A self powered feed forward boost converter charging scheme for low cost super capacitor applications

Charging or discharging a super capacitor requires the charger to keep its charging voltage and operating temperature below the maximum allowable limit of the super capacitor. Ripple current running through it can result in temperature rise and consequent life time reduction. A typical charging scheme uses voltage feedback, current feedback, or both, hence adding electronic complexity and cost to the charger. This paper presents a self powered feed forward boost converter charging scheme and circuitry to control the charging voltage and current ripple, resulting in a lower cost and simpler design compared with the feedback scheme.