Power electronics firm Win Inertia has incorporated Maxwell Technologies’s ultracapacitors in its energy recuperation system at an electric rail system in Cerro Negro, Spain.
The braking energy recuperation system comprises Win Inertia’s hybrid control technology that integrates batteries and Maxwell Technologies ultracapacitors to increase energy recovery efficiency and reduce stress on the batteries as well as extending the battery service life by 20% to 25%.
According to Spain’s Win Inertia, the system saves fuel and electrical energy by using resistance from the electric motor to stop the vehicle and converts kinetic energy that would be wasted in a conventional friction-based braking system into stored electrical energy.
The system enables the Spanish government’s Administrator of Railway Infrastructures to store excess energy in a battery bank that supplies an electric vehicle charging station at the rail station in Cerro Negro.
“Transportation is the world’s largest energy consumer, so systems that enhance energy efficiency and reduce fossil fuel consumption and emissions can play a transformational role in energy management and create tremendous long-term growth opportunities for rapidly advancing ultracapacitor technology,” said Maxwell Technologies CEO Franz Fink.
The rail station also integrated a photovoltaic generator to supply additional energy if required.
