SUPERCAPACITORS

Raman deep Singh

Ece 6
th
sem

Outline questions

What is Capacitors?
What are Supercapacitors?
History of Supercapacitors.
Advantages relative to Batteries
Why they can store more energy, and why the
mechanism of energy storage is so fast?
Why supercapacitors?
Disadvantage
Applications.


What is Capacitor?
A capacitor (originally known as condenser) is
a passive two-terminal electrical component used to
store energy in an electric field.
When there is a potential difference (voltage) across the
conductors, a static electric field develops across the
dielectric, causing positive charge to collect on one plate
and negative charge on the other plate. Energy is stored
in the form of electrostatic field.
What is Supercapacitor
A supercapacitor or ultracapacitor is an
electrochemical capacitor that has an
unusually high energy density when
compared to common capacitors. They
are of particular interest in automotive
applications for hybrid vehicles and as
supplementary storage for battery electric
vehicles
History
The first supercapacitor based on a double layer
mechanism was developed in 1957 by General Electric
using a porous carbon electrode [Becker, H.I., Low
voltage electrolytic capacitor, U.S. Patent 2800616, 23
July 1957].
It was believed that the energy was stored in the carbon
pores and it exhibited "exceptionally high capacitance",
although the mechanism was unknown at that time. It
was the Standard Oil Company, Cleveland (SOHIO) in
1966 that patented a device that stored energy in the
double layer interface [Rightmire, R.A., Electrical energy
storage apparatus, U.S. Patent 3288641, 29 Nov
1966.].
Advantages relative to Batteries:
Very high rates of charge and
discharge.
Little degradation over hundreds of
thousands of cycles.
Good reversibility
Low toxicity of materials used.
High cycle efficiency (95% or more)


Battery Supercapacitor
Layman example for difference between
More power required for
small time interval in 200 m
race
Constant but less power
required for large time in 20
km race
Specific power against specific energy
Ragone plot
Store energy using ion adsorption (no faradaic (redox) reaction)
High specific surface area (SSA) electrodes (carbon)
100 120 F/g
(nonaqueous electrolyte)
150 300 F/g (aqueous
electrolyte)
Electrochemical double layer capacitors (EDLC)
World Supercapacitors Market, $ mln.
Obstacles to grow
Relatively high cost
Competition with batteries well established on the
market
Consumer conservatism
Factors to growth
New market opportunities like HEVs, Smart Grid,
Alternative/Renewable Energy
Growing ecology restrictions for competitors
Operation in a wide temperature range
Good prospects or a combined power supply
$560 mln.
Fig. 5. Annual Sales divided by segments
(Ultracapacitors - A Global Industry and Market
Analysis, Innovative Research and Products , Inc. 2006)

70.8
144.8
111.4
161.4 89.6
254.4
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2006 2011
Electronics UPS and power tools Transportation
$272 mln.
Market Opportunity

Supercapacitors are known for over 50 years
(patent of General Electric, 1957).

Supercapacitor are able to store and deliver
energy at relatively high rates (beyond those
accessible with batteries).

A specific power of 5 000 W/kg can be reached.

Supercapacitor exhibit very high degree of
reversibility in repetitive charge-discharge cycling.
Cycle life over 500 000 cycles demonstrated.
Why supercapacitors?
Capacitance
of Earth is
0.0007 F
Disadvantage
The amount of energy stored per unit weight is
considerably lower than that of an electrochemical
battery (3-5 W.h/kg for an ultracapacitor compared to 30-
40 W.h/kg for a battery). It is also only about 1/10,000th
the volumetric energy density of gasoline.

The voltage varies with the energy stored. To effectively
store and recover energy requires sophisticated
electronic control and switching equipment.

Has the highest dielectric absorption of all types of
capacitors.
Applications:
Maintenance free applications
Public transportation, HEVs, Start-Stop
System
Back-up and UPS systems
Systems of Energy Recuperation
Consumer electronics