Supercapacitors, also known as electric double-layer capacitor (EDLC) are capable of storing large amount of energy. Earlier, the supercapacitors were largely consigned to monotonous applications, such as internal battery backup, and memory protection. However, the application for supercapacitor has extended significantly in recent years, owing to their increasing penetration in hybrid vehicles, energy harvesting, and consumer electronics products. The other factors driving the growth of the global market include superior power density, and higher product life cycle regardless of capacitor charge cycle.
The growing need for increased battery life in smartphone, laptop, and other similar consumer electronics products has increased the market penetration of supercapacitors in various new applications. Supercapacitors are now used for the extended battery backup in smartphone, and laptops; moreover, the replacement of conventional capacitor with them is expected to drive the growth of the global market during the forecast period.
The most promising opportunity for the growth of the market is expected from energy harvesting technologies, especially in the micro-energy harvesting applications such as, tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS), energy harvesting in automobiles where the energy storage requirement is relatively low. Supercapacitor is also used extensively across solar panel of energy harvesting technology; while their storage capacity is more than conventional capacitor, and less than the equivalent battery. The operational advantages, such as faster switching, small charging time, and simple design is fueling the growth of the microelectronics application areas such as CMOS logic, uninterruptible Power supply (UPS) systems, electronic toys, and security alarm. The demand of supercapacitors is witnessing a rapid growth in the electric and hybrid vehicles market, owing to their faster switching time compared to the conventional batteries. However, the lower storage capacity of supercapacitors, compared to the battery is hindering the growth of the global market up to some extent.
Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest share in the global supercapacitor market in 2014. The high penetration of electric vehicles, along with consumer electronic products in the region has led to the market dominance of Asia-Pacific. China was the largest and the fastest growing market in Asia-Pacific in 2014. Germany is expected to be the largest market in Europe by 2020. The major markets in Europe include Italy, France, and the U.K. The North American market is mainly driven by increased government funding for the development and deployment of smart grid technology in the U.S. The Latin American market is driven by the increasing demand of supercapacitors from Brazil.
The threat of entry of the new players in the global market is low, as the major players in the market have high proprietary learning curve. Moreover, the competition in the global market is high among few large players, such as, AVX Corp, Beijing HCC Energy Tech. Co. Ltd., and Axion Power International Inc. The other major competitors in the global supercapacitor market are Maxwell Technologies Inc., Bombardier, Inc., Graphene Laboratories Inc., and Panasonic Corporation.
Global Supercapacitor Market Segmentation
By Material
· Electrodes
Ø Pseudocapacitor
Ø Hybrid Capacitor
Ø Electrolyte Double Layer Capacitor
· Electrolytes
Ø Aqueous
Ø Organic Electrolyte
· Separators
Ø Polymeric Films
Ø Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)
Ø Kapton
Ø Others
By Application
· Consumer Electric
· Industrial
· Energy
· Medical Electronics
· Transportation
Others
