Ultracapacitors are a wonder technology, unless you want to hit someone over the head.
A company in Idaho is marketing a flashlight for police and emergency workers with ultracapacitors, says Rick Luebbe, CEO of EnerG2, which makes carbon power for the energy storing components. Swapping out batteries for ultracaps provides a host of benefits. The flashlight can sit in a charger in a police car for hours without degrading the life cycle of the ultracap: Ultracaps simply can withstand far more charge cycles than a battery.
Ultracaps also charge quickly, so the policeman or paramedic can always be certain of it having a strong beam. The problem, however, is that ultracaps don't weigh much. Police sometimes have to use their flashlights in the line of duty.
Welcome to the world of ultracaps. The components, potentially, could alter the way many products functioned or are designed. Ultracaps are like buckets compared to the gas tanks that are batteries. Ultracaps can be filled with electrons quickly. The power can also be pulled out of them extremely rapidly. They can withstand millions off charge cycles. The downside: They don't hold much power and they are currently expensive. (Luebbe and COO Chris Wheaton stopped by the office this week on a swing through California.)
The trick now is finding the right applications. Power tools are a promising market, he said. In 2007, Coleman came out with a screwdriver powered by ultracapacitors. A charge only lasts for about 27 screws, but it re-charges in 90 seconds. Compare that to a battery-powered screwdriver. You have to know in advance when you plan to use it so you can charge it properly. Battery-powered drivers will put in more screws, but how often do you really need to even put in 27 anyway?
Car manufacturers are also expressing a lot of interest in KERS, or Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems. These are ultracap-based devices that capture power from braking and then use it to help a gas, hybrid or electric car to help the car accelerate. Now, KERS systems cost about $25 a kilowatt. Car makers want to see it drop to $10 a kilowatt, he said.
Heavy equipment makers are also want to increasingly store regenerative power produced by trains and cargo cranes. In smart grids, ultracaps will compete against flywheels for quickly balancing loads at utilities.
"You could use them to replace lead acid batteries in back-up rooms in data centers," he said.
EnerG2 does not make ultracaps. Instead, it makes the activated carbon that goes inside them. Now, a lot of that carbon comes from coconuts. EnerG2 claims it can better control the morphology and pore sizes of the material, which in turn leads to a higher performance electrode.
"The electrode is the primary determinant of price and performance," he said.
The Department of Energy recently gave it a $21 million grant to build a plant over the next 18 months. The company will have to raise 25 percent in matching funds "but it accelerates our business plan by a couple of years," he said.
