Zero energy devices (ZED): Stopping
the increasing demand of electronics for
grid-based electricity
James E. McMahon
Better Climate Research and Policy Analysis
P.O. Box 36
Moraga, California 94556
USA
jim@betterclimate.info
Keywords
zero-carbon technologies, electrical and electronic , electronic
loads, end-use demand, energy scenario, energy-neutral, ther-
mal energy, ambient energy
Abstract
The combination of technological advances in energy ef-
ficiency for electronic devices, coupled with advances in
harvesting ambient energy, has the potential to achieve zero
energy devices (ZEDs), self-powered and utilizing less than
one watt each. The majority of energy-using devices sold
globally are consumer electronics devices. While the energy
consumption of each device is relatively small (a few to tens of
Watts each), the rate of increase in their numbers has caused
them to contribute a large increase in the demand for electric-
ity. Technological advances are contributing to higher energy
efficiency, often for the purpose of extending battery life. For
example, computations per kilowatt-hour have doubled every
1.6  years since the 1940s. Battery life at constant comput-
ing power has increased 100 times per decade. More efficient
designs of battery chargers could use 3–10 times less kWh
per year. A newer and complimentary set of technological
advances are raising the possibility for harvesting ambient
energy and avoiding the use of grid-based power. Ambi-
ent energy is universally available (in magnitudes of 10s to
100s of milliWatts) and comes in multiple forms, including;
a) radio waves (from broadcast communications and wireless
networks); b)  light (harvested by photovoltaic cells, which
can currently capture about 10 mW per square centimeter);
c) linear motion (e.g., kinetic energy from throwing a switch,
captured as piezoelectric effect); d) temperature (e.g., tem-
perature difference between a human body at 37 °C and ambi-
ent air); and vibration (from walking or powered transport).
Commercially available devices harvesting ambient energy
exist in increasing numbers, including self-powered wireless
light switches. This paper examines the future potential for
designing ambient-energy harvesting into electronic devices
(e.g., smart phones to portable computers and electronic
readers to music devices) so that they are self-powered, zero
energy devices (ZEDs).
Energy consumption of electronic devices
The developments in information technology have spawned a
wide range of products and applications. Electronic devices are
in widespread use in homes and offices. These include mobile
phones, computing and entertainment devices, as well as office
equipment including computers, monitors, modems, routers,
printers, and copiers.
Electronic devices utilize electricity and may be powered
by batteries or by distributed or grid-based supply. Electricity
may be consumed in several modes, including passive standby,
active standby, or active power. (ACEEE, 2012) Table 1 shows
a list of some electronic devices and representative power re-
quirements in three modes, where the power required for at
least one mode is less than 20 watts.
In the U.S., the installed base of 2.87 billion residential con-
sumer electronics consumed about 193 TWh of electricity in
2010, 13.2 % of residential electricity and 5.1 % of total U.S.
electricity (Urban, 2011). Of residential electricity consump-
tion by consumer electronic devices, televisions accounted for
34 %, personal computers 16 %, and set-top boxes 13 %.
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Table 1. Common electronic devices, power by mode and annual energy.

Product Passive Standby Active Standby Active Average Annual Energy

or Off (watts) (watts) (watts) Use (kWh)
Plasma TV (<40”) 3 – 246 441
Satellite Cable 12 11 16 124
CRT TV (<40”) 1 – 73 123
LCD TV (<40”) 3 – 70 77
Video Game Console 1 – 24 16
DVD 1 5 11 13
Desktop Computer 4 17 68 255
Laptop Computer 1 3 22 83
CRT Monitor 2 3 70 82
LCD Monitor 1 2 27 70
Computer Speakers 2 – 7 20
Modem 5 – 6 50
Wireless Router 2 – 6 48
USB Hub 1 – 3 18
Printer 2 3 9 15
Multi-Function 6 9 15 55
Printer/Scanner/Copier
Power Tool 4 – 34 37
Hand-held Vacuum 3 – 3 29
Cordless Phone 2 3 5 26
Electric Toothbrush 2 – 4 14
Shaver 1 – 1 11
MP3 Player 1 – 1 6
Cell Phone 0 1 3 3
Digital Camera 0 – 2 3
Source: ECOS Consulting, 2006. Final Field Research Report for the California Energy Commission (ACEEE, 2013).

Usage trends affecting the potential for energy harvesting
The proliferation of electronic devices has contributed to grow-
ing demand for electricity. Since the advent of such devices as
the smart phone and portable (laptop then tablet) computers,
usage has shifted from stationary to mobile devices. Designs
having higher energy efficiency and longer battery lives facili-
tate mobility. Another technique to preserve battery life is in-
creasing the time spent in standby modes, which usually have
lower power requirements than active modes. The increased
use of mobile devices has increased the stationary electricity
demand by battery chargers. As a consequence of these trends,
an increasing share of energy consumption is at lower power
(wattage) requirements.
Computations per kilowatt-hour have doubled every
1.57 years since the 1940s. Battery life at constant computing
power has increased 100 times per decade (Koomey, 2011).
More efficient designs of battery chargers could use 3–8 times
less kWh per year (U.S. DOE, 2009).
Options for harvesting ambient energy
Sources of ambient energy include mechanical motion, light,
heat, airflow, vibrations, and electromagnetic energy. Table 2
shows a comparison of power densities for energy harvesting
methods.
Ambient energy is available at low levels. Some harvesting
methods are sufficient to power low power sensors, avoiding
the need for batteries. (Alvarado, 2012) Only a few of these har-
vesting techniques are likely to produce enough power to meet
the requirements in Table 1.
Human motion, especially walking, has the potential to pro-
vide sufficient energy to power mobile devices. Heel strikes
have been studied and shoes designed to capture this energy.
Ambient light, especially daylight, is another strong candi-
date, especially when coupled with a battery.
Experiments have shown the ability to capture energy from
airflow using piezoelectric materials. Sufficient power was gen-
erated from 5.2 m/s wind to continuously operate a thermom-
eter (Gao, 2013).
Hand-cranks were once used to generate electricity for a va-
riety of devices including some telephones. Hand cranks are
available today, mostly for emergency devices, such as radios,
or for charging cell phones in off-grid locations. Energy storage
at small scale can be captured by a spring.
Capturing the kinetic energy from human-operated switches
or push buttons to charge a capacitor is another source. Light
switches are commercially available that use this energy to send
a wireless signal to a light fixture, turning the light on or off, or
changing the dimming level.
Capturing energy from vibrations, from machines or from
high-foot-traffic surfaces, such as stairs or floors in buildings,
has been demonstrated (Rabaey, 2007). A hybrid energy har-
vester that combines piezoelectric and electromagnetic har-
vesting has been reported to generate 10.7 mW (Sang, 2012).

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Thermoelectric materials utilize a temperature gradient to de- Table 2. Comparison of Power Density of Energy Harvesting Methods.
velop a voltage difference. Sources of waste heat, such as automo-
Energy Source Power Density and
bile engines, are being researched as possible electricity sources.
Performance
Acoustic noise has been found to provide too little energy to 2
Heel strike 7 W/cm
be likely to provide practical value. 2
Ambient light 100 mW/cm (direct sun)
2
100 µW/cm (illuminated office)
Practical considerations for energy harvesting 2
Airflow 1 mW/cm
Harvesting ambient energy is the extreme case of distributed Hand generators 30 W/kg
generation. The concept is to generate energy in or near de- Push buttons 50 µJ/N
vices, so that they are effectively independent of larger scale Vibration
3
4 µW/cm (human motion – Hz)
electricity infrastructure. Examples include: (micro generator)
3
800 µW/cm (machines – kHz)
2
Shoe inserts 330 µW/cm
• Ambient light powers devices in lighted environments (e.g., 3
Vibration 200 µW/cm
photocells on calculators or watches).
(piezoelectric)
2
• Switches or push buttons that provide enough power for Thermoelectric 60 µW/cm
3
the desired task (controlling a light or turning a television Temperature 10 µW/cm
on or off). variation
2
Ambient radio 1 µW/cm
• Normal human activity or body heat generates electricity to frequency
power a smart phone. Acoustic Noise
3
0.003 µW/cm @ 75 Db
3
0.96 µW/cm @ 100 Db
In most applications, the ambient energy source will vary.
Ambient light changes with time of day or the photovoltaic Source: Paradiso, 2005 and Yildiz (reordered by decreasing
cell is put in shadow. People are not always walking. Ambient power density).
temperature changes. A typical solution is to develop a system
that has electricity storage, usually a battery. Control systems
are needed to regulate the charging and discharging of the bat- • DVD-only players sleep 21.5  hours per day. Energy har-
tery as both supply and demand vary. Getting the energy from vesting of 1.5 Watts would save 65 % of the product’s an-
source to demand and balancing supply and demand represent nual energy. For the U.S. stock in 2010, this corresponds to
major challenges in energy harvesting systems. 1.24 TWh/yr.

• DVD-VCR and DVD-recorder players sleep 20.6 hours per

Potential energy savings from zero-energy devices
Previous studies have characterized the power requirements
for electronic devices. In lower power modes (standby or
sleep), many devices require only 1 Watt, and a number of
devices require only a few Watts for active mode. The po-
tential energy savings from zero-energy devices is estimated
by disaggregating electricity loads by the power requirements
of individual devices in particular modes. Table 3 shows the
list of selected products (mode in parenthesis), the average
power requirement in that mode, the percent of the product’s
energy that could be saved with energy harvesting, the an-
nual savings for the entire U.S. stock (TWh/yr), and the cor-
responding percent of all residential electricity consumed by
consumer electronics.
For example, Blueray disc players draw 0.5  W of power
in the off mode for 23.1  hours/day, consuming 4.2  kWh/yr.
Product annual energy for Blueray disc players in all modes
is 13.7 kWh/yr. The U.S. installed base of 12.3 million players
consumes 0.17 TWh/yr. If the off mode were completely served
by ambient energy (4.2 kWh/yr per unit, or 0.05 TWh/yr for
the installed base), this represents 30.8 % savings of product
annual energy, and savings of 0.03 % of residential consumer
electronics electricity.
Figure 1 shows, for each product and mode, the percent of
the product’s energy in that mode (y-axis), the power require-
ment (on the x-axis), and the annual potential savings for the
entire U.S. stock (TWh/yr, as size of bubble).
Products that sleep most of the time could save the majority
of their electricity with energy harvesting:
day. Energy harvesting of 3 Watts would save 59.6 % of the
product’s annual energy, or 2.62 TWh for the U.S. stock in
2010.
• Blue ray disc players are off 23.1 hours per day. Energy har-
vesting of 0.5 W would save 30.8 % of the product’s annual
electricity. For this product, the installed base is low, so the
savings for the U.S stock in 2010 is 0.05 TWh/yr.
• Audio video receivers are in off or sleep mode 21.4 hours
per day. Energy harvesting of 2 Watts would save 28 % of
the product’s electricity, or 1.79 TWh for the installed U.S.
stock.
• Televisions are off 20.2 hours per day. If energy harvesting
could provide 3.2 Watts, 12.9 % of the product’s annual en-
ergy could be saved, or 8.34 TWh/yr.
• Video game systems are off 20 hours per day. Energy har-
vesting of 2 Watts would save 10.8 % of the product’s elec-
tricity, or 1.59 TWh/yr.
The cumulative effect of widespread energy harvesting of a
few watts per device would be large. If energy-harvesting tech-
niques provided power for selected demands requiring 4 Watt
or less, nearly 10 % of U.S. residential electricity for consumer
electronics could be saved. Figure 2 shows the potential cumu-
lative electricity savings for the U.S. stock. If energy harvesting
provided some fraction of the power requirements analysed
here, then the results would scale accordingly.
For the selected products and modes in Table 3, if energy
harvesting met all power requirements up to 3 Watts, nearly

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Table 3. Potential energy savings from zero-energy devices.

Product (mode) Power Mode Mode Product Installed Annual Mode Savings Savings (%
(watts) usage annual Annual base Electricity Savings (% of of residential
(hours/day) energy Energy (millions, Consumption (TWh/yr) product consumer
(kWh/yr) (kWh/yr) U.S. 2010) (TWh/yr) energy) electronics
electricity)
Blue ray disc 0.5 23.1 4.2 13.7 12.3 0.17 0.05 30.8% 0.03%
players (off)
Monitors (off) 0.9 7.4 2.4 97 131 12.7 0.32 2.5% 0.2%
Computers, 1 7.5 2.7 63 132 8.3 0.36 4.3% 0.2%
portable (off)
Monitors (low) 1.2 9.7 4.2 97 131 12.7 0.56 4.4% 0.3%
DVD-only players 1.5 21.5 11.8 18 107 1.9 1.24 65.4% 0.6%
(sleep)
Computers, 2 2.3 6.4 220 101 22 0.64 2.9% 0.3%
desktop (off)
Computers, 2 6.1 4.4 63 132 8.3 0.58 7.0% 0.3%
portable (sleep)
Video game 2 20.0 14.6 135 109 14.7 1.59 10.8% 0.8%
systems (off)
Audio video 2 21.4 15.4 55 99 6.4 1.79 28.0% 0.9%
receivers (off &
sleep)
DVD-VCR and 3 20.6 22.5 37.8 116 4.4 2.62 59.6% 1.4%
DVD=recorder
players (sleep)
Televisions (off) 3.2 20.2 23.6 183 353 64.7 8.34 12.9% 4.3%
Computers, 4 5.9 8.6 220 101 22 0.86 3.9% 0.4%
desktop (sleep)

Source: Urban, 2011.

Figure 1. Percent of product’s energy saved by power requirement (W). Size of bubble and number in data label indicate savings (TWh/yr).

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Figure 2. Cumulative savings (TWh/yr) for selected products and modes in stock, U.S., 2010., by power requirement (W).

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