greenPOWERZONE Products for the week of October 3, 2005


ON Semiconductor Says....

Eco-Freakonomics: ON Semiconductor's ATX Power Supply Reference Design Certified to Meet 80 PLUS Performance Requirements
250-W GreenPoint power supply solution is industry's first open reference design tested and verified to comply with the 80 PLUS power efficiency program

ON Semiconductor has unveiled the industry's first open ATX reference design certified to meet 80 PLUS performance requirements for computing applications. The 250 watt (W) reference design addresses all functional blocks of the ATX power supply, including power factor correction, switch-mode power supply control and regulation, post regulation and output rectification. The design utilizes several of ON Semiconductor's advanced power management devices and draws from its leading discrete component portfolio to achieve breakthrough performance.

"This certified 80 PLUS ATX reference design demonstrates ON Semiconductor's commitment to delivering leading-edge power-efficient solutions to assist power supply designers in their quest to develop highly efficient power supplies," said Andy Williams, vice president of ON Semiconductor's Power Conversion Division. "We've worked closely with industry standards organizations and or customers worldwide to develop this economical 80 PLUS compliant power solution. ON Semiconductor will continue to introduce additional GreenPoint power solutions to address the growing demand throughout the electronics industry for power efficiency in both active and standby modes."

80 PLUS is a national buy-down program administered by Ecos Consulting for desktop computers and desktop-derived servers that contain highly efficient power supplies. The initiative challenges computer manufacturers to incorporate internal power supplies that operate at 80 percent efficiency (or better) across several load points. ATX power supplies on the market today typically operate at 65 percent efficiency.

"ON Semiconductor's ATX power solution shows great initiative and clearly demonstrates it is possible to build an energy efficient power supply that is also high performance," said Andrew Fanara, director of ENERGY STAR Product Development at the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. "This reference design will definitely help move the 80 PLUS program forward and has very positive implications for eventual ENERGY STAR certification."

In addition to passing rigorous internal testing, ON Semiconductor's ATX reference design prototype was independently tested and verified to comply with the 80 PLUS program by EPRI Solutions Corporation in Knoxville, Tennessee. Additionally, the ATX reference design meets IEC1000-3-2 power factor requirements.

"We salute ON Semiconductor for developing such an innovative 80 PLUS design, and making it freely available to any manufacturer for use," said Chris Calwell, policy and research director of Ecos Consulting. "This solution demonstrates that it is both possible and affordable to meet the needs of customers that demand high efficiency and power factor correction today."

The ATX Reference Design
ON Semiconductor has prepared a complete documentation package for the ATX reference design, including description, schematic, bill-of-materials, Gerber images and evaluation guidelines. The documentation package is available online, as are the verification and testing report, links to relevant industry information (80 PLUS program, IEC1000-3-2 requirements, ATX 12 V form factor) and other supporting information.

Key products in the reference design include:

About 80 PLUS
The 80 PLUS program is administered by Ecos Consulting on behalf of several large U.S. power utilities (see footnote) that offer financial incentives to manufactures to deploy computer and server power supplies that are 80 percent efficient or better across several load conditions and are power factor corrected. Click here for more information about the 80 PLUS program.

analogZONE Says...

If you look closely, at ON Semi's announcement of its "open source" reference design for a high-efficiency ATX-style power supply, you'll find that there are actually two compelling stories arising from it. The first is that the design will allow power supply manufacturers to produce cost-effective products that use significantly less power under real-world conditions and allow computer manufacturers to comply with the EnergyStar, Blue Angel, and other eco-labeling standards. The other half of the story is that the supply's design is part of the 80 PLUS program, an innovative collaboration between major electric utilities and electronics manufacturers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while actually boosting profits for all the parties involved.

The 80 PLUS standard was developed by Ecos Consulting as part of a market-based program that helps electric utilities control their operating and capital costs by giving computer manufacturers an economic incentive to use highly-efficient power supplies that put fewer demands on their generating infrastructure. Normally, switching supplies tend to be most efficient only at high load levels (around 80% of their rated load) even though computers often operate at 50% - 70% of their supply ratings, and even less in a standby mode, The 80 PLUS program requires a supply's efficiency to be 80% or better for 20%, 50% and 100 % of their rated load. Many of the specifications' details are derived from the Intel PC Design Guide Specification which was one of the early supporters for the program.

In a scenario that's straight out of the best-selling business book Freakonomics, the utilities pay computer manufacturers $5 for every computer (and $10 per server) they sell which incorporates a power supply that meets the 80 PLUS efficiency specs. Over the life of the computer, the supplies' improved power factor, and lower power consumption, allow the electric utilities to realize even greater savings in operating and infrastructure costs. While it's only supported by select utilities, manufacturers currently compliant with the U.S. EnergyStar green computer spec should take note since most of the 80 PLUS requirements will likely be incorporated in the next upgrade of its certification requirements.

ON's reference design easily exceeds the 80 PLUS requirements (see Fig. 1) thanks to several improvements on how traditional ATX supplies that are nicely detailed in ON's release above this review. And, as mentioned earlier, a secondary switching regulator gives you 10 W worth of supply standby power (see Fig. 2) without having to run the main supply in an inefficient manner. The supply's power factor correction circuit delivers a PFC of 0.9, or better, allowing it to comply with the IEC harmonic levels as well as the stringent requirements of the California Energy Commission, Europe's Blue Angel eco-label and the emerging Chinese Energy Commission standards.

Billed as an "open architecture," ON's reference design is pretty much turnkey, with full component listings, Gerber plots, and mechanical specs to produce an ATX-compliant 250 W power supply that will slide right into place in any standard computer chassis (see Fig. 3). ON was reluctant to discuss the total silicon cost of their design, but was willing to say that cost-adder of an 80 PLUS-compliant supply to an OEM would likely be in the neighborhood of $3.50, ensuring that computer manufacturers would be able to make additional money on every unit they ship. And thanks to the fact that they meet nearly every global efficiency requirement I know of, it probably makes sense to use these supplies even in markets where the 80 PLUS subsidies are not available. I'd also expect that the cost differential between "clean" and "dirty" supplies will shrink over time as production volumes increase and competing solutions arrive on the scene.

ON's been very smart to provide extensive documentation and support for its reference design, something that will go a long way to gaining favor with the extremely risk-averse subsystem suppliers who fill the PC ODM/OEM's pipelines. ON's also working with several leading computer makers to ensure they are comfortable with the new power supply design and that it can be produced to meet their reliability and manufacturability needs.

With the rapidly-growing demand for energy-efficient equipment, ON appears to have gained an early strategic market advantage with its well-engineered and well-supported reference design. Their work with the 80 PLUS partners also ensures a three-way win for ON, the customers who use their parts and, equally important, the environment.

All components and documentation for ON Semiconductor's 80 PLUS ATX power supply reference design are available now.

Current 80 PLUS program participants include:

There are several other large utilities located from California to Quebec in various stages of contract review and public filings. By the end of 2005 the program expects to have 20 of the nation's largest utilities as signed keystone partners in the 80 PLUS initiative.

Reference Design Kit Documentation Package
ATX Reference Design & GreenPoint info

Lee's Saltshaker Rating

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