How to identify energy storage capacitors

What are energy storage capacitors?

Energy storage capacitors are electronic components that can store electrical energy. They are typically found in remote or battery powered applications and can be used to deliver peak power, reducing depth of discharge on batteries, or provide hold-up energy for memory read/write during an unexpected shut-off.

What is an energy storage capacitor test?

An energy storage capacitor test was set up to showcase the performance of ceramic, Tantalum, TaPoly, and supercapacitor banks. The test involved charging the capacitor banks to 5V and keeping the sizes modest. The capacitor banks were then tested for charge retention and discharge duration under a pulsed load, which mimics a high power remote IoT system.

What are energy storage capacitor specifications?

Capacitor specifications of capacitance, DC leakage current (DCL), equivalent series resistance (ESR), size, etc. are typically room temperature measurements under a very specific test condition. Furthermore, energy storage capacitors will often be set up in some parallel/series combination that can pose unique challenges or unexpected behaviour.

What are capacitors used for?

Capacitors are used for a wide range of applications, including timing, waveform creation and shaping, blocking direct current, coupling of alternating current signals, filtering and smoothing, and energy storage. Due to these various uses, many types of capacitors have emerged with different plate materials, insulating dielectrics, and physical forms.

What is the difference between a battery and a capacitor?

Capacitors and batteries are different types of energy storage technologies. Capacitors charge and discharge very quickly compared to battery technology and are optimal for energy harvesting/scavenging applications. Depending on power requirements, capacitors can even replace batteries altogether.

What data should be included in a capacitor datasheet?

Capacitor performance across temperature, voltage, frequency, and time should be considered, but this data is not always prevalent on a datasheet. Capacitor specifications of capacitance, DC leakage current (DCL), equivalent series resistance (ESR), size, etc. are typically room temperature measurements under a very specific test condition.