Supercapacitor based energy recovery system for an elevator

As cities grow vertically, the energy requirement for elevators tend to increase substantially. Due to their unique drive characteristics in the four quadrants, the elevator motor generates energy as well as consumes it. At present, most of the generated energy is dissipated as heat in resistors. Energy recovery using supercapacitors could be a solution to this wastage and can make the system more energy efficient. This study tries to address this issue by using a supercapacitor bank to store the energy produced and use it for the next motoring cycle of the elevator. The proposed system also incorporates a ride through facility during mains failure.