Limitations and Characterization of Energy Storage Devices for Harvesting Applications

Abstract

This paper aims to study the limitations and performances of the main energy storage devices commonly used in energy harvesting applications, namely super-capacitors (SC) and lithium polymer (LiPo) batteries. The self-discharge phenomenon is the main limitation to the employment of SCs to store energy for a long time, thus reducing efficiency and autonomy of the energy harvesting system. Therefore, the analysis of self-discharge trends was carried out for three different models of commercial SCs, describing the phenomenon in terms of self-discharge rate and internal resistance. In addition, physical interpretations concerning the self-discharge mechanism based on the experimental data are provided, thus explaining the two super-imposed phenomena featured by distinct time constants. Afterwards, the dependence of self-discharge phenomenon from the charging time duration (namely, SCs charged at 5 V and then kept under charge for one or five hours) was analyzed; by comparing the voltage drop during the self-discharge process, a self-discharge reduction for longer charging durations was obtained and the physical interpretation provided (at best −6.8% after 24 h and −13.4% after 120 h). Finally, self-discharge trends of two commercial 380 mAh LiPo batteries (model LW 752035) were acquired and analyzed; the obtained results show an open circuit voltage reduction of only 0.59% in the first 24 h and just 1.43% after 124 h.