Ultra Capacitor Main Bank
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:50 pm
If you plan on being off-grid permanently i would highly recommend that you start investing into Ultra capacitors when bargains can be found. I was introduced to Ultra Capacitors when calling around to see if i can purchase or have expired battery banks and found that many of the telecommunication companies here in Florida have converted to purely ALL ultra capactors for backup, so the days of batteries being used for backup is nearly gone in my area.. I have not actually built the bank i am planning to build yet to tie in with my lead acid battery bank, but its something i plan to do and highly recommend to you. From my understandings, the way they run it on hybrid systems if you dont have the funds for a large ultra capacitor bank is that they wire the capacitors as the main circuit, then they piggy back the lead acid or backup actual battery bank in series off of the ultra capacitors so the ultra capacitors take most of the load from the inverter and and bulk of the charge from the solar system or input power is charging the capacitors first and then the lead acid batteries, they claim that this will extend your batteries out in cycles 2-3x their normal life cycle due to the relaxed load on the batteries during charging and discharging.. This principle was derived from the audio guys who would place a capacitor inline with the amp and battery to allow cleaner deep notes and prevent the battery from overheating during extended use of heavy wattage songs..
Pros:
Cheaper in the Long Term
Faster charging, less wasted solar energy through heat loss
Stable voltage on inverter's, extends the life of the equipment.
Nearly unlimited cycles with rare chance of dead capacitor
Reduces load on lead acit batteries, and extends their life
Not affected by cold weather like batteries
Cons:
Expensive upfront
Small capacity compared to batteries
Takes up more space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsQUNa_09m0
Pros:
Cheaper in the Long Term
Faster charging, less wasted solar energy through heat loss
Stable voltage on inverter's, extends the life of the equipment.
Nearly unlimited cycles with rare chance of dead capacitor
Reduces load on lead acit batteries, and extends their life
Not affected by cold weather like batteries
Cons:
Expensive upfront
Small capacity compared to batteries
Takes up more space
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsQUNa_09m0