Ultracapacitors to tranform energy storage

Ultracapacitors are a powerful energy source, when compared to batteries and have already found immense use in consumer electronics such as mobile phones and PDAs, reveals a Frost & Sullivan study.

Although battery chemistries have higher energy densities in comparison to ultracapacitors, their power delivery, when the application demands it, remains poor, states the reserach.

Among the other potential application sectors, UPS applications, renewable energy systems such as windmills, and other industrial equipment are also fast realizing the need for a superior energy storage device. Likewise, transportation applications are looking to improve fuel consumption and provide more luxuries in basic automobiles and ultracapacitors, with their higher power density as well as product life cycle, promise a complete solution to the increasing power needs of these new applications.

The total revenues in this industry amount to $191.2 million in 2005 and will likely more than triple in revenues by 2012, revealed the report.

Significantly, the consumer application segment, which was the first area to use ultracapacitors, is the largest market for this technology. Novel electronic devices, with their advanced features, demand a good energy source for sudden high power requirements as well as for memory storage.

As a result, ultracapacitors are proving the ideal solution for such needs not only due to their high power density, but also because of their unlimited ability to charge and discharge without affecting their structure. In the industrial segment, ultracapacitors can enhance the life of a battery, when used in conjunction with the battery as it absorbs and protects against any sags and surges in the voltage that could damage or limit the battery.

"In the transportation segment, the ultracapacitor interestingly has a very different role and its quick charge and recharge ability, combined with its high power density, is being tested for regenerative breaking as well as stop and go applications," notes Frost & Sullivan analyst Anu Abraham. "Breaking and accelerating consume high amounts of fuel and when ultracapacitors are employed in the process, they successfully reduce overall fuel consumption in the cars."

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