Ultracapacitors market to grow over 15% till 2011

According to a report from Innovative Research and Products (iRAP) titled "Ultracapacitors " A Global Industry and Market Analysis (ETP-101)', the ultracapacitors market will see continued growth during 2006 to 2011.

The report claims the $348 million worldwide ultracapacitor business in 2006 will continue to grow at an AAGR of 1.5% through 2011 to reach $717 million.

Although ultracapacitors have been around since the 1960s, they are relatively expensive and only recently have begun to be manufactured in sufficient quantities to become cost-competitive.

An ultracapacitor stores more power than a battery and more energy than a capacitor. For this reason, it brings significant benefits in both "peak-assist' and "power-assist' applications.

Most advanced ultracapacitors today use carbon electrodes with an organic electrolyte. This creates a problem for designers, since the energy that carbon-carbon electrodes are able to store effectively is limited, and the electrolyte is both expensive and potentially hazardous.

The next generation of supercapacitors (asymmetric or hybrid) substitutes one of the carbon electrodes for a "redox' electrode similar to those used in batteries. The use of a battery-like electrode in combination with a carbon electrode increases the energy density considerably though the power density decreases.