Improving efficiency through power switches

At each stage of this life cycle, energy consumption and the production of hazardous waste are considered and the impact is quantified.

Quantifying all the impacts in dollars and cents, and summing it all up results in what is called the "lifecycle cost".

Since the biggest impact is typically to be gained with improved efficiency during operation and standby, a lot of the attention must turn to power supplies and electric motors.

Fairchild Semiconductor author details the impacts and what can be done about it.