Design of a prototype ultra-capacitor solar panel street light

Abstract

The purpose of the paper is to describe and discuss the design of a prototype ultracapacitor solar panel street light. The effect of ultra-capacitors as an energy storage device in a solar panel street light is evaluated. The design is designed to evaluate three systems of energy storage devices: 1) where a solar panel charges a battery, 2) where a solar panel charges an ultra-capacitor bank and 3) where a solar panel charges a battery and ultra-capacitor bank to obtain the most efficient energy storage device and evaluate the different devices. The evaluations show that batteries provide a constant supply to the load, while ultra-capacitors charge and discharge with a linear curve. The results show that it is too expensive to replace batteries with ultra-capacitors, but a combination of these devices will be a good solution as the ultra-capacitor bank can extend a battery’s life time