Honey, Where Is My Power Cord?

A more common modern-day question would probably be “Honey, where is my battery charger?” The reduction in cost and improvement in battery performance, especially Li-Ion based, at the turn of the century has fueled a steady growth of battery-powered energy storage and portable equipment. Also, supercapacitors (aka ultracapacitors) are increasingly finding usage in a variety of applications due to their unique characteristics. The lead-acid battery, a 150-year-old technology, is still popularly used in cars, wheelchairs, scooters, golf carts, and uninterruptable power supply (UPS) systems. These energy storage devices must be recharged once their energy has been depleted. The worldwide charging IC shipment was 1.16 billion units in 2019 and is expected to grow to 1.72 billion units in 2024 with a healthy 8.6% annual growth rate. The respective revenue was $518.1 billion and $735.4 billion with a 7.3% CAGR. Figure 1 shows this trend, according to OMDIA’s “Power IC Market Tracker - 2019.”