Evaluation of supercapacitor models for wireless sensor network applications

Supercapacitors are commonly used energy storage devices in wireless sensor network applications. Two supercapacitor models, the variable leakage resistance (VLR) model and the energy iteration equation (EIE) model, are evaluated by conducting charging-redistribution and self-discharge experiments for a sample supercapacitor, and by simulating a simplified solar powered wireless sensor node. Results show that the VLR model can accurately characterize different processes of supercapacitors. Although the EIE model works well for self-discharge, it has noticeable prediction deviation for charging-redistribution.