Power Supply Based on Carbon Ultracapacitors for Remote Supervision Systems

The capacity to store energy in ultracapacitors or double-layer capacitors is about two orders of magnitude greater than that of ordinary capacitors. Also, their capability to receive and transfer power is greater than that of batteries in the same order of magnitude. These characteristics, together with their long life cycle (> 500 000) and their lack of maintenance work, make them a suitable choice in replacing batteries in pulsed or discontinued power consumption systems. This paper tries to evaluate the possibility to replace batteries with ultracapacitors in Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)-based remote supervision systems using photovoltaic panels as main power source.