Batteries and super-capacitors

Batteries have been the most popular energy storage device since 1800 AD when the first voltaic pile was discovered. But with acceleration in technology and need for cleaner energy people are beginning to look for more efficient and environmental friendly energy storage. Still with the discovery of the super-capacitors, batteries are still a favourable candidate for micro, electronic, portable and large scale (grid) applications. In this paper, we review recent research and developments of the future batteries which would both be compact and efficient to hold enough energy both for grid and vehicular applications. Super-capacitors which have been considered to replace the batteries because of their inherent high power capacities and very long charge/discharge cycles are also discussed.