On the Performance of Conventional Supercapacitor for Storage Devices in Solar Power Systems Application

This report discusses the preliminary research conducted and basic explanation of
the chosen topic, which is "On the Performance of Conventional Supercapacitor
for Storage Devices in Solar Power Systems Application". As technology advance
with time, batteries still remain as one of the most important energy storage devices in
the world. Batteries are widely used in electrical energy storage because it is the best
energy storage devices available today. However, batteries have limitations that need
to be improved such as high voltage drop, short life cycle, high discharge rate, high
equivalent series resistance (ESR) and their adverse contribution to environmental
issues. The objective of this project is to integrate supercapacitor (SC) in the design of
equivalent circuit model that improve storing performance for stands alone solar
power systems application by reducing the voltage drop of the battery. From the
circuit model, the voltage drop of the battery and discharge rate of supercapacitor are
the parameters to be investigated. The circuit model identification is done by
conducting experiments in the laboratory to collect all possible data. The equivalent
circuit of solar supercapacitor (SSC) is expected to flatter the voltage drop by the
extended discharging time thus improving storage capacity of the battery. Study and
research claimed that due to a large value of capacitance, the supercapacitor can be
used as energy storage device in renewable energy source application for which the
project concern on solar power systems.