First published in Cleantech Infocus: Battery Technology, July 2009. Copyright Cleantech Investor 2009
The capacitor, invented as long ago as 1745, has traditionally been used in applications which require short bursts of power. However, it has not been able to match the storage capacity of batteries.
The emergence of the ultracapacitor (or supercapacitor), which can store more energy than a standard capacitor, may enable the capacitor to challenge the performance of the battery in some applications. Ultracapacitors have been paired with fuel cells in applications such as forklifts and they have been used by Honda in its FCX hybrid fuel cell vehicle. Ultracapacitors developed by Maxwell Technologies have been used in fuel cell buses in California.
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