Complete power systems

[Tom Booth]

For a long time now, since first learning about them, I've thought that super- or ultra-capacitors would make a great alternative to batteries.

They charge up very rapidly and are very light weight, made out of a kind of dry carbon and storing electricity as a static charge rather than a chemical reaction

They are however, inherently more dangerous to work with, because the static charge can also discharge instantly if shorted

They can also cycle, charge and discharge many more times than a normal battery bank.

The question is, could they be used in a complete system with a Stirling engine/generator, storage (ultra-capacitors), and inverter ?

Apparently, I guess so:

Resize_20220824_100936_6233.jpg (95.75 KiB) Viewed 2249 times

The image is a screenshot taken from this rather long boring video that mostly shows capacitors being connected together:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dovehLroagY


I'm not sure why capacitors are not used more often, other than, they are more expensive, but I would think that for a transportation application, (hybrid vehicle) the weight savings would pay back the extra expense rather quickly

[Tom Booth]

This is interesting.

Much is made of the difficulty of containing helium, (in a Stirling engine for example).

Mentioned several times near the begining of this video is the fact that just one atom thickness of graphene is able to contain even helium. Stronger than steel and lighter than aluminium.

https://youtu.be/C5uyAwr0lhY

[Tom Booth]

This appears to be what I had in mind for a "complete system"

https://youtu.be/hgLCeMW8pqY

Looks like some kind of rocket stove, a Stirling engine with DC generator, battery storage and an inverter.