Applications

Power Grid

Supercapacitors or Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLC) store energy electrostatically as opposed to batteries which store energy electrochemically.

Power Grid

Since supercapacitors do not rely on electrochemical reactions, they are capable of handling very rapid charge and discharge rates at high power, repeatedly. There is a limit on the amount of energy that can be stored in an individual ultracapacitor cell, however, these cells can be connected in series/parallel to meet any energy storage system size requirement, depending on space available and economic considerations.

Ultracapacitors excel in applications with short-duration energy requirements where battery maintenance and replacement are costly, inconvenient, or impossible. It is also possible to develop hybridized energy storage systems for grid applications that utilize ultracapacitors for short-term power requirements and other energy storage devices for the longer-term energy requirements.

With a calendar life >10 years and cycle life of 1 million, there are cases where an ultracapacitor can be designed to last the entire life of a system

Wind Energy

Wind power research shows that the fluctuating power at 0.01Hz-1Hz has the greatest impact on the power quality of the grid. The wind power fluctuation in this frequency band has the greatest impact on the power quality of the grid. Suppressing the wind power fluctuation in this frequency band can be achieved by using short-term energy storage.

Therefore, the small-capacity energy storage device capable of realizing short-term energy storage has a high application value for wind power generation.

Due to its tens of thousands of cycles of charge and discharge cycle life and high current charge and discharge characteristics, supercapacitors can adapt to high current fluctuations of wind energy. It can absorb energy under conditions of sunny or strong wind during the day, and weak at night or wind. When it is discharged, it can smooth the fluctuation of wind power and achieve a more efficient grid connection.

Solar Energy

Growing energy demands are expected to exceed the supply from current energy resources.

Therefore, renewable energy and energy management systems will become more crucial for increasing the supply and efficiency of energy usage. The energy management system is implemented in a solar cabin system, which is equipped with solar photovoltaic panels, a solar charger, battery, and inverter.

Supercapacitors and a custom-made DC to DC converter are added to the system to support the batteries during high current load demand and manage energy flow. Three sets of experiments were conducted in the solar cabin system with the new energy management system. Power consumption usage of a typical rural household was studied to create two load profiles that were used as a load for the experiments.

The results show an efficiency of 95.9% by using the new energy management system and supercapacitors in the solar cabin, which is higher than the system without supercapacitor utilization.

DTU (Distribution Terminal Unit)

In the power distribution network automation system, the station terminal (Distribution Terminal Unit (DTU) is mainly installed in the switch station of the feeder loop of the distribution network, ring network cabinet, etc.

The DTU can realize the functions of telemetry and remote control of the power supply line, which plays a very important role in the reliable operation of the distribution network. Since the DTU is generally installed outdoors, its working environment is rather harsh. Therefore, the DTU backup power system Reliability and maintenance-free are very important.

In the past, most of the backup power sources used in DTU devices were lead-acid batteries or lithium batteries. However, due to their poor high-low temperature performance and short cycle life, these two batteries have high maintenance costs.

The supercapacitor is a new type of energy storage device that belongs to physical energy storage. It has been widely used in the field of Distribution Terminal Unit (DTU) because of its high temperature and low performance, maintenance-free, and long cycle life.

FTU (Feeder Terminal Unit)

A feeder terminal unit (FTU) is a device that is used to remotely monitor the voltage, current, active power, and reactive power status of high-voltage power lines. The data is measured and stored in the unit before being uploaded to a central location via either Ethernet, GPRS, or PLC. So consistent power supply is critical to the FTU.

The supercapacitor is a new type of green energy storage component with high power density, long life, no maintenance, and fast charge and discharge. Supercapacitors are ideal power backup for FTU units. In the event of any abnormal power directions, the FTU will take immediate action, including disconnecting the power and reporting the error.