Supercapacitors Turn the Corner

Supercapacitors and their variants have recently seen customer commitment to multibillion-dollar opportunities that were previously beyond their reach. Consider large peak-shaving ones for hybrid cars where the Geely orders will soon be followed by others. Add the significance of two Chinese manufacturers selling supercapacitors improved to the energy density of lithium-ion batteries eight years ago and exhibiting other parameters batteries will never reach. A $7 million follow on order has been placed for military supercapacitors.

 

Improved supercapacitors and their variants now enable huge opportunities in minigrids, trains, trams, trucks, heavy off-road vehicles, tiny uninterruptable power supplies for IOT nodes using energy harvesting potentially in huge numbers, 1 MWh giants for hospitals and data centres. Already, supercapacitors drive brain scanners, lift Maglev trains, power rail and laser guns, go into deep space and provide the only trustworthy backup for wind turbine blade adjustment, vehicle brakes, aircraft and bus doors, memory. They variously operate well at anything from minus 40C to plus 150C, even their ubiquitous 85C meaning less or no cooling compared to batteries. Supercapacitors love the trend to safety, no toxigens, fastest charging and fit-and-forget.