# Presentation: 299360

## Key Questions Behind Ecos Consulting’s Power Supply Research

- How many power supplies are out there?
- What does it mean for a power supply to be energy efficient?
- How important are active power efficiency losses compared to standby power consumption?
- Would it be cost effective to improve efficiency?
- What could be done to drive that change?
- How much difference would it make?

## Estimated Power Supply Sales & Number in Use

|  | North America |  | Global |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Power Supply Type | Unit Sales / Year | Total Units in Use | Unit Sales / Year | Total Units in Use |
| External | > 250 million | > 1 billion | > 1 billion | > 3 billion |
| Internal | > 250 million | > 1.5 billion | 0.5 to 1.5 billion | > 3 billion |
| Total | > 500 million | > 2.5 billion | > 1.5 to 2.5 billion | > 6 billion |

**Notes:**
U.S. appears to be the vast majority of North American totals – Ecos and LBNL researchers have accounted for about 2.4 billion power supplies in the U.S. alone, not counting uses in the industrial and transportation sectors.  Estimates for the number of power supplies in use globally are very rough.  Even if we haven’t met the goal of a chicken in every pot, we can at least now say we’re averaging nearly one power supply for every person on earth.  And, not surprisingly, the power supply total is growing much faster than the world population.

## What Is an “Efficient” Power Supply?

- “Efficiency” = useful DC power out / AC power in
- Measure both when product is operating (active mode)
- Most power supplies draw less than full rated power most of the time  (part load efficiency).
- Duty Cycle -- over the course of a year, some time spent in active mode & some in standby.  A few products also have a sleep or idle mode.
- Another way to measure efficiency:  total kwh used in all operating modes over the course of a year to perform a particular task.

## Power Supply Location in the Circuit Matters

- 1

- 2

- 3

- 4

-  120
- VAC

- AC/DC

- DC Load

- AC/DC

- DC Load

- AC/DC

- DC Load

- AC/DC

- DC Load

- AC Load

## Multiple Places for Efficiency Loss

-  120
- VAC

- AC/DC

- DC Load

- 100%

- 70%

- fans

- noise

- HVAC

- AC/DC

- DC Load 1

- 100%

- 70%

- DC/DC

- DC Load 2

- 80%

- AC/DC

-   Battery Charge

- 100%

- 20%

-   Battery Discharge

- DC Load

- 50%

- 80%

## Slide 6

## Total U.S. Electricity Flowing Through Power Supplies:

- 207 billion kwh/year, worth about $17 billion/year
- At least 6% of U.S. electricity use!

**Notes:**
At least 6% of all the electricity used in the United States flows through power supplies.  The $17 billion worth of electricity is far more money than Americans spend buying power supplies each year (close to the global total actually).  The fact that electric utilities want to help all of us reduce that expenditure opens up an interesting opportunity – shift some of the $17 billion Americans currently spend running power supplies into buying better ones each year.  Manufacturer and retailer profits go up, total consumer and business expenditures go down, and utilities are even able to earn on their efficiency investments. 

## Savings Potential is Huge

- What if all linear power supplies were improved from about 30% efficiency to 80%?
- What if all switching power supplies were improved from about 70% efficiency to 80%?
- Annual savings would be more than 1% of total U.S. electricity use:  about 32 billion kwh and more than $2.5 billion in lower energy bills.
- Very cost effective – incremental costs often less than $1 (in some cases pennies) per power supply.

## Which Power Supply-Containing Products Use the Most Electricity?

**Notes:**
Top 11 products represent about 1 billion of the 2.4 billion products in use in the U.S. that contain power supplies.  But they represent about 3⁄4 of the total energy use of the group. 

## Slide 10

**Notes:**
1 Twh = 1 Billion kwh = $100 million
How do products make it to the top of the list?  High active power use, lots of hours of use, high standby consumption, lots of products in use.

## AC/DC Power Supply Market

**- ****White Goods**
**- Sensors**
**- Emergency**
**  ****Lighting**

**Chargers for:**
**Mobile Phones**
**Cordless Phones**
**Answering Machines**
**PDAs**
**Toys**
**Hand Tools**
**Electric Shavers**
**Electric Toothbrushes**
**etc......**

**Set Top**

- x

- 5x

**Number of Units**

**PC**

- Rated Output Power

**AC/DC Power Supply Market**

- Courtesy of Power Integrations

## Slide 12

## Slide 13

## Power Supply Market Snapshot

## Do We Need Standardized Efficiency Curves?

-   Power use at 0% load
-   Efficiency % at 25% load
-   Efficiency % at 50% load
-   Efficiency % at 75% load
-   Efficiency % at 100% load

-  Courtesy of Panasonic

## Slide 16

## Focus on Non-Energy Benefits!

##  Price vs. Value Propositions

- _Goal:  Lowest Price_
- Take cost out “at all costs”
- Quality and reliability can drop
- No product differentiation
- Least common denominator design:  no features, no profits
- Penny-wise/pound foolish – what saves the buyer $1 up-front can add $10 or $20 to lifetime energy costs
- All of us pay more – higher energy bills, more air pollution, more new power plants and power lines

- _Goal:  Highest Value_
- Emphasis on clever design and differentiation:  multiple viable paths to success
- Minimize lifecycle cost: purchase price + lifetime maintenance, energy, & pollution costs
- Specs, labels, and utility programs help build a message of value:  “may cost more, but worth more”
- Products more desirable – smaller, quieter, cooler, more convenient