Udita karmakar,PGMVD 1ST YEAR, Roll no.

-30013617001

Supercapacitors: Energy storage System

A supercapacitor (SC) (also electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC), also called supercap,
ultracapacitor or Goldcap) is a high-capacity capacitor with capacitance values much higher
than other capacitors (but lower voltage limits) that bridge the gap between electrolytic
capacitors and rechargeable batteries. They typically store 10 to 100 times more energy per
unit volume or mass than electrolytic capacitors, can accept and deliver charge much faster
than batteries, and tolerate many more charge and discharge cycles than rechargeable
batteries.

Supercapacitors are used in applications requiring many rapid charge/discharge

cycles rather than long term compact energy storage: within cars, buses, trains, cranes and
elevators, where they are used for regenerative braking, short-term energy storage or burst-
mode power delivery. Smaller units are used as memory backup for static random-access
memory (SRAM).

Evolution of components

In the early 1950s, General Electric engineers began experimenting with porous carbon
electrodes, in the design of capacitors, from the design of fuel cells and rechargeable
batteries. Activated charcoal is an electrical conductor that is an extremely porous "spongy"
form of carbon with a high specific surface area." In 1966 researchers at Standard Oil of Ohio
(SOHIO) developed another version of the component as "electrical energy storage
apparatus", while working on experimental fuel cell designs.[4][5] The nature of
electrochemical energy storage was not described in this patent. Even in 1970, the
electrochemical capacitor patented by Donald L. Boos was registered as an electrolytic
capacitor with activated carbon electrodes.[6]

Early electrochemical capacitors used two aluminum foils covered with activated carbon—
the electrodes—which were soaked in an electrolyte and separated by a thin porous insulator.
This design gave a capacitor with a capacitance on the order of one farad, significantly higher
than electrolytic capacitors of the same dimensions. This basic mechanical design remains the
basis of most electrochemical capacitors. SOHIO did not commercialize their invention, licensing
the technology to NEC, who finally marketed the results as "supercapacitors" in 1971, to provide
backup power for computer memory.

Applications now and future possibilities

Regenerative braking

Releasing the power in acceleration

Starting power in start-stop systems

Regulate voltage to the energy grid

Capture power when lowering loads and assisting when loads are lifted

Backup power in any application where quick discharge ( or charge) is required

objective

new applications in power electronics for supercapacitors. This involves the design and
development of dc-dc converters to interface the supercapacitor banks with the rest of the
power electronic system. Three possible approaches are : a) Supercapacitors connected
directly across the battery; and b) Supercapacitor, and battery connected via a DC-DC
converter.