Ultracapacitors for Off-Grid Solar

Energy Applications
Kevin C. Leonard
Chief Technology Officer
SolRayo LLC
kevin.leonard@solrayo.com

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 Outline

General Ultracapacitor Information

Materials for Ultracapacitors

Modeling Ultracapacitors for Off-Grid Solar Energy

Systems
 Introduction:
Traditional Capacitors
Capacitor: Device That Physically Stores Electric Charge
No chemical reactions used to store charge

Negative Conductive Plate

Positive Conductive Plate

 Definition of Capacitance
The Ability To Hold Electric Charge

C = Q/V
Capacitance Measured in
V Farads, F

1 F = 1 C/V
 What is an Ultracapacitor?

Energy Storage Device Regular Capacitor

1,000,000+ Times the 1 F
Capacitance of Regular
Capacitors

Ultracapacitor
4F
How Ultracapacitors Work

A = 1,000 or more m2/g

d = Angstroms
 Terminology
Ultracapacitor
Supercapacitor
Electrochemical Capacitor
Double Layer Capacitor
Electrochemical Double Layer Capacitor

All refer to the same device.

 Ultracapacitors vs. Batteries
Ultracapacitors
Physical Charge Storage
Higher Power Density, Faster
Millions of charge/discharge cycles
No maintenance
Broad temperature range (-30 C to
65+ C)
Cycle efficiency can be above 95%
Lower internal resistance
Batteries
Chemical Charge Storage
Lower Power Density, Slower
Thousands of charge/discharge
cycles
Maintenance
More limited temperature range
 Energy vs Power
Energy: The Capacity to Do Work [Joules or Wh]

Power: The Rate at Which Energy is Transmitted [Watts = 1J/s]

High Energy
Low Power
Low Energy
High Power
The Bridge Between Capacitors
and Batteries

Capacitors

IC Engine
 Ultracapacitor Electrode
Technologies

Class I High Surface Area Carbon Materials

Class II Transition Metal Oxides

Pseudocapacitors

New Electrode Technologies

New Carbon Materials

Asymmetric Capacitors

SolRayos Technology
 Class I High Surface Area
Carbon Materials

Typically Activated Carbon

High Power Densities

Cycle Life - 500,000 to 1,000,000 cycles

Voltage Window Up to 2.7 V Per Cell

Most Commercial Ultracapacitors Made From High

Surface Area Carbon Materials

For More Information on Activated Carbon See - Frackowiak, E. Carbon materials for supercapacitor application. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 9, 1774-1785 (2007)
Class II Transition Metal Oxides
How Pseudocapacitors Work
Electric charges are stored mainly in the electrode surface
region by faradaic reactions

Typically Made From Transition Metal Oxides

 Types of Transition Metals

Ruthenium Dioxide
Very High Capacitance Reported

Cycle Life of 10,000 Charge/Discharge

Cycles Reported1

More Expensive Than Carbon

Typically 1 V Voltage Window

Sulfuric Acid Common Electrolyte

1 and Image From Sugimoto et al. Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 153 2 A255-A260 (2006)
 New Types of High Surface Area
Carbon Materials

Carbon Nanotubes
High Surface Area Most of it Accessible

Typically Higher Conductivity Than AC

Higher Power Density Than AC

Potentially Expensive

Ma, R.Z. et al. Study of electrochemical capacitors utilizing carbon nanotube

electrodes. J. Power Sources 84, 126-129 (1999)

For More Information on Activated Carbon See - Niu, C.M., Sichel, E.K., Hoch, R., Moy, D., and Tennent, H.
High power electrochemical capacitors based on carbon nanotube electrodes. Appl. Phys. Lett. 70, 1480-1482 (1997)
 Asymmetric Capacitors

An Asymmetric Capacitor Replaces the Positive

Carbon Electrode with Battery Type Electrode

C1 C2 C1 C2

Symmetric Capacitor Asymmetric Capacitor

 Asymmetric Capacitors

Expand the Voltage Window

Higher Capacitance Due to

Battery Electrode
C1 C2
Cycle Life Dependent on Battery 1 1 1
Electrode
= +
CTotal C1 C2
Power Density Dependent on
Battery Electrode
If C2 >> C1
Then CTotal " C1
For More Information on Asymmetric Capacitors See Pell & Conway Journal of Power Sources 136 (2004) 334345

!
 SolRayo Electrode Technology

Commercially Available Nano Sand

Carbon Materials
2-5 nm Particles of SiO2

10 m 10 m
 Isnt Nano Expensive?
Nanoparticles Can Be Very Inexpensive
SolRayo Nanoparticles Created by Sol-Gel Chemistry
Techniques

Nanoparticles Self Assemble

Adding Nano Sand Increases
Carbon Capacitance

Coating Increases
Capacitance of
Carbon Materials

Weight Based on Carbon and Coating Weight

K.C. Leonard, W.E. Suyama, and M.A. Anderson In Progress 2009
 Cycle Life of SolRayo Materials

Typical Commercial
Electrochemical
Capacitors lose 20%
after 500,000
-1,000,000 cycles

These Materials Do Not

Lose 20% until
1,600,000 cycles 24%
20% Decrease
Decrease at
at 1.6M
3M

Leonard, Suyama & Anderson In Progress 2009

 Electrochemical Capacitor
Markets
High Power Consumer
Transportation Industrial
Electronics
Renewable Energy Systems
For High Power Pulses Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Extends Battery Life Regenerative Braking

Can Use Lower Cost Batteries Electric Drive Power Steering,

Seat Belt Restraints, etc.
Many Applications For Ultracapacitors
in Renewable Energy Systems

Fill-In Power For

Wind and Solar

Grid-Stability

Power Quality

Etc
 Off-Grid Solar Energy Systems

Can We Improve Stand Alone Systems By Adding

Ultracapacitors??
 Choosing The Battery Size

Batteries Are Worse At Capacitors

Power Than Energy

IC Engine
POWER MUST BE
USED TO SIZE
BATTERIES!!
Battery Ultracapacitor Hybrid
System
Hybrid-System Equations
 How Hybrid System Handles
Pulse Power
Lead Acid Battery Ultracapacitor

12 V 12 V

40 m Internal 2.4 m Internal

Resistance Resistance

86.4 Wh Capacity 500 F

How Does Hybrid System Handle 1800W Pulse For 5

Seconds?
 Hybrid System

No Additional
Circuitry

Ultracapacitor Reduces Voltage Drop in

Hybrid-System
Ultracapacitor And Battery
Working Together
Peak Power Enhancement
 Off-Grid Solar Applications

Off-Grid Cabin
 Off-Grid Solar Applications

Road Side Emergency Phone

 Off-Grid Solar Applications

Recreational Vehicles
 Off-Grid Solar Applications

Solar Boat?
Contact Information

Kevin C. Leonard
Chief Technology Officer
SolRayo LLC
kevin.leonard@solrayo.com

www.solrayo.com