US DoE publishes final draft of new efficiency requirements for EPS and BCS

The US Department of Energy is proposing a number of amended and new regulations for External Power Supplies and Battery Charging Systems for consumer products.  If approved these new standards would become effective from July 2013.  Proposals of particular relevance to 1 to 50 W AC-DC EPS include:

• Creating three major EPS classes: class B for AC-DC ‘basic’; class C for ‘low voltage’ and class N for indirect operation. A class N EPS cannot operate a user device without a battery being present.
• Requiring higher average active EPS efficiency, η, and lower no-load power consumption (NLP) than the International Efficiency Marking Protocol Level V. For example: 12 V, 1 A PSU (‘class B’): η ≥ 83% & NLP ≤ 100 mW compared to 78% & 300 mW, respectively, for IEMP Level V.
• Making the applicable EPS efficiency dependent on the user device: eg lower η and higher NLP are proposed for EPS class N than for classes B or C. This is because the BCS, where a class N EPS is a part, is subject to separate regulations (see below).
• BCS requirements being expressed as maximum energy consumption in kWh/yr, E_MAX, which is a function of the battery energy E_BATT (= Ah x V_BATT).  Whereas the recently adopted California Energy Commission regulations require different metrics: ‘24hr charge & maintenance energy’ and ‘sum of maintenance and no-battery mode power’.

Click for further information on this programme or to download the draft proposal.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / Networking products / No-load power / Standby /

EC1275/2008 demands more efficient networking product adapters

EC 1275/2008 tier two – the EU eco-design requirement for a range of energy-using products with a stand-by and/or off mode – is having a major impact on the design of power supplies.  The regulations cover most domestic appliances and consumer electronics sold in the EU including modems, networking devices and home entertainment systems.

From January 2013, all specified products need to have a standby or off-mode power consumption of:

• ≤ 0.5 W, half the current level of ≤ 1 W;
• or ≤ 1 W where equipment has an information or status display or a combination of a display and reactivation function.

As a result, power supplies will now need to deliver high efficiency across a broader load range than has previously been required, particularly at light loads to maintain their end products in standby mode.

Click to download the regulation or for guidelines on implementation.

Categories / Efficiency / Mobile phones / Networking products / Standby /

CEC approves proposed amendments to BCS efficiency requirements

The California Energy Commission has finalised its efficiency specifications for Battery Charging Systems.  Key items include:

• Efficiency requirements for a typical mobile device BCS are twofold: 24hr charge and maintenance energy must not exceed (12 + 1.6E_b) Wh, and the sum of maintenance mode and no-battery mode power must not exceed (1 + 0.0021E_b) W, where E_b = Battery capacity in Wh;
• adoption of the DoE test method, approved in June 2011, for BCS with rated input power ≤ 2 kW; and
• confirmation that consumer products must comply by Feb 2013, whereas larger capacity ≥ 20 Wh systems have until Jan 2014 for compliance.

Click here or contact CamSemi for more information.

Categories / Cordless phones / Efficiency / Media tablets / Mobile phones / No-load power / Power factor / Standby /

ETSI publishes final draft EN 301 489-34 V1.3.1

ETSI has published a final draft of MoU standard EN 301 489-34 V1.3.1 for EMC in common mobile phone chargers as defined in EN 62684:2010.  The proposed revisions, due for approval in May 2012, include:

• references to Annex II being replaced by EN 62684;
• output ripple is no longer measured during continuous immunity tests, only V_OUT = 5 V ± 5% over the load range is tested;
• and emissions and immunity tests now refer to EN 301 489-1, rather than directly to EN 55022, EN 55016 or IEC 61000-x-y.  This change specifies new testing limits for radiated emissions to 6 GHz (whereas EN 55022 specifies limits to 1 GHz).

Click to register and download V1.3.1 or contact CamSemi for more information.

Categories / EMI / Mobile phones /