Understand how large-value capacitors (supercapacitors) and advanced circuit designs make it possible for peak currents to be supplied without battery stress

By Fabien Franc, Applications Manager, ON Semiconductor
Courtesy of Power Management DesignLine Nov 23, 2009

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When a very high current is drawn directly from the battery, the terminal voltage drops momentarily, primarily due to the battery's series resistance. Now, the combination of very large-value capacitor components (such as s supercapacitors) and advanced circuit designs makes it possible for these peak currents to be supplied without battery stress. This article looks at the specifics and calculations involved in this problem and solution.

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About the author
Fabien Franc is Applications Manager at ON Semiconductor. He is responsible for Catalyst Group LED drivers and other Catalyst analog/mixed-signal products. Fabien has over 20 years of experience in the semiconductor, telecommunications and computing markets and was previously an applications engineer at California Micro Devices supporting power management ICs and analog products. He earned an MS degree in electrical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).