Battery Chargers and External Power Supplies
Although the Department of Energy (DOE) does not currently regulate battery chargers, in a notice of proposed rulemaking (NOPR), published on March 27, 2012, DOE proposed amended energy conservation standards for Class A external power supplies (EPSs) and new energy conservation standards for non-Class A EPSs and battery chargers. The proposed standards for direct operation EPSs, which are the minimum average efficiency in active mode and the maximum power consumption in no-load mode expressed as a function of the nameplate output power, are shown in Table I.1 of the NOPR. The proposed standards for battery chargers, which consist of a set of maximum annual energy consumption levels expressed as a function of battery energy, are shown in Table I-2 of the NOPR. These proposed standards, if adopted, would apply to all products listed in Table I.1 and Table I-2 and manufactured in, or imported into, the United States on or after July 1, 2013.
DOE’s analyses indicate that the proposed standards would save a significant amount of energy over 30 years (2013–2042)—an estimated 0.99 quads of cumulative energy for EPSs and an estimated 1.36 quads of cumulative energy for battery chargers.
EISA 2007 established standards for Class A EPSs.
Energy Efficiency Standard: The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) amended the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) regarding the efficiency standards for BCs and EPSs. EISA’s minimum efficiency standards for Class A EPSs, effective July 1, 2008, are shown in the table below.
|
Active Mode |
|
|
Nameplate Output |
Minimum Efficiency (decimal equivalent of a percentage) |
|
<1 Watt |
0.5 times the nameplate output |
|
1 to not more than 51 Watts |
The sum of 0.09 times the natural logarithm of the nameplate output and 0.5 |
|
>51 Watts |
0.85 |
|
No-Load Mode |
|
|
Nameplate Output |
Maximum Consumption |
|
Not more than 250 Watts |
0.5 watts |
Efficiency Rating:
For EPSs, DOE combines two separate metrics:
· The active mode conversion efficiency - the ratio of output power to input power. DOE averages the efficiency at four loading conditions—25, 50, 75, and 100 percent of maximum rated output current—to assess the performance of an EPS.
· The no-load power consumption - power consumption of the EPS when disconnected from the consumer product.
For BCs, in the preliminary analysis, DOE combined four metrics related to each mode of operation of a BC - active, maintenance, standby, and off-mode - into a single annual energy consumption value, using an average annual usage profile.
Product Classes:
In the preliminary analysis, DOE established separate product classes for Class A EPSs, non-Class A EPSs, and BCs.
Class A EPSs
· There are four Class A EPSs product classes distinguished by output voltage and type of output current (AC-DC vs. AC-AC).
|
Class A EPS |
Class ID |
|
|
DC Output |
Basic Voltage |
A1 |
|
Low Voltage |
A2 |
|
|
AC Output |
Basic Voltage |
A3 |
|
Low Voltage |
A4 |
|
Non Class A EPSs
There are 11 non-Class A EPSs product classes distinguished by type of input voltage, nameplate output voltage, and output power.
|
Non-Class A EPS |
Class ID |
||
|
Multiple-Voltage |
<100 W |
X1 |
|
|
?100 W |
X2 |
||
|
High Power |
>250 W |
H1 |
|
|
For Medical Devices |
DC Output |
Basic Voltage |
M1 |
|
Low Voltage |
M2 |
||
|
AC Output |
Basic Voltage |
M3 |
|
|
Low Voltage |
M4 |
||
|
For Motor-Operated BC Applications and Detachable Batteries (MADB) |
DC Output |
Basic Voltage |
B1 |
|
Low Voltage |
B2 |
||
|
AC Output |
Basic Voltage |
B3 |
|
|
Low Voltage |
B4 |
||
Battery Chargers
There are 10 product classes based on battery energy and battery voltage, type of input voltage (line AC versus DC), and additional functionality (inductive charging and AC output).
|
Input-Output |
Battery Energy |
Battery Voltage |
Class ID |
|
|
AC-DC |
<100 Wh |
Inductive Connection |
1 |
|
|
<4 V |
2 |
|||
|
4–10 V |
3 |
|||
|
>10 V |
4 |
|||
|
100–3000 Wh |
<20 V |
5 |
||
|
?20 V |
6 |
|||
|
>3000 Wh |
7 |
|||
|
DC-DC |
<9 V Input |
8 |
||
|
?9 V Input |
9 |
|||
|
AC-AC |
AC Output from Battery |
10 |
||
Analyses: Under contract to DOE, LBNL's Energy Efficiency Standards (EES) group conducted the following analyses for the preliminary analysis. EES is updating these analyses for the NOPR.
- Utility Impact Analysis
- Employment Impact Analysis
- Environmental Assessment
Efficiency Standards History:
The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) established an energy conservation program for major household appliances. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) amended EPCA with regard to the energy conservation program for BCs and EPSs.
EPCA, as amended by EPACT 2005 and EISA 2007, set efficiency standards for Class A external power supplies. It also directed DOE to publish a final rule by July 1, 2011, to determine whether these standards should be amended and, if so, to include any amended standards as part of that final rule. The statute further directed DOE to publish a second final rule by July 1, 2015, to again determine whether the standards in effect should be amended.
The statute also requires DOE to issue a final rule prescribing energy conservation standards for BCs, if technologically feasible and economically justified, as well as perform a determination analysis for EPSs excluded from the July 1, 2008, standard.
Because these products are closely related to each other, these rulemakings are bundled with the rulemaking for Class A EPSs. DOE did not conduct a full analysis for non-Class A EPSs in the preliminary analysis but described which analyses from the determination for non-Class A EPSs were to be revised and how.
