Blog

Received Experimenting with Supercapacitors Runner Up Prize

2023-10-28T22:30:44Z

Hello Element14 community! Few days ago, I received my reward from Experimenting with Supercapacitors. My participation in this contest I summed up in final blog Final Blog: Supercapacitor Backup Storage for Low-Power Compact Sensors about one month ...(read more)

Experimenting with Supercapacitors - Winner's Announcement

2023-10-09T21:36:56Z

What is Experimenting with Supercapacitors? Supercapacitors, also known as ultracapacitors and electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs), are high-capacity capacitors with capacitance values greater than common types of capacitors such as electrolytic...(read more)

SuperFlashes with SuperCaps - Final blog

2023-09-21T22:35:22Z

Introduction This is my final blog about my journey into the world of supercapacitors. I must say, it has been quite some journey and I have thoroughly enjoyed this design challenge. In my introductory blog, I had noted that one of my primary goals w...(read more)

Final Blog: Supercapacitor Backup Storage for Low-Power Compact Sensors

2023-09-21T21:48:10Z

Hello everyone. This is my final blog as part of Experimenting with Supercapacitors design challenge. In this blog I will publish details and results of all my experiments which I did using Cornell Dubilier supercapacitors in last 6 weeks. In this bl...(read more)

Me and the supercapacitors

2023-09-21T21:37:35Z

Introduction The experience with supercapacitors has been very positive. Ever since I received the supercapacitor kit from Cornell Dubilier, I have been playing with these devices trying to figure out how to use them for an energy harvesting project....(read more)

Supercapacitor energy storage system - final summary blog

2023-09-21T21:21:54Z

Preface In this design challenge, due to generosity of our sponsors: Cornel Dubilier and Element14, we had a chance of experimenting with supercapacitors of various families manufactured by CDE. Those included: six parts (of three different capacita...(read more)

SuperCap Magic Meter - Experimenting with Supercapacitors

2023-09-20T09:49:46Z

Intro This experimenting with supercapacitors design challenge was a great way to learn about supercapacitors, everything from how they are made and what handling precautions are needed to their performance and what applications they are good for.&n...(read more)

Supercapacitors - are there charging ICs for Makers?

2023-09-19T20:30:32Z

For this contest, I looked around the market and considered the charging ICs for supercapacitors. There are a lot of different charge ICs, but most of them have a significant disadvantage: they are not so easy to solder with a (slightly advanced) hom...(read more)

What’s Super about Supercapacitors? – Part 7: Quite a lot, actually! (Final)

2023-09-17T12:07:52Z

Six weeks ago, a package arrived on my doorstep marking the beginning of my journey into the world of supercapacitors. As a hobbyist, supercapacitors were an exotic component I had heard of, but never put into use. Thanks to element14’s “...(read more)

Measuring Self Discharge

2023-09-14T20:54:20Z

Hello everyone. I welcome you to my next blog as part of Experimenting with Supercapacitors. The last blog before I post my final blog I want to use for description of some details about my next experiment: self-discharge evaluation. My remaining exp...(read more)

Experimenting with DGH supercapacitors - even achieved a little white smoke (it wasn’t a capacitor though)

2023-09-14T18:52:26Z

Introduction In this blog I focus on the 3 DGH supercapacitors provided in the kit, namely: DGH105Q2R7: 1F 2.7 V DGH505Q2R7: 5F 2.7V DGH106Q2R7: 10F 2.7V These DGH supercapacitors are specified as having a maximum voltage of 2.7V. So, with these s...(read more)

Supercapacitor energy storage system - extra credit blog 5 (improving capacitance measurement precision using curve fitting in Octave, Arduino integration performance)

2023-09-14T11:09:52Z

Unreliable data sources Arduino Octave integration, although convenient and easy to use, seems to have some weak points: control is rather slow - for example, when switching two relays one by one, operator can differentiate by sound when second rela...(read more)

Which Supercapacitor will suit my application

2023-09-13T13:56:16Z

Introduction The element14 introductory text describing this design challenge, noted that: “Supercapacitors are ideal for applications ranging from wind turbines and mass transit to hybrid / EV vehicles, consumer electronics, energy harvesting ...(read more)

Supercapacitor energy storage system - extra credit blog 4 (supercapacitor balancing methods)

2023-09-12T18:06:10Z

Why to balance In real-life situations there is some difficulty with obtaining high efficiency of the energy storage when using supercapacitors (especially of EDLC type), due to their low working voltage. Although EDLC capacitors can be discharged al...(read more)

SuperCap Magic Meter - Operational

2023-09-12T04:40:45Z

Intro I finally got my SuperCap Magic Meter fully functional. It performs well and has already proved useful in characterizing supercapacitor performance. The SuperCap Magic Meter Demo Here is a video showing my first use of the meter on supercapac...(read more)