Capacitor, battery, ultracapacitor - evolution of energy sources
Initially, it was capacitors that were used to store electricity by people. With the development of electrical engineering, this role has passed to batteries. They became the main means of storing electricity. However, in the beginning of the 21st century, a capacitor with a double electric layer appeared. One of its names is the ultracapacitor. This element has a high capacity, which allows it to squeeze the usual batteries.
Due to the shortcomings of the existing batteries, you need to buy a ultracapacitor and it is for those solutions where it is really needed. If the capacitor directly stores the electric charge, then the battery is much more complicated. It first converts electricity into chemical energy, which it stores, after which it carries out the reverse process and gives off the necessary current. Naturally, with such transformations, the efficiency is significantly reduced. For the best batteries, this parameter does not exceed 90%. At the same time, those who decide to buy an EDLC for the same purpose receive an efficiency of up to 99%.
Chemical reactions in the battery occur at different intensities depending on the ambient temperature. In this regard, batteries in cold weather work noticeably worse. In addition, the chemical reactions in the batteries are not completely reversible. This leads to the appearance of a “memory effect" and a limitation of the number of charge-discharge cycles. If you buy a ultracapacitor, then you can get rid of the influence of all these negative aspects.
The batteries also have one more drawback, which manifested itself as a result of the acceleration of the rhythm of modern life. The fact is that the battery charges for several hours. This restriction appears due to all the same chemical processes occurring inside it. The many hours of waiting for charging, for example, batteries of electric vehicles in the case of long trips, seriously reduces the spread of such vehicles. In this regard, many manufacturers are thinking about buying a ultracapacitor. This energy source is charged in a few minutes.
Every year, technology is moving further, which expands the field of use of new energy sources. With the development of production, the price set for the ultracapacitor decreases, and this battery is finding more and more applications, both in enterprises and in everyday life.
