on show,
we target a few specific types of people. What you need,
is
a military rank that is just about in the middle, say
Captain
ish. You give a nice RTG-phone charger to this Captain,
name deeply engraved in the case, possibly a GPS tracker
and other security features to prevent casual theft and
you
wait.
The choice of rank is critical, they need to be low
enough
so they're mixing it with many ranks so that the RTG-
charger is seen, and after remote deployment, jealously
coveted. Not so low that "I think I'd better have that non-
issued equipment and let this be an end to this kind of
nonsense." happens, and not high enough that it never
leaves the General's baggage car.
This creates the demand. The only way to get them, is
for
the force in question to order them, which the jealous
higher ups will do. bs0-co military supply division is
happy
to supply paperwork with suitably "mission focused"
designations for the devices. Suggestions include:
"Ruggedized Comms Subassembly 241", "Cold weather
crew
survival generator kit (with bag)", "NBC calibration
standard" etc.