FROM EDN EUROPE: Supercaps packaged for high-energy storage tasks

Designers using supercapacitors for energy storage in systems such as hybrid or all-electric vehicles, or in power generators such as wind turbines, now have the option of a 6-cell module that offers a working voltage of 16.2V. The working voltage of almost all such dual-layer capacitor technologies has been limited to 2.5V, and improvements have been difficult to achieve. Maxwell Technologies' 2,600F MC2600 Ultracapacitor uses a new construction that pushes the operating voltage to 2.7V, or 16.2V for the series-connected BMOD2600 module (Picture). The total capacitance of the module (six series connected capacitors) is 430F; there is active balancing between each of the cells in the pack. The six-cell pack measures 420×160×70mm and costs €366 in medium volumes (€54 per cell in similar volumes).

Maxwell Technologies, 141 26 4118500, www.maxwell.com.