Mr. Balakrishnan commented: “I am honored to receive a TechAmerica Innovator Award recognizing the environmental benefits of EcoSmart technology. I share this recognition with all of my colleagues at Power Integrations who have worked on the development of this technology and helped make it a success in the marketplace.”
Continued Mr. Balakrishnan: “The growing demand for energy and the environmental impacts of energy generation are among the greatest challenges facing the world today. While alternative energy sources hold great promise for the future, energy efficiency is the cheapest, cleanest, most accessible ‘source’ of energy available today. EcoSmart technology is providing dramatic efficiency benefits without adding to the cost of electronic products, and without the need for changes in consumer behavior.”
Electronic products typically employ power supplies to convert the high-voltage AC power from a wall outlet into low-voltage DC power. These power supplies tend to operate inefficiently at the reduced loads that occur during standby operation, when the end product is “off” or otherwise idle. Power Integrations’ integrated circuits with EcoSmart technology intelligently manage the flow of power through the power supply, enabling high efficiency at light loads and thereby drastically reducing standby waste. This technology has saved an estimated $3.7 billion worth of standby power—and millions of tons of greenhouse-gas emissions—since its introduction in 1998.