Supercapacitor assisted extra low frequency power converters and surge protectors: Applying Supercapacitor Assisted Loss Management Concept in practical applications

Traditionally, supercapacitors are used as energy storage devices, replacing or hybridizing with batteries. Typical applications include UPS, power quality enhancers, automotive, electric vehicles and portable devices. However, if a super-capacitor is treated as a device with a million times higher capacitance, they can be used in different application domains, such as high-efficiency linear DC-DC converters, surge absorbers, LED lighting systems and inverters with completely new design approaches. These supercapacitor-assisted (SCA) techniques use the two essential properties of an ideal supercapacitor, (i) very long time constant and/or (ii) performances as lossless voltage droppers. This paper presents a summary of Supercapacitor Assisted Loss Management (SCALoM), as the underlying basis for high-efficiency converters and protection systems, such as the SCA low dropout (SCALDO) regulator, SCA surge absorber (SCASA) and others. An important property of SCALDO is high efficiency at a very low frequency with DC-UPS capability. SCASA is a high-performance surge absorber with less component count than traditional protectors and with higher endurance to repeated high surges, adhering to UL 1449 (3rd Edition) test procedure. The paper will also show how SCALoM concept could be generally used in converters useful in renewable energy systems.