Supercapacitor for photovoltaic applications

Abstract

Supercapacitors are extraordinary types of capacitors which are characterized by much larger electrical capacitance, light weight, flexible possibility and high power density. The associated advantages and importance can be observed when using in power electronic system especially solar cell systems. By combining with batteries, Supercapacitors could reduce the extraction of current in case of dense loads. In order to charge supercapacitor from power source like solar cell and feed a specific load, it would require to use a linear regulator. Despite the advantages and importance of conventional linear regulators, low efficiency of about 40% is one of their main drawbacks. Supercapacitor based low dropout regulator called by (SCALDO), is a linear DC to DC assisted technique that can be used to duplicated efficiency of conventional linear regulator. Therefore, supercapacitor is playing a crucial role to maximize the efficiency as a result of being nearly lossless voltage dropper element, it minimizes the losses in the pass element and power semiconductors. This research presents the mathematical principles of SCALDO and a simple implementation by using simple and costly effective electronic components. The proposed low dropout regulator is used to convert 12V to 5V. The designed high efficiency SCALDO linear regulator is appropriate for solar cell power systems applications.