By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Wed, 2009-02-25 17:33
The use of electronic loads is increasing very fast. The gap between demand and the short generation is also increasing very fast. These have made the power quality, reliability and stability a critical issue. Further, there is continuous thrust on optimal utilization of the non-conventional energy resources due to price rise of oil and environmental issues, in addition to the fact that the central power station with improved quality of power has made it necessary to use the energy storage technology.
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By Hans De Keulenaer / Published on Thu, 2008-09-04 09:09
This paper presents a hybrid on-line UPS system (H-UPS). The system is based on an on-line (double conversion) UPS, consisting of two controlled energy storage systems. The first one is a static energy storage system based on supercapacitor bank. The second energy source is adjustable speed generating system supplying DC link voltage. A control concept of the UPS operation, according short and long failure of the supply utility voltage is developed. The 5 kW H-UPS is designed, built and tested. The control unit is built using DS P processor based on Shark from Analog Devices.
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By Angelo Baggini / Published on Tue, 2008-03-25 17:32
The Mannheim tram operator has completed four years of trials with double-layer capacitors to store regenerated braking energy.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Thu, 2007-09-06 07:30
Growing interest from big corporate players and investor funds
Batteries have joined photovoltaic systems and biofuels as the latest heartthrob of venture capitalists. The battery market has got the full attention of major corporate players and venture capital funds. In 2006 alone, more than $100 million of venture investments were made in the battery sector. The innovative battery company A123 Systems, for example, received huge injections of cash and technology from General Electric, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, Qualcomm, and a number of key venture capital funds. The driver for this battery market boom is the expectation of robust growth in electric vehicles.
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By Isabelle Heriakian / Published on Sat, 2007-07-14 00:00
In the paper specification of a complex converter designed as an interface between a supercapacitor energy storage battery and other DC auxiliary links, with emphasis on its control system, and some laboratory investigation results, is presented. The converter applied in the solution contains a DC/DC power controller and a DC/AC/DC medium frequency intermediate link with a transformer, permitting good voltage matching.
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By Hans Nilsson / Published on Thu, 2007-06-21 07:00
The answer might be - a capacitor!
In a recent IEA-workshop, a good survey of the status of battery development was delivered. The Li-ion batteries are almost ready to be used in plug-in hybrid vehicles, but there is a further development needed to get batteries to the energy-density required for "standard-size" electrical vehicle.
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By Bruno De Wachter / Published on Wed, 2007-02-28 08:30
Game-changing technology or Much Ado About Nothing?
There have been a lot of rumours flying around the energy sector lately about EEStor, a secretive Texas start-up. True: if EEStor can reach its ambitious goal of replacing the electrochemical battery with high performance ultracapacitors, that would indeed be a major breakthrough in the energy sector. The technology has the potential to radically change transport systems, offset the intermittency problem of some renewable energy power generators, and improve the stability of power grids.
But we’re not that far yet. Most specialists are very sceptical, warning that what EEStor aims at is too good to be true. They have not proven anything yet and some of the technical difficulties seem insurmountable at this point.
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