Power cell A power cell was the component , often removable or transportable , of a number of technological devices that supplied the energy necessary for the device to operate , on both small and large scales . Power cells could be reconfigured to give off false dilithium readings . ( ) In 2153 , Malcolm Reed tried to cross - polarise the power cells of a phase - pistol to gain the efficiency . ( ) Shortly after believing he had seen two Xindi - Insectoid s which were actually hallucinatory , Doctor Phlox loaded an empty phase - pistol with a power cell . ( ) In early 2154 , T ' Pol obtained some portable power cells from Xindi allies and gave them , in an equipment case , to Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III . T ' Pol thought the power cells would help him with repairs but , angered by the Xindi , he kicked the equipment case down a corridor . ( ) Installing the portable power cells proved somewhat difficult for the Starfleet engineering staff aboard " Enterprise " to do , so Tucker later asked Xindi - Humanoid Degra to help them , which Degra was happy to do . ( ) Data was powered by power cells . When he seemed to be in a coma - like state in early 2368 , his power cells were functioning properly and were not causing his unconsciousness . ( ) Portable lamps use power cells as did hyperspanner s . ( ; ) The type 2 phaser had a small , removable power cell which generates enough power to activate a transporter . ( ) Hand phasers and disruptor s alike were , however , unable to work with cracked or empty power cells . ( ) Chief Miles O ' Brien once considered draining the power cells of phasers to provide a power source for a makeshift transmitter . He however realized that it could not be done because he did not have a converter to bridge the power cells from the phasers to his proposed makeshift subspace transmitter ( combadge s tied into a sensor array ) , nor did he have the ion exchange matrix he needed to build the necessary converter . ( ) Large power cells were used to supply power to phaser array s on starship s . The crew of the made a ritual of displaying depleted power cells during the Dominion War . ( ) The crew of used power cells to stockpile deuterium for their energy reserve . Additionally , they used a power cell to get emergency power online , which was accomplished by hooking it into to the ship ' s EPS manifold . ( ) They could also be used to supplement the ship ' s power grid . ( ) Emergency power cells were used aboard starships when main engine s were out . ( ) In 2370 , Jean - Luc Picard found a power cell aboard a Terellian freighter that he thought he could use to reactivate his shuttlecraft ' s engines . Although the energy relays were corroded , he was able to use a tricorder to regenerate the cell , a process that took a couple of hours . ( ) In 2374 , a Hirogen hunting party set a trap for Harry Kim and Lyndsay Ballard in the Vyntadi Expanse by reconfiguring a power cell to emit a false dilithium signature . ( ) In 2376 , Tom Paris traded three used power cells and his jukebox to Abaddon for a sentient starship he would christen " " . Under " her " influence , he would later take four power cells from ' s secondary warp assembly without authorization to repair her . ( ) Background information . A couple of the phaser array power cells from have appeared in the It ' s A Wrap ! sale and auction . They sold for US $ 941 and $ 960 .