Power Forward: Can IoT Deliver Energy Savings or Will it be Another Power Drain?

01/08/2015


Power Forward: Can IoT Deliver Energy Savings or Will it be Another Power Drain?

In the January 2015 EDN Power Forward blog post, CUI Senior Vice President, Mark Adams, discusses the significance of the Internet of Things (IoT) and its overall impact on energy efficiency and power consumption.

The article begins, "While there are many people who question the media hype about the Internet of Things (IoT), what it is and how how significant it will be, most industry insiders agree that this nebulous “thing” has become a reality with potential for enormous growth. Even the lay public has some appreciation for this, having witnessed the growth in Internet connectivity through the evolution in personal computing from laptops, through smartphones, tablets and smart TVs to wearable devices. Certainly Business Insider believes this market will be huge – its 2014 report cites a forecast increase in the number of Internet connections from 1.9 billion devices today to 9 billion by 2018."

Mark Adams then discusses the notion that connectivity might not lead to increased energy efficiency, "But opinion seems divided over whether the IoT will deliver improved energy efficiency overall. Taken individually there are applications where there is an undeniable energy saving benefit. However there is the fear that collectively the growth in connected ‘Things’ that all consume power could negate many of the efficiency gains, especially devices that unnecessarily waste power as a consequence of their own inefficiencies."

He concludes, "Hence the debate is no longer about whether ‘Things’ contribute to greater or less energy consumption but rather how we move the protagonists from the two corners to the center of the ring by making sure all ‘Things’ are more efficient in their use of power."

Read the full article on EDN.com