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 /

EN 50563: EPS efficiency test method now approved

CENELEC has now approved a new European standard specifying measurement methods for EPS power consumption and reporting of results.  Key requirements for EN 50563:2011 include:

• specific tolerances on parameters;
• defined warm-up periods at full load and stability periods prior to each measurement;
• and reference to EN 50564 which supports EC regulation 1275/2008 for several items including mains PSU requirements and details of measurement technique.

Click here or contact CamSemi for more information.

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

USB 3.0 Promoter Group plans new power delivery spec

The USB 3.0 Promoter Group has announced plans to create a new power delivery specification that will extend the capabilities and usages of cable bus power in USB applications.  V1.0 of the specification is due to be published in June 2012.

The new specification will be part of USB 3.0 but also be backward compatible with USB 2.0.  Key features include:

• a range of voltage and current profiles to deliver power up to 100 W;
• communication between devices for voltage and current profile-setting;
• the need for new cables for all but 5 V, 1.5 A (ie existing Battery Charging) operation; existing ID connector pins will identify new cables;
• support for stand-alone power supplies;
• and planned for DC power delivery as well as charging.

Please contact CamSemi for more details or click here to read the USB-IF press announcement.

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

EU study targets ‘networked standby’

A European Commission preparatory study is aimed at reducing the standby energy consumption of household and office equipment with network connectivity. EC Lot 26 recommends all networked products have low power modes, when their main functions are not active, and defined ‘resume times’ to reactivate a main function after detecting a remotely-initiated trigger.

In addition the study proposes amending EC 1275-2008 to improve power consumption during high and low network availability, and implementing the changes in two incremental stages: from January 2014 and January 2016.  However the EU eco design requirement EC1275-2008 will still apply to standby and/or off mode performance.

Click here to download the working document, for further background notes or please contact CamSemi.

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