Q: How do ENCAP modules throttle their charge/discharge and how is it different from a typical capacitor? 

A: ENCAP Modules manage the discharge rate using our proprietary Battery Management System (BMS). The BMS is a big part of the secret sauce in the ENCAP Modules. 

 

Q: How much degradation occurs over time/cycles? 

A: Negligible over the life of the SIRIUS Module. Todd could provide personal experience example here. 

 

Q: Is the number of cycles affected at all by the number of Supercaps in the ENCAP modules?   

A: The number of capacitors in the module has no effect on the number of cycles. 

 

Q: Are Supercaps managed so the work is spread evenly throughout each ENCAP module? 

A: Yes, the BMS manages cell balancing to a very tight tolerance. 

 

Q: What’s the cost for of hardware/software management? 

A: The BMS is included in the ENCAP module along with maintenance and support as part of the 10-year unlimited warranty with an extended 25-year warranty.  

 

Q: Is this a technology advancement in supercapacitor construction, the module/management, or both? 

A: It’s both - there is IP around energy density in the capacitor as well as IP in the BMS. 

 

Q: How do you control the discharge in a Supercap?   

A: It is managed by the BMS.  Based on load demand, we have produced products with charge rates from 2C-20C. 

 

Q: What does ramping look like? 

A: Really fast. 

 

Q: What’s your efficiency after boosting to 480V or other utility scale voltages? 

A: The inside voltage of the DC cells will operate from 600-1000V DC.  The delivery voltage will be 480V AC. Efficiency on Supercaps is 99.1% and efficiency of Oztek and or LS Energy inverter is 98%. 

 

Q: What are the charging/discharging times in general, best case, etc? What can affect it? 

A: 3.55 kWh Supercaps are a ~2C charge/discharge which means full charge in 30 minutes, discharge can be less than a second if required. The size and capacity of the Power Control System (PCS) will affect this. 

 

Q: How many Farads for supercap cell, module, etc? 

A: 10-13 Wh per 2.4V cell. 

 

Q: What safety features are present to protect against any arcing or unintended discharge? 

A: Built-in circuit breaker, solid state relays, and thermal couples – no potential for arc-flash. 

 

Q: What overcharge protections are in place for the cells? 

A: BMS provides this protection in multiple ways along with solid state relays. 

 

Q: Given 100% depth of discharge is there any significant changes at the start or end of a charge/discharge cycle?  

A: Slightly faster discharge at the beginning and drops abruptly at end.  

 

Q: What happens if a single Supercap in the ENCAP module fails?  

A: The BMS bypasses any individually Supercap that fails. 

 

Q: What is the loss in performance if one Supercap in a ENCAP module fails?  

A: If one Supercap fails it is bypassed and the system delivers 2.4V less voltage. It would take a lot of losses to affect the PCS. 

 

Q: How do you isolate any problematic cells in a ENCAP module? 

A: Any problematic cells are detected by the BMS and are bypassed. 

 

Q: Are there any recent implementations of ENCAP modules to point to such as pilot programs or service programs? 

A: Yes hundred of installations world-wide with many in the US.  

 

Q: What are the temperature ranges for a utility scale offering of ENCAP modules? 

A: SIRIUS module operating range with zero degradation is -22F to 172F.  Other electronics involved in a utility scale solution may have different temperature ranges. 

 

Q: What are the energy storage capacities offered for a 100 kWh level system with 4 hours of storage? 

A: We recommend a 40 foot sea container of ENCAP modules with Oztek inverters that provide 1.4ish MWhs.