Ultra Capacitor Main Bank

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Storx
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:20 pm

Ultra Capacitor Main Bank

Post by Storx » Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:50 pm

If you plan on being off-grid permanently i would highly recommend that you start investing into Ultra capacitors when bargains can be found. I was introduced to Ultra Capacitors when calling around to see if i can purchase or have expired battery banks and found that many of the telecommunication companies here in Florida have converted to purely ALL ultra capactors for backup, so the days of batteries being used for backup is nearly gone in my area.. I have not actually built the bank i am planning to build yet to tie in with my lead acid battery bank, but its something i plan to do and highly recommend to you. From my understandings, the way they run it on hybrid systems if you dont have the funds for a large ultra capacitor bank is that they wire the capacitors as the main circuit, then they piggy back the lead acid or backup actual battery bank in series off of the ultra capacitors so the ultra capacitors take most of the load from the inverter and and bulk of the charge from the solar system or input power is charging the capacitors first and then the lead acid batteries, they claim that this will extend your batteries out in cycles 2-3x their normal life cycle due to the relaxed load on the batteries during charging and discharging.. This principle was derived from the audio guys who would place a capacitor inline with the amp and battery to allow cleaner deep notes and prevent the battery from overheating during extended use of heavy wattage songs..

Pros:
Cheaper in the Long Term
Faster charging, less wasted solar energy through heat loss
Stable voltage on inverter's, extends the life of the equipment.
Nearly unlimited cycles with rare chance of dead capacitor
Reduces load on lead acit batteries, and extends their life
Not affected by cold weather like batteries

Cons:
Expensive upfront
Small capacity compared to batteries
Takes up more space

Image
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsQUNa_09m0

techman
Site Admin
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:49 am

Re: Ultra Capacitor Main Bank

Post by techman » Sat Dec 06, 2014 11:40 am

This is very interesting technology. The biggest thing preventing me from jumping into it is the up front cost as yo mentioned.

I am also not sure how capacitors handle a slow discharge in normal operation. I know they can deliver all of their charge in a moment.

Maybe one day the price will drop so that I can afford a decent amount of them. Otherwise the capacity is too little for normal daily use in an off grid home.

DrBill
Posts: 8
Joined: Mon Feb 09, 2015 7:28 pm

Re: Ultra Capacitor Main Bank

Post by DrBill » Mon Feb 23, 2015 2:57 pm

techman wrote:This is very interesting technology. The biggest thing preventing me from jumping into it is the up front cost as yo mentioned.

I am also not sure how capacitors handle a slow discharge in normal operation. I know they can deliver all of their charge in a moment.

Maybe one day the price will drop so that I can afford a decent amount of them. Otherwise the capacity is too little for normal daily use in an off grid home.
There is a guy on YouTube that put a bank of ultra caps in his car to replace his battery. He used the system for 2 years. Six caps fit in the battery compartment
perfectly. He tested the cap bank by turning the key to acc and turned on the fan, lights and radio for a couple minutes then started his car.
It never failed him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPJao1xLe7w" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Check This Out!

techman
Site Admin
Posts: 1329
Joined: Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:49 am

Re: Ultra Capacitor Main Bank

Post by techman » Thu Feb 26, 2015 8:52 pm

I saw that before. Spent a long time studying his stuff. Quite impressive really. So is the price though. Ouch.

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