DCDC Converters

DCDC converters for ESS and charging batteries.

Description

Normal ultracapacitor behaviour is that the voltage increases while charging and decreases while discharging. The voltage is a direct parameter for the cell’s energy level. From the energy formula of E= ½ CU², we derive that at half cell voltage, 25% of energy remains inside. To get 75% of the energy, the cell voltage decreases from Umax to half the value.

In most applications a constant voltage output is required for the load and a special converter with control electronics is necessary to connect the ultracapacitor energy storage to the load. A reason to use converters is the controlled pre-charging process as ultracapacitors have a very low internal resistance, thus, unsuitable to be directly connected to each other within a system.