Surge endurance capability testing of supercapacitor families

Supercapacitors are usually low voltage, high capacity devices with milliohm order equivalent series resistances. They usually have time constants from fractional seconds to seconds. Due to these long time constants, compared to the time durations of power line transients in the range of few microseconds to several 100 microseconds, these devices may be able to withstand short duration surges with energy values specified in IEEE C62-41 series and IEC 61400-4-5 and similar standards. However there is little or no manufacturer data sheet information on these aspects. The paper provides the details of a test procedure to test the surge withstand capability of supercapacitors. In addition, essential details of a customized tester interface required for a lightning surge simulator and surge-endurance test results for three supercapacitor families are also presented.