Power adapter international energy efficiency standards notification: Level VI Steve Taranovich - February 16, 2015 I recently had a really enlightening discussion with CUI Inc. VP of Global Marketing, Jeff Schnabel and CUI resident expert on Power adapter Level VI exports, Andrew Johnson, Product manager for external adapters. The main reason for our discussion was to help get early information out to OEMs regarding the next level in Power Adapter standards, Level VI. CUI asked EDN to assist in informing the industry groups who will need to be aware of this new level of the international standard because in previous new level announcements, so many OEMs were caught off guard and not adequately prepared. There is nothing I admire more in a company than their concern for their customers. I have seen this trait in CUI over the years in their efforts to promote power supply interoperability in the industry as well. A little history First, a little background information. Back in 1998, Alan Meier, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), came up with an estimate that standby power used about 5% of the total residential electricity consumption in America alone. This equates to $3B in yearly energy costs. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) did an estimate of 2004 US residential electricity usage for 2004 that totaled to 1.29B megawatt hours (MWh). To waste 5% of this equates to 64 million MWh which is the amount of power that 18 typical power stations generates! In our present day world of high energy costs and dwindling energy resources, major focus has been on the efficiency of active mode power consumption, which has been improving at some tenths of a percent with each new innovation or architecture improvement. No load power consumption was almost low-hanging fruit to address in the industry, so new standards were issued by the US government to reduce annual Greenhouse gas emissions (China is a big target with their growing industry and lack of standards and so many new cars added to the road) that amounted to 198.5
million metric tons of CO emissions which was equal to the annual exhaust output of 39 million automobiles on the road. Now, more stringent standards, are poised to go into effect in 2016 to help consumers save the amount of electricity that 6.5 million homes use in a year. The entire world must be involved in this effort to reduce wasteful use of energy and unnecessary Carbon Emissions, otherwise it may be a futile effort. In November 2014, the Guardian reported that the US and China stuck a deal on carbon cuts in a push for a global climate change pact. In general, currently the US and Canada are adhering to Level IV and the EU to Level V. Right now, the US, Canada and the EU are the only regions in the world that mandate energy levels by law. So OEMs need to be aware of these new requirements and to follow them as they get updated to ensure compliance and avoid fines and delays is shipments and revenue. Since OEMs need to have a universal power supply platform in order for their products to ship around the world, most of the external power supply manufacturers now meet level V requirements. For more details visit the CUI website No-load mode No-load mode An external power supply is in the no-load mode when connected to an AC line but not connected to an output load. How many of us have these supplies just sitting there in a wall socket and come home to plug our devices into? I did, until I had this discussion with CUI. It is interesting that for Level IV and V, some manufacturers just shortened the DC cable to meet the standard. I wondered how the manufacturers such as CUI were going to approach meeting the standard. For this new Level VI, manufacturers will need to re-layout their board designs and work with the transformer and IC companies to meet the no-load and operating standard requirements. The approach will likely start with the IC manufacturers/designers, then the re-layout of the adapter PC board and finally work with the transformer manufacturer/designers. The following table summarizes the standard progression to date. Progressing thresholds for performance (Image courtesy of CUI)
Exemptions There are certain exemptions to the standard for external power supplies such as in the US for devices that require FDA approval, those devices that are a power charger of a detachable battery pack or charges the battery of a product that is fully or primarily motor operated and those devices that are available as a service part or spare part by the manufacturer of an end-product produced before 7/1/2008 for which the power supply was the primary load )Power supplies used for this purpose can be manufactured after 7/1/2008). The EU has similar exemptions so external power supplies for medical devices, battery chargers, and service products are also exempt. But, in addition, low voltage external power supplies (EPS) devices are exempt. That is, a unit that bears a nameplate output voltage of less than 6V and a nameplate current greater than or equal to 550 ma. Moving to Level VI Power supply manufacturers such as CUI are presently preparing for this upcoming Level VI standard. This next level tightens the performance thresholds for power adapters in both active and no-load operation. Additional products now covered under Level VI are multiple-voltage external supplies as well as products with power levels exceeding or equal to 250 W.
Summary of the new performance thresholds Summary of the new performance thresholds An external power supply with a nameplate output voltage less than 6 volts and nameplate output current greater than or equal to 550 milliamps is defined as a Low-Voltage External Ac-Dc Power Supply. Specific standards have been written into the Level VI regulations to govern these adapters. (Image courtesy of CUI) For the first time, multiple-output power supplies will be regulated under the DOE s Level VI standards. It is imperative that manufacturers start to prepare now to transition to the more stringent performance thresholds. (Image courtesy of CUI)
The new standard also defines power supplies as direct operation and indirect operation products. A direct operation product is an external power supply (EPS) that functions in its end product without the assistance of a battery. An indirect operation EPS is not a battery charger but cannot operate the end product without the assistance of a battery. The new standard only applies to direct operation external power supplies. Indirect operation models will still be governed by the limits as defined by EISA2007. (Image courtesy of CUI) So the compliance date is set for 2/10/2016 and the OEMs need to understand that compliance with the new standard will be regulated from the date of manufacture. Legacy products can still be shipped as long as the manufacture date is before 2/10/2016. There will be requirements on labeling to meet the same international Efficiency Marking Protocol for EPS Version 3.0 as in the current Level V standard. See the image below.
The international efficiency marking protocol for external power supplies is a system used by manufacturers to identify what efficiency level the supply meets. The efficiency level is marked on the supply s label by a roman numeral that corresponds to a specific efficiency level. This makes it easy for users to quickly identify the efficiency level of a particular external power supply. Current protocol is for power supply manufacturers to indicate compliance by placing a Roman Numeral based on the efficiency level on the power supply label as specified by the International Efficiency Marking Protocol for External Power Supplies Version 3.0, updated in September 2013. This latest version of the Protocol provides additional flexibility on where the marking may be placed. Going forward OEMs will need to re-test these new designs with their products especially with regard to EMI and EMC. We expect that other nations around the world will follow this new spec level. Right now in the EU, mandatory European Ecodesign Directive for EPS is being revised and will most likely meet most and hopefully all of the US standards. Other countries, including Canada and Australia, with existing efficiency regulations in line with the US will most likely move to the new standard as well. Kudos to CUI for giving me this overview to share with all of EDN s readers who may be affected by this standard or who need to be aware of progress in the industry towards higher efficiency and reducing wasteful power usage to improve our environment. It is expected that electric motors, an area of much wasted energy, will be a next potential target for more stringent standards adherence.