# Capacitors and supercapacitors

Devices that store charge in an electric field: very fast and very long-lived.

Source page: https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/

Storage · Electrical and system · No. 92

- Storage
- Duration: Seconds to minutes
 Storage · Electrical and system · Foundation · Energy

A supercapacitor can be charged a million times without wearing out, because nothing inside it ever changes chemically.

Chart: Illustration: Capacitors and supercapacitors

##### Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Charge sits physically as ions against porous carbon made mostly from coconut shells in Japan and South-East Asia, with no chemical reaction.

##### Three things to know

1. A Skeleton cell holds about 11.1 Wh/kg, against about 250 Wh/kg for a lithium-ion cell.
2. They lose charge fast, falling from full to half in about a month.
3. Materials make up 71% of manufacturing cost, and activated carbon must fall from USD 15/kg to below USD 10/kg.

##### The journey

1. 1 **Coconut shells**Made into porous activated carbon
2. 2 **Electrodes**Huge internal surface area
3. 3 **Charging**Ions line up against the carbon
4. 4 **Release**Power delivered in seconds
5. 5 **Uses**Grid inertia, trams, wind pitch control

##### Go deeper pick a tab to open it in full

## Other sections

- [Overview](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/overview/index.md)
- [Correlation](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/correlation/index.md)
- [Science and technology](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/sg-sci/index.md)
- [Engineering and performance](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/sg-eng/index.md)
- [Economics](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/sg-econ/index.md)
- [Impact and additionality](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/sg-impact/index.md)
- [What to track](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/tracking/index.md)
- [Relationships](https://www.materialinsights.org/energy/e_supercaps/links/index.md)