Abstract
The embedded ac-dc power supply market is facing an unprecedented number of
opportunities that have not been typical for this industry in the past. Driven
by new applications such as the Smart Grid and Solid-State Lighting, ac-dc
power supplies are undergoing a significant shift in demand characteristics
that will result in new product designs and sales opportunities. These include
trends toward lower wattages and possible increased captive production.
Smart grid technology is expected to change the design of all types of
electronic equipment. Despite current progress, however, the successful
deployment of the smart grid will be dependent on numerous technology and
standards developments for power electronics. For the smart grid to have
benefits, it must be able to reliably monitor loads and communicate to the
downstream loads, and also be able to turn these loads on/off or up/down as
appropriate.
Although the power electronics used in the smart grid are still being defined,
Darnell Group has identified several segments that are showing the greatest
potential for power supply manufacturers: smart meters for monitoring
residential electricity, water and gas; electric vehicle chargers; and
“smart appliances” that rely on demand response to adjust energy
usage. A promising direction is the ability to remotely monitor and
“dispatch” energy as needed in a building, such as lighting
control systems.
Just as the smart grid is opening up new opportunities for ac-dc power
supplies, it is also introducing threats that power supply makers need to be
aware of. For example, a number of these applications, such as smart meters,
are primarily captive production. As a result, merchant production could see
some decrease in market share. Also, conductively coupled EV chargers are
facing a potential threat from wireless inductive charging methods. Such
emerging markets create a landscape where multiple solutions exist; and not
all of them include ac-dc power supplies.
Darnell has also identified certain applications that, although not new, are
undergoing important changes. Building Automation Systems (BASs) are a
traditional industrial application that is slowly evolving as energy
efficiency regulations and the smart grid take hold. Wired systems are moving
toward wireless implementations and protocols, for example, with wireless
sensor networks changing how building facilities are designed and retrofitted.
Heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems and lighting control
have traditionally been separate systems, but next-generation BASs are looking
at merging the two into more efficient (and less costly) designs. This will
affect both the design and sales of embedded ac-dc power supplies.
Another growth area are light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are expected to be
at the forefront of solid-state lighting solutions. LEDs are already on the
market in a number of applications and already accepted as a reliable
technology. In fact, according to a recent study, by the year 2020, it is
anticipated that LED lighting will saturate nearly half of the United States'
commercial, industrial and outdoor lamps market.
Power supplies used in LED-based lighting solutions are inherently different
from the power supplies used in standard electronic systems. Conventional
electronics typically require tight regulation of the output voltage to ensure
proper operation. Power supplies for LED systems, however, are required to
provide regulation of the output current. The emergence of ac-dc power
supplies for LEDs will require power supply makers to focus on designs that
are industrial-grade, rugged and can be used outdoors. Furthermore, they must
be able to regulate output current, and they need to be sealed against the
elements and thermally protected.
The recently built Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, claims to use
22,000 power supplies to light its high-definition video displays. At New
York' s Yankee Stadium, 8,590 power supplies are used to power the 8.6 million
LEDs used to render images on the screens. There are nearly 500,000 large and
small billboards within eyesight of the highways, freeways and local streets
in the US. Due primarily to cost, only about 1 out of 750 of them are
(currently) LED types. This means the market potential for digital signage has
barely been exploited, and a potentially huge market for embedded ac-dc power
supplies exists.
LED signage is just one market opportunity, however. The applications
associated with the smart grid and LEDs are typically lower power than the
traditional middle- to higher-wattage applications that are targeted by
embedded ac-dc power suppliers. This could signal a shift toward lower-wattage
sales, although it is still not expected to alter the demand at higher power
levels.
“Traditional” applications will continue to drive embedded ac-dc
power supply sales, as well, particularly in data centers - where many of the
power architecture changes are taking place. The increased use of the
intermediate bus architecture (IBA), along with increased voltage rails, has
led to a greater demand for single-output ac-dc power supplies. Front ends
provide a single voltage (often 12V) to (for example) an intermediate bus
converter that then feeds multiple point-of-load converters. Computers and
communications applications utilize various distributed power architectures
that also employ an ac-dc front end. The market for these power supplies is,
therefore, growing as the impracticality of multiple-output power supplies
becomes more apparent.
In fact, single-output power supply systems are expected to dominate in the
foreseeable future. Although multiple output power supplies are still used in
a number of systems, and the 80 PLUS performance specification includes
requirements for multi-output power supplies, applications are using an
increasing number of voltage rails, reducing the use of multiple-output power
supplies in many devices.
Digital power management and control continue to make significant strides in
ac-dc power supplies, in areas such as power factor correction and energy
management systems. Since power conversion is an essential element of smart
grid implementations, digital power will also be important to enabling the
monitoring, communication and control of devices. Measuring energy consumption
(and making it meaningful) is a critical part of the smart grid model, since
you can' t manage what you can' t measure.
Energy management systems are necessary for smart grids and building
automation, but that does not mean customers will pay a premium for them.
Ac-dc power supply companies will need to develop new products for these new
technologies, but it is possible that existing methods simply need to be
re-examined and re-designed. Standards have always played a role in ac-dc
power supply design. The Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture
(ATCA), the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, the 80 Plus Program and
CompactPCI Serial will be influential factors in the expansion of the embedded
ac-dc power supply market. For example, fourth-generation ATCA platforms, with
40Gbit/s Ethernet switching, high-performance multi-core processors and
enhanced cooling will enter production in 2011.
Both silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are expected to be
important in future power supply designs. SiC-based power devices are said to
exhibit superior properties such as very-low switching losses, fast switching
behavior, improved reliability and high temperature operation capabilities. An
advantage of these properties is that they help increase switching frequency,
decrease the size of passive components and switches, and reduce the need for
cooling, thus making the devices a good candidate for ac-dc power supplies.
Gallium nitride technology also has the potential to support the next
generation of semiconductor solutions, as current power converters rely on
silicon, which has reached its limit on improving conversion efficiencies.
Finally, the further development of direct-current (DC) powered installations
and buildings presents one of the more visible long-term threats to the
embedded ac-dc power supply industry. Until recently, the use of dc power was
limited to facilities in the telecom industry; now the use of dc power is
expanding and is expected to be used in additional areas such as commercial,
industrial and residential applications. The addition of dc power delivery
systems to homes, office building and commercial facilities offers the
potential for significant improvements in energy delivery efficiency,
reliability, power quality and cost of operation.
These trends make it clear that embedded ac-dc power supplies are on the cusp
of some potentially game-changing scenarios. Power supply makers have reason
to be optimistic, since even the potential threats can point the way to
alternative opportunities. This makes the long-term outlook for ac-dc power
supplies very bright.
Topics Covered include:
- Application Segments
- Architecture and Technology Trends
- Packaging Trends
- Front-End Power Supplies
- Advances in Technology, Components and Materials
- Potential Technology Threats
- Standards and Regulatory Framework for Development
- Competitive Environment
- Appendix: Beyond the Smart Grid: Personal Energy Systems
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Application Segments
- Computers
- Communications
- Consumer
- Military/Aerospace
- Industrial & Instrumentation
- Solid State Lighting
- Medical
- Smart Grid
- Architecture and Technology Trends
- Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA)
- MicroTCA
- CompactPCI Serial
- Single vs. Multiple Output Power Supplies
- Packaging Trends
- Front End Power Supplies
- Advances in Technology, Components and Materials
- Digital Power Management and Control
- Power Factor Correction
- Advances in Smart Grid Technology
- Material Development in Semiconductors
- Silicon Carbide (SiC)
- Gallium Nitride (GaN)
- Potential Technology Threats
- Advances in DC Technology and Facilities
- DC Microgrids
- Standards and Regulatory Framework for Development
- 80 Plus Program
- Climate Savers Computing Initiative
- Current Energy Efficiency Programs and Organizations
- Internationally Recognized Safety Standards and Certifications
- Competitive Environment
- Power Supply Companies.
- Delta Electronics
- Emerson Network Power
- Lineage Power
- Mean Well USA, Inc.
- Murata Power Solutions
- Phihong
- Power-One
- Powerbox
- Shindengen Electric Manufacturing Co.
- SL Power Electronics
- TDK-Lambda
- XP Power
- Appendix A: Beyond the Smart Grid: Personal Energy Systems
Tables
- Table 1 - Number of Servers Declared by Company
- Table 2 - Typical Voltage Rails per System, by Application
- Table 3 - 80 Plus Performance Specifications.
- Table 4 - Climate Savers Computing Initiative Multi-output Power Supply
Units..
- Table 5 - Climate Savers Computing Initiative Single-output Power Supply
Units .
Figures
- Figure 1 - Power-One PAL S400 2482 PoE Power Supply
- Figure 2 - Power-over-Ethernet Endspan
- Figure 3 - 12U 14-slot AdvancedTCA Shelf
- Figure 4 - Digital Power Corp 1RU ATCA Power System
- Figure 5 - Gresham Power PS 1138 MicroTCA Power Supply
- Figure 6 - Power One CompactPCI CPA250-4530 Power Supply
- Figure 7 - Single Output AC-DC Power Supply (Murata)
- Figure 8 - Enclosed AC-DC Power Supply (TDK-Lambda)
- Figure 9 - DIN-Rail Mounted AC-DC Power Supply (Sunpower UK)
- Figure 10 - Open Frame AC-DC Power Supply (CUI Inc.)
- Figure 11 - Rackmount AC-DC Power Supply (Martek)
- Figure 12 - AC-DC Power Supply Front Ends in Parallel (XP Power)
- Figure 13 - Comparison Redundant/Non-Redundant Power Supply Systems
- Figure 14 - Five Levels of Digital Power
- Figure 15 - Digital Power Supply (TDK-Lambda Americas)
- Figure 16 - Proposed Smart Grid Network
- Figure 17 - Examples of DC Power Distribution in a Commercial Facility
- Figure 18 - EMerge Alliance Standard 1.0
- Figure 19 - DC Microgrid Configuration
- Figure 20 - From Grid to Personal Energy Systems
