Too good to be true?

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Ran across this recently, wonder if it might have solar possibilities some day?

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/2006/01/eestor_ultracap.html

John F
LV, NV
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Too good to be true?

    i'll say maybe to this, but not as a replacement to batteries as of yet. there's many ifs, ands, and butts as outlined in all of those questions and comments. i also don't recall seeing anything on the overall size of this 400lb monster. it may have been mentioned, but i'm not about to read all of those comments. if going by volts x amps then that 52kwhrs would be equal to over 4,300ah at 12v. i also didn't see anything on the leakage as all caps leak to one degree or another. to my knowledge, none of those caps will have the staying power of or be cost competitive with today's batteries. in the future you may never know, so that's why the big maybe here.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: Too good to be true?

    It really is an ultra-capacitor. Problems in the past were not enough storage capacity to act as a battery. Often used in EV's as a battery for engine brakeing, as the vehicle batteries cannot charge as fast as the cap can.
    When the price comes down, you will see more of them
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • Roderick
    Roderick Solar Expert Posts: 253 ✭✭
    #4
    Re: Too good to be true?

    Strontium-barium-titanate has been around since I was a boy, 40 years ago. Similar ceramics allow us to have 68 uF capacitors today the size of a grain of rice.

    As someone on the referenced page pointed out, with a capacitor, the voltage goes up linearly with the amount of charge put in. So to charge it up, you would need different circuitry, and to get power out, you would need an inverter with a really wide input voltage range.
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