Get Ready for a Power Revolution

We couldn't be more pleased to see the progress being made in the efforts towards wireless power as described in the "Wired" article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/wireless-charge.

Green Plug promotes the benefits of a new power model that include:

• Reducing power cord clutter since each power supply can power multiple devices concurrently
• Reducing standby power drain, which can be significant when you replace 4 or 8 individual power adapters with a single smart power hub
• Providing unprecedented convenience - never worry about finding the right charger for a specific device or about forgetting your laptop charger (anyone will work when devices can negotiate power with power sources)
• Reducing toxic waste caused by the disposal of billions of device-specific power adapters (interoperability means power adapters will be used again and again.)

Wireless power solutions hold the potential for even further reductions in power cord clutter.  But powerful, efficient solutions may still be off in the future for laptops, televisions, printers and similar products.  We can take a major step towards the wireless power solution today by making consumer electronic products able to accept power from any power source whether it be wireless or wired.  That way, power hubs can be developed that offer both wired and wireless power ports.

It is unlikely that every home and office electronic device will be equipped to receive wireless power.  But, just as many wireless routers also integrate wired (Ethernet) connections, we think that a wireless power mat with a few integrated universal wired power connectors provides the ultimate in convenience and interoperability.

We'd like to hear from you.  Please share your thoughts on this topic.

Comments

[Leslie Weston]

I may have said this before (I can't find any existing comments), but I think a fundamental problem with this approach is that it doesn't solve the problem for electrical devices that we _already own_!

Existing devices use a multitude of different power connector variants. I hope the Green Plug will include adapters for all those existing electronic items.

If it doesn't, all it will do is encourage us to throw out and replace old electrical stuff, which is hardly environmentally friendly!

[Paul Panepinto]

Hello Leslie:

Thank you again for your comment. With Green Plug-enabled power adapters, you can use smart cables that are capable of negotiating power on behalf of legacy electrical devices and new products that you buy that have not yet enabled power communications. We agree this is very important to avoid unnecessary replacement of working equipment. I believe your original comment can be found at this link: http://blog.greenplug.us/2009/03/there-are-ac-power-strips-why-arent-there-dc-power-strips.html#comments.