Time-domain response of supercapacitors using their impedance parameters and Fourier series decomposition of the excitation signal

Abstract

Supercapacitors are mostly recognized for their high power density capabilities and fast response time when compared to secondary batteries. However, computing their power in response to a given excitation using the standard formulæof capacitors is misleading and erroneous because supercapacitors are actually non-ideal capacitive devices that cannot be characterized with a single constant capacitance. In this study we show how to estimate accurately the time-domain power and energy of supercapacitors in response to any excitation signal represented in terms of its Fourier series coefficients with the sole knowledge of the frequency-domain impedance parameters of the device. The presented theory is first verified and validated with Spice simulations conducted on an RC network emulating the behavior of a circuit consisting of a resistance (Rs) in series with a constant phase element (CPE) of fractional impedance ZCPE=1/(sCα). Then we do the same for a commercial supercapacitor modeled as an Rs-CPE circuit, and subjected to both a periodic triangular voltage waveform and a random voltage excitation. The results are conclusive and very promising for adopting the proposed procedure to estimate the power and energy performance of supercapacitors in response to real-world charging and discharging signals.