Methods of Configuring and Managing Super Capacitor Energy Storage as Peak Power Unit

Abstract In order to use super capacitor energy storage efficiently and safely, methods of configuring and managing such energy storages are developed and presented in this paper. First, the power profile of energy storage in a dedicated passenger car during the Worst-Case speed cycle is applied as the input for the configuration of super capacitor energy storage. Then this configuration is evaluated, with respect to voltage variation and maximal charging/discharging current. Further, the methods of tracing the parameters and of identifying and balancing the voltage difference of super capacitors are developed in a management system to determine and limit the influence of voltage difference of each super capacitor on the energy capacity. These methods can ensure the super capacitor energy storage as a peak power unit having enough energy capacity until the end of its lifetime (70 % rated capacitance and 150 % series resistance).