The military created the contest to find a power system to give three times the power at half the weight.

The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia team took third place in a high-stakes military competition.

The Jenny 600S of Middleburg won the $250,000 third prize in the Wearable Power Prize, a Pentagon-sponsored contest to invent a better power system.

A team from DuPont in Wilmington, Del., won the $1 million first prize. Second place went to Adaptive Materials Inc. of Ann Arbor, Mich.

Troops who use electronic devices such as night-vision goggles and GPS units have to carry batteries that can add 20 pounds to their loads. The military created the contest to find a system to give three times the power at half the weight and be small enough that soldiers can wear it on their vests.

Nearly 170 teams entered the competition.