Technology

Ultracapacitors have several advances over batteries: practically instant charging and discharging, efficient operation in extreme temperatures, extremely high power, high reliability, and safety. 

The difference comes from the fact that ultracapacitors  store energy in an electric field, rather than in a chemical reaction, like batteries. This is also the reason for the difference in lifetime – ultracapacitors work for 15+ years without maintenance.

Ultracapacitors have very little internal resistance (down to 0,12 mΩ), allowing them to work at close to 100% efficiency. They are also significantly lighter than batteries and generally don’t contain harmful chemicals or toxic metals. 

Batteries and ultracapacitors are complementary technologies: batteries provide energy for the long term while ultracapacitors provide the fast reaction and high power. Together, ultracapacitors and batteries are the future of electrification.

The ideal applications for ultracapacitors are ones that require high power and constant cycling. A good example is for example KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems), where braking energy is stored and re-used for acceleration or lighting. Another great use case is power quality – even a tiny disturbance of a few microseconds in power quality can lead to tens of millions in damages without ultracapacitors to protect the equipment, infrastructure and grid with immediate response.