Capturing Super-Small Currents In Supercapacitors (Energy Storage Innovations Europe 2019)

Li-ion based hybrid supercapacitors and their functional materials are being vigorously researched in hopes to improve their capacity/voltage. Thanks to high voltage and associated high energy density, transition metal oxides are tuned as both high-energy and high-power materials. We newly developed Gen2- "NanohHybrid capacitor (NHC)" tuned for solar application. Under low-sunlight conditions—dawn, dusk, and occlusion by clouds—the electric current produced by a photovoltaic cell (PVC) drops to a microscopic trickle, which conventional solar-power systems simply discard. Here we show that these tiny currents may in fact be effectively captured and used for substantial energy harvesting, significantly improving overall system efficiency. In this talk we introduce the basic ideas of our technique, present results of a prototype study achieving 11-17% improvement in power-system efficiency, and discuss a variety of other promising applications. Gen3- "SuperRedox capacitor (SRC)" with even higher energy/voltage will also briefly introduced.

Homer REID is Special Associate Professor of Institute of Global Innovation Research (GIR) at Tokyo University of Agriculture & Technology (TUAT). After careers as an industrial RF integrated-circuit designer and experimental physicist, he received a PhD in theoretical physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2011 and was Applied Mathematics Instructor in MIT's Department of Mathematics before joining TUAT. His interests include large-scale numerical algorithms for modeling classical and quantum-mechanical systems.

Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology was established in 1949 and its history traces back over. more than 130 years to the roots of its predecessor organization's foundation in 1874. TAT has developed as a unique science and technology institution based on agricultural science and engineering, two scientific fields that support the fundamentals of human society, agriculture and industry. Academic and research activities conducted at TAT across a broad range of areas can contribute to constructing a secure and safe society and can create and develop new industries. TAT education and research aim to further pursue the truth based on free ideas and produces learned researchers, engineers and highly specialized professionals who uncompromisingly reflect on the influence science and technology have on the Earth, society and mankind. TAT strives toward achieving a society that enables sustainable development, and holds to the fundamental principles of contributing to the advancement of science and technology in harmony with society and the natural environment. TAT also aims to cultivate human resources that will execute these principles when conducting free thought-based academic research in agriculture, engineering and integrated fields. In other words, TAT adheres to the motto "MORE SENSE: Mission Oriented Research and Education giving Synergy in Endeavors toward a Sustainable Earth", and endeavors to resolve the issues that mankind faces in the 21st century.