The global market for supercapacitors will more than double to $836m in 2018, up from $466m in 2013, according to a report by Lux Research.
The report, ‘Power Play: Supercapacitor Innovation for Growth in Transportation and Electronics,’ said the growth would be driven mainly by adoption in transportation applications like hybrid buses and micro-hybrids.
Materials innovation is to lead to a 15% fall in cell prices – from $0.0096/F today to $0.0082/F in 2018, thanks to incremental performance improvements and manufacturing efficiency gains.
High-voltage operation at 3.5 V instead of 2.7 V could lower cell prices another 40%.
Graphene and nanostructured carbons offer higher capacity. The key material inside supercapacitors is active carbon, with the standard grade today providing capacitance of 100 F/g and costing around $28/kg. However, developers are pursuing higher capacity materials like graphene and nanostructured carbon.
Value proposition is weak in consumer electronics. Start-ups like Cap-XX, Paper Battery and Graphenix. The market is expected to value only $160m in 2018.
