SOLARCAP: Super capacitor buffering of solar energy for self-sustainable field systems

Intelligent systems like automatic highway traffic management, area surveillance, and geological activity monitoring require substantial data collection and processing in the field. Energy self-sustainability is a critical foundation for successful field systems that are away from the power grid infrastructure. Instead of the conventional battery-based energy storage, this paper argues that the super capacitor buffering of solar energy (SOLARCAP) has the advantages of precise energy lifetime awareness, low maintenance, and operational robustness. By designing and developing a prototype implementation of the circuitry required for management and harvesting of energy, we demonstrate a SOLARCAP system that ensures safe device operation within the permitted voltage range.