R&D – 105°C Coolant DC Capacitor

SBE Inc. has been the recipient of a Phase I and Phase II grant from the Department of Energy (DoE).

The objective of this ongoing research is “to develop novel, low-cost annular ring capacitor structures and packaging using environmentally friendly metallized polymeric insulating films to replace electrolytic capacitors in hybrid vehicle DC bus filtering applications by increasing the upper operating temperature 50% and raising the effective capacitance density by up to 200% compared to conventional polymer film capacitors.”

The enclosed presentation summarizes the results of the Phase I research and discusses the Phase II research methodology.
Life testing is in progress, and we are expecting results by June 2010 and publication in the 3rd quarter of 2010.

We expect that the end result will be a 1000μF capacitor, able to handle 100 – 200 Arms ripple current, and using  105°C Coolant, with 10-year reliability.