Compact supercapacitors ideal for consumer appliances to industrial and EVs

Supercapacitors have made their home in electronic devices for good – from consumer appliances through industrial to EVs. Eaton's brand offerings and TV/TVA components fit the needs of many popular applications. These super capacitors are available now from TME.

This article looks at Eaton's offerings in the supercapacitors field, specifically – the TV and TVA series. Their manufacturer is a reputable brand specialising in energy and power management electricity. Several important features characterise the components, such as low ESR, high power density or competitive dimensions. As well as the specifics of the components and their potential applications, the following also offers examples of these devices, primarily in smart electricity counters, gas and water.

Supercapacitor characteristics

These supercapacitors from Eaton belonging to the TV/TVA series are components that can store large amounts of energy (capacitances from F3.3F to 100F), characterised by high reliability and long life. These properties have been attained through a double electrical layer (Helmholtz layer, abbreviated as EDLC from the Electric Double Layer Capacitor) and the manufacturer's proprietary technologies and materials. Components of this type are increasingly employed in emergency and hybrid power systems and energy storage (and their controllers). They are commonly used for standalone load storage. They often work together with batteries and are included in the circuit only when a delivery or high current is consumed (pulsed power), which leads to extended cell life and cost optimisation.

Thanks to the exceptional parameters of these capacitors, systems (batteries) can be made that operate with powers even in the order of megawatts. A great advantage of these products is low ESR at high power density.

Smart meters

Eaton experts are in daily contact with customers, designing innovative solutions in which supercapacitors play a key role. One such application is intelligent and remotely operating consumption counters. These enable suppliers to manage resources such as electricity, gas or water precisely. Most importantly, they can more accurately track their usage or make certain utilities on/off without sending an employee to the customer's location. Importantly, even if there is a major power failure, the smart meter can still communicate with the control panel, sending consumption reports and technical alerts.

Meters can perform the aforementioned functions precisely thanks to supercapacitors. First, they store the energy needed to power the entire meter, or only periodically, when the system needs to transmit data or power an actuator, such as an electro-valve. Such tasks may need a voltage and/or current that exceeds the parameters of the small cell, which the meter uses during data collection. Supercapacitors store charge using a small current drawn from batteries and then release it in large doses, powering a specific system (transmitter, actuator, etc.).

It is worth noting that a power system employing supercapacitors can release energy in a controlled manner. It allows one to work with any communication module, even if the technology requires prolonged activity, e.g., logging on to the network (GSM/LTE/5G, LoRa, and even WiFi).

Of course, supercapacitors can also act as the main power source. The stabilised discharge of the component then supplies energy over long periods, e.g., to maintain the memory of the RTC clock.

TV/TVA supercapacitors

Supercapacitors of TV/TVA series can be purchased directly from TME. The main difference between the TVA and TV groups is the thermal tolerance, which adopts ranges -40C to 65C and -50C to 85C. The components are made in THT formats, i.e. with leads for through-hole mounting (they are placed in raster 3.5mm, 5mm or 7.5mm). The diameter of the component ranges from 8.5mm to 18.5mm, with heights of 21mm to 60.5mm. The range includes components with capacities from 3.3F to 100F. Their nominal operating voltage is 3VDC. As mentioned, these products are characterised by low ESR, which closes in the range of 11mΩ to 75mΩ (depending on the model). An important parameter of supercapacitors is the leakage current – here, it reaches values from 13µA to 225µA.

Capacitors have UL certification and stand out from the competition with their high performance and lifetime. They deliver exceptional peak power density, as well as stored energy. Thanks to these features and the described parameters, they perfectly meet the requirements of energy, gas and water meters – but they are also successful in circuits of radio devices (communication modules, relays), NAS servers, emergency power systems (source switches) and renewable energy installations (primarily photovoltaics).