Supercapacitors USA 2014 is a leading conference in North America on the subject for this rapidly growing multi-billion dollar market This international conference and tradeshow focuses on the future applications, market forecasts and opportunities as well as giving the latest technology trends, providing a global platform where users, investors, suppliers, developers, system integrators and government representatives come together.
Topics include: How supercapacitors wholly or partly replace batteries - what next? How supercapacitors replace electrolytic capacitors Road map of how supercapacitors, pseudocapacitors, supercabatteries and other variants are improving and what markets this will open up
New forms - structural, smart skin, flexible, transparent, foldable, paper 10 year forecasts for supercapacitors and their variants - operating parameters, costs, sales Today's supercapacitors and their variants - comparative data, sales successes and applicational challenges The future of hybrid and pure electric EV's using supercapacitors by land, water or air Applications for supercapacitors (cold start, regenerative braking, etc.)
Supercapacitors in military and aerospace applications Static applications - grid, welding and other electrical engineering applications The future role of energy storage in renewable energy/energy harvesting technologies: challenges and solutions Supercapacitor applications in consumer electronics including mobile phones
Technical challenges and improvements needed for supercabatteries to fully realize their potential Printing technology and supercapacitors, including control circuits and their integration Materials in energy storage: Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes, ionic liquids, non-flammable and non-toxic electrolytes, increased temperature range.
The USA has more research on supercapacitors and their variants and potential materials than anywhere else on earth. However, the largest orders are being placed in China and elsewhere in East Asia for such uses as protecting bus traction batteries/enhancing performance and for harvesting the braking energy of trains.
The big orders for supercapacitors in stop-start systems (microhybrid) for conventional cars are placed in Europe. Some of these applications are supplied from the USA. What can be done to get North American users to adopt supercapacitors more enthusiastically?
Market trends, forecasts and opportunities
We have passed into a period where electrical engineering applications have become more important than electronic ones. In 2013, 51% of the value market for supercapacitors and supercabatteries will be electrical engineering, this figure rising to 61% in 2023.
End user applications: Electric vehicles, transportation, mobile devices, industrial Bridging the gap between capacitors and batteries, supercapacitors deliver high power and energy densities increasingly closer to rechargeable batteries.
From instant flashlight power in mobile phones to instant acceleration power, fast charging and fast regenerative braking in electric vehicles to temporary energy sources in applications where immediate power availability may be difficult such as UPS systems.
Hear how they are substituting and supplementing the functions of rechargeable batteries. Why supercapacitors? In comparison with rechargeable batteries they endure higher number of cycles, can be charged and discharged a hundred times faster and reach at least 20 years of useful life.
Supercapacitors were almost always bought for better performance such as starting a truck at minus 40°C. They are very rarely bought because their upfront price is attractive compared to alternatives but they increasingly give lower cost-over-life of a system, less maintenance and more reliability. Through the coming decade, up- front costs and energy density will be ever more competitive, opening up many new applications.
Technology and application innovation
Improved aqueous electrolytes replacing flammable, toxic ones with fewer penalties. Graphene electrodes are among the most promising ways of improving energy and power density - theoretically to lithium-ion battery levels and beyond. Flexible laminar film, cloth or paper construction will get supercapacitors in many more locations.
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