Experimental performance evaluation of an ultracapacitors

Ultracapacitors (UC) are energy storage devices that lie between batteries and electrolytic capacitors with respect to energy and power density. UCs start to be used in many applications since they have high power density, high efficiency and long lifetime. Since UCs are relatively new devices, experimental performance evaluation of UCs is very important and requires specially designed test equipments. Applying large and controllable DC current signals to UCs is a method that could be used for experimental evaluation of UCs. In this study, constant current and constant power tests, which are based on applying large DC current signals to UCs, are reviewed, a power electronics based test system structure that could be utilized to apply these tests is investigated, and experimental results of a laboratory constructed UC module are presented.