Duke Energy partners with Maxwell to launch a next-generation grid energy storage system

Supercapacitors can play a huge role
in large-scale public power energy storage because of their fast-response applications covering instantaneous voltage drop and power quality recovery, transmission and distribution stability, and frequency regulation.
Recently, Maxwell Technology partnered with Duke Energy, the largest public power company in the United States, to launch a new generation of grid energy storage system for stable solar power generation, which fully proves this
point.

Duke Energy's next-generation grid energy storage system is a hybrid supercapacitor-battery energy storage system deployed at a distribution substation
in Gaston, North Carolina.
The hybrid system uses Maxwell supercapacitors to stabilize the solar output voltage on the distribution line in real time, solving the problem of
solar power generation connected to the grid fluctuating due to cloud cover or other weather factors.
At the same time, the battery is responsible for the energy switching
of the large solar system on the distribution circuit.
The Maxwell Supercapacitor-Battery Hybrid Energy Storage System combines high-power, fast-response supercapacitors with high-energy-density batteries to enable low-cost grid services and maximize
the value of the power system.
The system also intelligently integrates Win Inertia's advanced power electronics and control system to optimize
the combination of battery and supercapacitor.

Specifically, the use of Maxwell supercapacitors in hybrid systems offers technical and economic benefits, including: integrated solar power generation services – including smoothing out short-term and rapid fluctuations in solar output; Extend the overall service life of the energy storage system - avoid high peak power impact on the battery by using supercapacitors; Reduced cost outlay - no need to add batteries to cope with high power performance/thermal stress performance over a long lifetime; Reduced OpEx - Supercapacitors are designed for more than 500,000 charge-discharge cycles, guaranteeing performance and long life over a wide operating temperature range; Capacity Assurance - By supporting battery performance, supercapacitors can slow down the decay of battery capacity over time, thereby reducing the risk of
energy starvation.

In short, if the battery alone provides both high power and instantaneous response, it will lead to excessive degradation of battery performance, so ultra-large capacity batteries
must be used.
The use of battery-supercapacitor hybrid solutions, in which Maxwell supercapacitors are used to smooth out most of the fluctuations in solar power generation, can reduce the total energy demand on the battery and the thermal stress caused by the high charge-discharge rate, thereby significantly slowing down the degradation of battery performance
.

Maxwell has been supporting public utilities and bringing more renewable energy generation and overlay power services
to the public grid with a reliable, low-cost solution.
With the rapid development of China's public power industry, especially new energy generation, Maxwell Technology's leading grid energy storage solutions and rich experience will greatly benefit
the development of China's public power industry.