New Industry Products

Fairchild Introduces mWSaver Technology for Power Supplies

December 01, 2010 by Jeff Shepard

According to Fairchild Semiconductor, as electronic applications gain in popularity, the demand for ac-dc external power supplies is also occurring. The volume of external power supplies is expected to increase more than 11 percent between 2009 and 2013. Today, there are between 6 and 10 billion power supplies in use worldwide which are typically plugged in and unused for 20 hours a day, while constantly drawing power. These numbers illustrate the growing concern of energy waste and illustrate the profound possible impact of reducing standby power.

While the best power supplies are more than 90% efficient, some are only 20 to 40% efficient, wasting the majority of electricity that passes through them. Power supplies can account for nearly 10 percent of the total residential electricity used yearly. Regulations and technology help to reduce standby power, but the increase in the number of appliances and equipment that consumes power continues to grow, especially in developing countries.

Fairchild states that its new mWSaver™ technology offers the best-in-class power savings for power supplies, with the fewest possible components. Devices in the mWSaver series integrate five patented technologies: off time modulation, JFET HV start-up and circuit, feedback impedance switch, HV discharge, and PSR control to drop out voltage; as well as burst mode operation and low operation current techniques. It is only by the unique integration of these technologies, leveraged together, that the most stringent standby specifications can be met.

Features of the mWSaver technology include: what is described as best-in-class standby/no-load power consumption per component; the ability to lower standby power for external components, such as resistors, capacitors, inductors and rectifiers; excellent efficiency ratings at full load; the ability to exceed all no-load regulatory requirements worldwide; and a reduced Bill-of-Material (BOM) and lower overall system costs by eliminating the need for additional circuits and components, while integrating protection functions like brownout, under-voltage lockout (UVLO), over-voltage protection (OVP), open-loop protection (OLP) and over-temperature protections (OTP).

Power supply manufacturers can now achieve the ultra-low standby power performance their customers want, while eliminating components and lowering BOM costs with mWSaver technology.

Consider the potential impact if the United States converted to Energy Star rated battery chargers, which are 35 percent more efficient than conventional models. That one change would save more than 1 billion kWh of energy and $100 million annually while preventing the release of more than one million tons of greenhouse gas emissions – equivalent to taking 150,000 cars off the road. Every mW saved further reduces the unnecessary consumption of natural resources, enabling a cleaner environment.