An Opportunity to Lead the Global Energy Efficiency Market

1. World's first and only zero standby power technology

2. Applicable to any electric& electronic product

3. Increased productlifespan

4. Environmentally friendly technology: reduces energy consumption and CO₂ emissions

5. Provides opportunity tolead the global market

<Background>

With the looming risk of primary energy source depletion, the world is rushing to develop alternative energy sources while endeavoring to reduce existing energy use. Countries are starting to form consortiums to imposeregulations, especially on the home appliances market, in a bid to suppress CO₂emissions that are causing global warming.

Countries around the world are implementing energy efficiency labeling systems with the aim ofcontrolling energy consumption of home appliancesboth in active and passive mode. Enterprises engaging in such labelling includeErP and New Energy Labeling in Europe, Energy Star in the USA, Star Rating in Australia, Stand By in Korea, Top Runner in Japan,Blue Angel in Germany and others.

There are basically two ways to increase energy efficiency: develop new or alternative energy sources and reduce existing energy consumption. Since the first requires considerable time and money, pursuing the latter is much more effective.

Standby energy - the energy wasted by home appliances when they are not in motion- is one of the areas where energy can be conserved. The amount of standby power consumption of eachhome applianceis not in itself substantial. However, because each household uses multiple appliances, the collective standby energy waste is huge. According to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US, such energy wastage is more than 20 billion dollars a year and is anticipated to exceed 40 billion dollars in 2020.If industrial, medical and commercial energy waste is added, the figureissubstantiallygreater.

Standby power incurs additional cost to consumers andcompellselectricity providers to generate more power than actually needed. This burden is imposed not only on consumers but also on the whole nation. Therefore, regulations that reduce standby powerare highly desirable.

To reduce standby power waste, the global community mandates that standby power not exceed 1W(Watt)through regulations and has announced a plan to further reduce it to below 0.5W by 2020. Some countries are quickly taking action byimplementing a 0.5W limit.

<Problems ofthe Standby Power Regulations>

However, a questionarises:"Will the regulations on standby electricity help decrease energy generation, thereby contributing to reducing CO₂ emissions?"The answer is "No" because such regulations will not reap the intended results unless the power factor(active power/apparent power) is controlled.

Utility companies transmit to households "apparent power," which is composed of active and reactive power. Active power refers to the effective power that is actually consumed by a home appliance whereas reactive power means wasted electricity,or the difference between the apparent power and active power caused by the inductive and capacitive elements of a home appliance.

Power factor is the ratio of active power flowing to the load, i.e., the apparent power in the circuit. If the power factor of an appliance is 1, it means that 100% of the apparent power is used. The problem of the present regulations is that they will only work when thepower factor isnear 1 on standby. But, there is currently no control over the power factors of home appliances; thus, their power factors are low.

Most home appliances now consume less standby power than in the past.But, this has been possible only because they are designed to maintain a very low power factor or active power on standby (which means the proportion of wasted power or reactive powerincreases). The power factors of most home appliances are less than 10%, although the exact figures vary depending on types ofproduct. In other words, regulations of limiting standby power under 1W do not consider the reactive power that takes up a bigger portion than the active power.

The watt-hour meters that are currently used only show active power gauges, misleading to the understanding that the standby power has been reduced tobelow 1W. However, these meter devicesdo not indicate the amount of reactive powerthat now exceedsthose without regulation. Controlling standby power alonewithout the consideration of reactive power does not reduce CO2 emissions since the amount of power generation remains as before.

Although consumers believe that they are paying only for the electricity that they actually use, they are, in reality, paying forextra power, i.e., reactive power as, well since billing is done based on apparent power that includes reactive power.

In conclusion, present regulationsregarding standby power only causes reactive power to increase andfails to reduce energy consumption, thereby only increasing energy bills forhouseholds. In addition, the cost of developing a new functionality of lower consumption of standby power in home appliances is transferred to consumers, who, in return, suffer the dual burden of more expensive home appliances and higher utility bills. It is of utmost urgency that governments in generalunderstand this conundrum.

<Zero Standby Power Technology>

Even if manufacturers successfully produce products with a more efficient power factor after investing considerable time and money, standby energy loss will continue to exist. The most optimal way to eliminate such standby power waste is to completely shut down thestandby power consumption when the appliances are turned off, or realize the "zero standby power" state.

Such shutdown technology will eliminate standby(active power) as well as reactive power, leaving no room for power waste regardless of the size of the power factor. Appliances equipped with such technology from the design stage will easily solve the standby power waste problem.

The new technology will help reduce power consumption, which will lead to a reductionin power generation, which will, in turn,increase provisional power,and enable astable power supply.This will ultimately reduce utility bills and CO₂emissions. Indeed, the technology offers a very effective solution for energy conservation.

This technology will also help reduce power wastagederiving from a product that must remain plugged in for 24 hours daily - for example, a sensor light whose effective working time does not exceed one hour daily, hand driers, bidets, electric cookers, water dispensers with cooling and heating functions, vending machines, industrial equipment, medical and health equipment.

As long as the power consumed during standby or when appliances are not in motion can be shut down,power waste will be fully eliminated, satisfying energy efficiency policy targets of governments around the world.

Incorporating technology that shuts down standby powerat the design and manufacturing stage requiresproactive government regulations and home appliancemanufacturer cooperation.This technology will serve as a strong alternative solution, helping many countries prevent power blackouts, stabilize power supply, and tackle global environment issues including CO2 emissions.

Althoughpioneers applyingthis technology for the first time in the world will see a temporary cost increase, their products will be recognized as environment-friendly, giving them a positive corporate reputation. In addition, they will be able to enjoy product lifespan improvement andstrengthenedposition in the global energy efficiency market, which will enable them to lead energy efficient markets for sustainable growth.

※WESCON Inc. holds the patented technology of standby power shutdown and is seekinga global partner interested in commercializing the technology. WESCON is eager to share the opportunity to lead the global energy market with you.

Company   WESCONCo.Ltd. (South Korea)

CEO        Chang Ho Kim

Homepage  www.we-plant.com

e-mailwescon26@naver.com

Tel         82 2 31 455 7249

Mobile     82 10 4028 7249