Applications of Parallel Plate Capacitors
When capacitors are connected in parallel, the total capacitance is the sum of the individual capacitor’s capacitances. If two or more capacitors are connected in parallel, the overall effect is that of a single equivalent capacitor having the sum total of the plate areas of the individual capacitors. As we’ve just seen, an increase in plate area, with all other factors unchanged, results in increased capacitance.
Parallel Plate Capacitors Formula: The total capacitance of a set of parallel capacitors is simply the sum of the capacitance values of the individual capacitors. Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of capacitors that can be connected in parallel.
The overall value of a number of capacitors placed in parallel is simple the sum of the values. This can be expressed on the formula given below:
CTotal = C₁ + C₂ + C₃ + …
Applications of Parallel Plate Capacitor: By combining several capacitors in parallel, the resultant circuit will be able to store more energy as the equivalent capacitance is the sum of individual capacitances of all capacitors involved.
This effect is used in the following applications.
- Energy storage capacitor banks are used for power factor correction with inductive loads.
- Capacitive storage banks are used in the automotive industry for regenerative braking in large vehicles such as trams and hybrid cars.
- DC power supplies sometimes use parallel capacitors in order to better filter the output signal and eliminate the AC ripple.