EDLCs Provide Back-up Power for Smart Grids and Meters

Panasonic Automotive & Industrial Systems Europe announced the introduction of the LF Series in its stacked-coin type line-up of Electric Double Layer Capacitors (EDLCs). The LF Series offers low resistance, and minimal leakage current combined with a rated lifetime of 6,000 hours – the longest available in the market. With a 5.5V nominal rating, capacitance of 1 Farad, and operating across a wide temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees C, the LF Series is optimized for smart meter and grid deployment applications in the European market.

Panasonic LF Series are gold capacitors, which achieve far better capacitance than aluminum electrolytic capacitors (up to 1,000 times greater), plus they exhibit superior charge and discharge performance compared to secondary batteries. The additional benefits of multiple (over 500,000) rapid charge and discharge cycles and exceptional ageing characteristics make Panasonic LF Series EDLCs suited for applications such as RTC backup for smart meters or industrial automation processors. The increasing density of cellular networks and backhaul channels for transmission line access in cellular and fiber optic deployment also fit the enhanced lifetime offered by the LF Series.

The LF Series has a nominal capacitance value of 1F rated at 5.5V in a compact radial housing less than 10mm high and 21.5mm in diameter. These EDLCs are guaranteed to maintain their capacitance and internal resistance without drifting at low temperatures, as opposed to competitive products where the capacitance and internal resistance may change drastically, especially after the first three years of use.

The biggest advantage that LF Series devices offer is 6,000 hours extended lifetime, three times that of previous Panasonic coin-type EDLCs. Due to the unique electrolyte used in the Panasonic EDLCs, these parts also do not suffer from the “wetting effect”.

Andreas Lapucha, Panasonic Product Marketing Manager, Capacitors comments: “The launch of the LF Series coincides with several important market trends and demonstrates Panasonic’s commitment to the needs of its European customers. Scaleable and reliable backup solutions for easing infrastructure deployment is the need of the hour, but the extended lifetime of the LF Series could also usher in exciting new use cases in this segment of the small current EDLC market.”