Wouldn’t it be nice if there was one universal power supply for every electronic device we owned? Devices these days like cellphones and laptops automatically come with a power adapter to convert AC power to device-specific DC power, and they’re always different from one another. This causes a lot of waste when people decide to get rid of their devices and the adapters end-up in a land-fill. To help reduce the amount of energy used and material waste from battery-powered equipment, a company called Green Plug has introduced a Universal Power Supply that they’re hoping will become wide-spread amongst technology companies.
Green Plug’s technology allows each device using the universal power supply to communicate the power that it needs to the power adapter. This means that multiple devices are able to use just the one adapter. On their website, they talk about their project and say:
We are dedicated to the global proliferation of efficient power charging systems that utilize standardized power supplies, cables and connectors. A typical home or office has a dozen or more power transformers that convert between 90V and 254V wall power to device-specific DC power. Every adapter is physically unique and therefore is thrown away every time a device is replaced.
Not only is this more “earth” friendly, but it would also be more convenient for people not having to worry about the various adapters for their devices. The first company to start using the Green Plug technology is Westinghouse who want their customers to be able to use a single adaptor for their laptops, cellphones, and any other electronics device that they have. They’ll also save money by using a universal power supply.
InfoWorld recently wrote about the growing support for a universal power adapter and explain that each adapter would act like a hub that several devices could plug into. They say, “the first (adapters) are expected to go on sale in the first quarter next year for under $100. The adapters also will shut off the power supply when a device has finished charging or is turned off, giving further energy savings.”
We don’t know about you, but we’d love to see something like this take-off!
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Tags: Gadgets
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I so wish an idea like this could take off.
Universal power supplies? That’s going to ruin our economy! Think of all these big companies that will lose so much profit because you won’t have to buy any more adapters from them…
They’ll probably find some twisted way to make the company go out of business though.
The green thing’s web page reads “All cables and connectors are uniform; so, they work with any device!” How many eons will it be before it can be used?
Oh, absolutely right. All business is run this way. Companies don’t care about environment, landfill, climate change - are you kiddin’ me? They just care about the green (pun intended)
Not coming soon. I just paid $55 for a new power adapter for my laptop. Who’s going to adopt a universal power adapter when they can force people to buy their own? The only way I can see this working is if one or two large companies adapt to it, and people buy their product solely because of that, forcing other companies to adapt. Don’t hold your breath. I’d settle for one power adapter per company - that would be a minor miracle. I think maybe Nokia does this with the cell phones.
I don’t believe every manufacturer of electronic equipment out there makes their own adapters, I believe they probably purchase them from someone else. If this is the case, a Universal Power Supply could become widespread if it were cheaper for companies to use.