Application
Supercapacitors for Energy Harvesting
Storage for solar, vibration, and thermal harvesters with frequent shallow cycling.
Power requirements
Harvesters deliver microwatts to milliwatts intermittently. Storage must accept irregular charge, survive daily or more frequent cycling, and supply bursts on demand.
Why supercapacitors fit
High cycle life and tolerance to frequent charge/discharge suit harvesting. LICs offer more energy per volume where night-time or low-light operation is required.
Selection factors
- Leakage vs average harvested power
- Cold-start behaviour of the harvester IC from 0 V
- Required autonomy without harvest
- Voltage window of the PMIC
Limitations
- Energy density limits autonomy
- LICs cannot be discharged to 0 V
Supercapacitor types
Radial-Lead Supercapacitors
Through-hole cylindrical cells for PCB mounting, typically from about 0.5 F to around 100 F.
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Lithium-Ion Capacitors
Hybrid devices combining an EDLC-type cathode with a pre-lithiated anode for higher energy density.
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