Power BUyEr BEWArE
Q:What’smeant by ‘efficiency’ regarding external power supplies?
A: A supply’s efficiency relates to howmuch power going in is wasted as heat (due to electrical losses) and howmuch can be extracted. For example, a supply taking 10Wfromthemains and delivering 9Wto the load is losing 1Win heat: it’s said to be 90 per cent efficient. Supplies are quite efficient when working near theirmaximumoutput. However, with the load switched off, the supply still consumes energy. This ‘no-load’ efficiency is concerning regulators so efficiency regulations stipulate full-load and no-load requirements.
Q:Why are small amounts of wasted energy important?
A: According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), compliance with current external power supply efficiency regulations could save the US 32 billion kilowatts of energy every year: equivalent to about 7 power stations. Similar European studies have concluded that improvements in power conversion losses and ‘no-load consumption’ could, by 2020, save nine terawatt hours. Suppliesmay be small but total power consumption is huge.
Q: How can a buyer tell if a supply conforms to the regulations?
A: There’s an established protocol for labelling supplies. Roman numerals identify the standards, fromLevel I to Level V: themost recent and stringent. Until April this year, US and Europe regulations only required external supplies tomeet Level IV
efficiency. The efficiency requirement varies depending on the supply’s rating regardingmaximum power and output voltage. For example, a supply rated over 49W must be 87 per cent efficient tomeet Level V.
Q:What’s the situation regarding European vs US legislation?
Cyntech Components’ Dave Mellor guides buyers through the maze of efficiency regulations
A: Implemented in April 2009, the Commission of the European Communities Directive 2005/32/EC required external power supplies used in the European Union tomeet Level IV by April 2010 and Level V efficiency by April 2011. Thus, products thatmeet US requirements may no longer be suitable for European use. Section 301 of the Energy Industry and Security Action (EISA) was passed by Congress in 2007 and stipulates external power suppliesmanufactured after July 1, 2008meetminimumefficiency requirements aligned with Level IV. Althoughmost new external power supplies willmeet Level V by the end of 2011, there is nomandatory requirement in the US they do so, and no timeline for when this could be mandated. The US Energy Star programme for external power supplies was phased out on 31 December 2010, but the EISA Level IV regulations remain in force.
FromApril 1, CEmarking of electronic equipment requires new levels of efficiency fromexternal power supplies. Cyntech Components’ DaveMellor advises buyer beware
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