SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 23, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Power Integrations, the leader in high-voltage analog integrated circuits for power conversion, today announced that its power conversion ICs with EcoSmart(r) technology have saved consumers and businesses worldwide an estimated $2 billion on their electricity bills. The company's ICs are used to replace outdated, energy-wasting power supplies such as copper-and-iron linear transformers, also known as "energy vampires." The company calculates that for every linear transformer that is replaced by EcoSmart ICs the consumer saves between $3 and $6 on their energy bills over the average product life.
Power supplies are a necessity for almost every electronic product. However, power supplies based on old technologies such as linear transformers have efficiency levels as low as 30 percent and rarely exceeding 50 percent, so they consume far more power than is actually required to operate the equipment that they supply. Moreover, these older power supplies also consume a significant amount of power when their products are in "sleep" or standby modes. In contrast, Power Integrations' EcoSmart ICs enable power supplies that operate at substantially higher efficiency levels and reduce standby power waste by up to 95 percent without adding to the cost of the end product.
Balu Balakrishnan, CEO of Power Integrations, commented: "We introduced EcoSmart in 1998 and in May 2005 announced that this technology had saved consumers and businesses $1 billion off their electricity bills. Now, less than two years later, we see that the amount saved has doubled to an estimated $2 billion - which demonstrates that the uptake of our technology is accelerating rapidly as designers respond to the challenges set down in energy-efficiency specifications and standards issued by ENERGY STAR, the California Energy Commission, the EU, China and other policy makers around the world."
EcoSmart products cover the power range of more than 70 percent of all AC-to-DC power supplies built worldwide: LinkSwitch(r), 0 to 5 W; TinySwitch(r)-III, 5 to 28 W; and TOPSwitch(r)-GX, 7 to 210 W. Power Integrations' Green Room web site (www.powerint.com/greenroom) contains information on the issue of energy waste from inefficient power supplies, as well as tips on how to minimize the amount of energy wasted by household and office electronics. The Green Room also provides a comprehensive guide to energy-efficiency standards around the world, as well as a host of reference designs and software to assist in the design of energy-efficient power supplies.
About Power Integrations
Power Integrations, Inc. is the leading supplier of high-voltage analog integrated circuits used in power conversion. The company's breakthrough integrated-circuit technology enables compact, energy-efficient power supplies in a wide range of electronic products, in both AC-DC and DC-DC applications. The company's EcoSmart energy-efficiency technology, which dramatically reduces energy waste, has saved consumers and businesses around the world more than an estimated $2 billion on their electricity bills since its introduction in 1998. For more information, visit the company's website at www.powerint.com. For information on global energy-efficiency standards and EcoSmart solutions, visit the Power Integrations' Green Room at www.powerint.com/greenroom.