Capacitance balancing for

supercapacative energy storage

system
Ugis Sirmelis, Linards Grigans
Parnu, 2011.
Supercapacitor properties and applications
+ High power density

+ Cyclability > 1000000


- Low energy capacity

- Low rated voltage
Capacitance distribution
BCAP3000

Rated voltage : 2.7V

Nominal capacitance : 3000F

Tolerance capacitance : -0%/+20%
3000 3100 3200 3300 3400 3500 3600
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Capacitance, F
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

s
u
p
e
r
c
a
p
a
c
i
t
o
r
s


A
B
Distribution of randomly generated 360 SC
capacitance values for tram ESS.
Voltage disbalance in series/parallel connection
C
2
=3300F
C
180
=3200F
C
1
=3110F
Approx. 10% loss in energy capacity
C
182
=3510F
C
360
=3420F
C
181
=3260F
0.88 0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Energy capacity, kWh
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

o
c
c
u
r
e
n
c
e
s


Effective energy capacity distribution
0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
Energy capacity, kWh
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

o
c
c
u
r
e
n
c
e
s


Voltage disbalance in parallel/series connection
C
2
=3300F
C
180
=3200F
C
1
=3110F
Approx. 8% loss in energy capacity
C
182
=3510F
C
360
=3420F
C
181
=3260F
Effective energy capacity distribution
0.9 0.92 0.94 0.96 0.98 1 1.02 1.04
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
x 10
4
Energy capacity, kWh
N
u
m
b
e
r

o
f

o
c
c
u
r
e
n
c
e
s


series/parallel
parallel/series
balanced capacitances
theoretical maximum
Capacitance balancing
C
max(2nd)

C
max(1st)

99% of energy storage
system capacity is used
C
min(2nd)

C
min(1st)

Effective energy capacity distribution
C
max(180th)
C
min(180th)

Supercapacitor capacitance measurement
1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
2600
2700
2800
2900
3000
3100
3200
3300
3400
Voltage, V
C
a
p
a
c
i
t
a
n
c
e
,

F
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
2
2.2
2.4
2.6
2.8
Time, s
V
o
l
t
a
g
e
,

V

Capacitance determination requires
multiple charge/discharge cycles

Capacitance of all SCs must be
determined in equal conditions
Charge/discharge with 100 A current
Experimental results
SC number Capacitance (F)
1. 3075
2. 3000
3. 3000
4. 2990
5. 3200
6. 3150
7. 3180
8. 3075
0 20 40 60 80 100
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
Combination number
E
n
e
r
g
y

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y

o
f

t
o
t
a
l

S
C

c
a
p
a
c
i
t
y
,

%
Measured capacitances
SC arrangement effect
on ESS capacity
Conclusions
Capacitance balancing method significantly improves
effective energy capacity of SC bank.

Capacitance balancing method requires measurement of all
SCs capacitances.

Due to the degradation of SCs capacitance in operation life,
to evaluate the efficiency of the capacitance balancing
method, long-term experience with large number of SCs is
needed.
Thank you for attention!