Power supply efficiency rarely takes centre stage in sustainability discussions. Yet for equipment that remains switched on around the clock, even the smallest energy losses are repeated every hour, across every device, for years.
An efficiency improvement of less than one percentage point may appear insignificant. Across one million always-on gateways deployed for five years, however, it could prevent more than 10 GWh of energy from being wasted and avoid hundreds of tonnes of CO₂ emissions.
That is not a marginal saving. It is the cumulative impact of making a better decision at the product design stage.
The impact hidden inside an installed base
A single broadband gateway represents only a small source of energy consumption. An operator’s entire installed base is a different story.
Every gateway requires an external power supply to convert electricity from the grid into the DC power needed by the device. Some energy is lost during that conversion, primarily as heat. The greater the loss, the more electricity must be drawn to deliver the same amount of useful power.
For one device, the small efficiency gain from the power supply can be not immediately obvious. However, when the gains are multiplied across millions of units operating continuously it can have a major impact.
This is why the external power supply should not be viewed as a minor accessory. Once deployed, it will quietly influence the energy consumption of the connected device throughout its operational life.
Compliance is the starting point
Energy efficiency standards provide an important baseline for power supply performance. But a compliant power supply is not necessarily an optimised one.
Two products can both meet the required standard while consuming different amounts of electricity when powering the same gateway. The result can be influenced by the output voltage, cable design, device architecture and the load at which the equipment typically operates.
The most useful question is therefore not simply, “Does this power supply comply?” It is, “How efficiently will it perform in this particular application over the lifetime of the product?”
Evaluating performance under realistic operating conditions can identify efficiency gains that headline specifications alone may not reveal. These improvements might appear small during development, but their value grows with every unit deployed.
At NetBit, we believe the power supply optimisation is a fundamental part of best-in-class CPE system design. Understanding how the gateway will operate in the field allows efficiency to be assessed in a way that reflects its real-world use, rather than relying solely on minimum requirements or isolated figures.
Scope 3 reductions begin with product design
For manufacturers and suppliers, the emissions generated by deployed products can represent an important part of their Scope 3 footprint. Improving power supply efficiency provides a practical way to reduce this use-phase impact without requiring any change in customer behaviour.
Operators benefit too because a more efficient installed base can reduce operational electricity consumption, associated emissions and the amount of energy lost as heat across the network.
Crucially, these benefits are determined before the equipment reaches the field. Once a large deployment is underway, replacing power supplies simply to achieve a relatively small efficiency improvement may be neither practical nor sustainable. The greatest opportunity comes from making the right choice at the beginning.
As organisations work towards more ambitious climate targets, sustainability cannot be limited to major infrastructure projects or highly visible initiatives. It must also be built into the everyday components that keep connected products running.
A power supply may be only one small part of a deployed CPE system, but it can have a meaningful impact on its overall sustainability. When the same design choice is repeated across an entire installed base, even a fraction of a percentage point can become a significant reduction in energy waste and emissions.
To find out more about how NetBit is helping operators reduce CPE energy consumption and associated Scope 3 emissions, contact us: sales@netbit.com
