Like many “new” technologies, the supercapacitor actually has a long history that goes back decades.  In the past few years, though, new materials and improvements in manufacturing have made supercapacitors a force to reckoned with in the energy storage world.  In addition, the range of applications for supercapacitors have broadened to the point where it seems supercapacitors will almost certainly be a major revenue opportunity for both device makers and materials companies over the coming decade.

The uses of supercapacitors also seem to fit well with the current enthusiasm for green technologies.  They have, for example, been used in green building, wind turbines, and for frequency regulation in Smart Grids.  Meanwhile, supercapacitor use is expanding rapidly in the transportation sector.  The Toyota Prius uses them for backup power when braking and some BMW models use them in power assists.  Supercapacitor equiped buses have been used in relatively small numbers in California and China is deploying 13,000 electric buses.  

As supercapacitors become increasingly miniaturized, NanoMarkets also sees them playing a growing role in consumer markets.  Applications where supercapacitors have been suggested in the realm of consumer products include notebook PCs, digital music players, handheld devices of many kinds, toys, ebook readers and cell phones.  Yet another area that has attracted considerable attention for future use of supercapacitors is in power tools, where an essential requirement is to store power and recharge.

With so many opportunities available, NanoMarkets believed that it was high time to provide an analysis of where the money will be made in the supercapacitor business and where there is nothing but hype.  In this study we also look at the improvements in supercapacitors that are expected through the use of novel materials such as graphene and how materials firms in general can best capitalize on a supercapacitor boom.

Noting that manufacturing improvements have already led to significant changes in supercapacitor efficiency and other performance parameters, we also explore the cost reduction and manufacturing trends in the supercapacitor business.  In addition, the report contains detailed eight year forecasts in terms of supercapacitor applications, capacity and technology along with the profiles of leading supercapacitor manufacturers.