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The life of supercapacitors will double for every 10°C decrease in temperature or voltage by 0.1V. Supercapacitors operated at room temperature can have life expectancies of several years compared to operating the capacitors at their maximum rated temperature. L1= Load life rating of the super capacitor (typically 1000 hours at rated temperature).
In theory, this table represents the lifetime of the supercapacitor, ranging from a little over one month of life to over 165 years! More realistic applications running the supercapacitor at full 6.0V and room temperature would achieve over 2.5 years of operation. Derating the voltage by only 0.2V will double that lifetime to over 5 years.
In other words, any voltage above the rated voltage for the capacitor will shorten its lifetime. In fact, it is better design practice to back of the system voltage, feeding the supercapacitor to a slightly lower value. Temperature is another variable that can be detrimental to energy storage components.
Fig. 1 Example of Derating Temperature and Voltage to Extend Lifetime. Abracon does not recommend operating supercapacitors out of their specified ranges. For example, designing a 0-700C supercapacitor into a system that will experience 850C ambient temperature is not recommended, regardless of whether the temperature increase is temporary.