External Power Supply Efficiency Calculator

I came across this useful on-line calculator today. It contains ENERGY STAR, EC Ecodosign (EuP) and China specifications for efficiency and standby power. By entering measured data such as power, standby power and efficiency of external power supplies the calculator shows if the power supply meets various international efficiency requirements.
If nothing else, the calculator shows how stringent and complex the requirements have become.
Power analysers like the Voltech PM1000+ are used to make the power measurements required in accordance with IEC62301.

ENERGY STAR labelling will require an accredited test lab report in 2010

"Under a third-party certification requirement, manufacturer partners must have an EPA- recognized CB certify that their products meets all applicable ENERGY STAR performance parameters prior to the products being labeled as ENERGY STAR qualified."

"By September {2010}, EPA will propose revisions to each of the ENERGY STAR product-specific program requirements to incorporate the third-party certification requirement. EPA’s pursuit of this significant change at this time, shifting the ENERGY STAR program from a self-certification to a third-party certification approach, is driven by our commitment to preserve consumer confidence in the ENERGY STAR label and protect the significant value it offers program partners. Third-party certification delivers additional potential benefits, including allowing for broader use of in-house labs and addressing stakeholder concerns regarding the sharing of information with EPA prior to the release of products to the market.

Detailed information from the ENERGY STAR web pages for Enhanced Testing and Verification.

77A/687/CDV of IEC 61000-4-15 Ed.2 Flickermeter for 61000-3-3

The committee draft (CDV) 77A/687/CDV of IEC 61000-4-15 Ed.2 was recently approved.

The standard is likely to be published this year and adopted in the EC sometime in 2011 / 2012.

As far as the Voltech PM6000 power analyser is concerned, there are no changes to the flickermeter design in terms of its filtering and the statistical analysis of jresults.

Clarification has been added concerning the measurement of the 'd' parameters for IEC61000-3-3, essentially on the definition of  'steady state' which was not defined at all.

As has been the case since the first edition of the standard, Voltech's interpretation has been based on excellent engineering principles and we anticipate that no changes will be required to our power analyser algorithms.

Of course we reserve the right to test thoroughly on as many examples as possible once the standard is formally published, and we will revise our firmware if it is necessary.

The following is a 'not for publication' CDV note:

201  Whereas the measurement and statistical processing of sinusoidal and rectangular voltage 

202 fluctuations are specified unambiguously in the existing edition, this cannot be said for some of 

203 the directly measured parameters, such as dc, dt, and dmax. The lack of a proper specification for 

204 what constitutes “steady state condition” – i.e. the basis for the directly measured “d parameters” 

205 – is probably the most important lacking item.