Today a significant amount of energy is wasted in power conversions. Conversion of power from one voltage to another, while a necessity in power distribution and usage, has inherent conversion losses resulting in wasted energy. Higher conversion efficiency results in lower amount of wasted power, and this affect is multiplied if several conversions are used to create a required voltage. Significant energy savings can be achieved by not only having high efficiencies at full loads, but also by maintaining high efficiencies at light loads, low standby power and adaptive power controls via remote networked managed systems

The list of electrical appliances we use in our everyday life continues to grow: IP Phones, IP Cameras, Settop/DSL modems, HVAC heating and cooling systems, TVs, Washers & Dryers, Lighting etc. A lot of these appliances operate for a significant amount of time at light load power, between 20-50% of full load. With Digital Power Control techniques, it is now possible to adapt switching nature of power converters to optimize light load efficiency. This can be done locally by monitoring loading conditions or by remote network commands based on network policies.