Frank P. Paniagua

Green Plug’s mission is to rid the world of disposable, incompatible and wasteful external power supplies and battery chargers. A typical home or office has a dozen or more power transformers that convert between 90VAC and 254VAC wall power to device-specific DC power. Every adapter is physically unique, has a one-to-one relationship with an electronic product, and is therefore, thrown away every time a device is replaced.

The company provides enabling technology that makes any electronic product capable of getting power from any power supply. Each product has a unique voltage and current requirement. Originally for safety, external power supplies have been designed with incompatible connectors and are useful for only one product and they wind up being discarded even though they are in perfect working condition. Technology now exists that addresses safety concerns and goes far beyond.

Green PlugTM-based power supplies address the broad range of power requirements through digital communication that provides a superior power charging experience, cost reduction, and solves important consumer convenience and solid waste issues. The power model is broken today – one power supply for each device is not a sustainable model for the future.

Green PlugTM-enabled devices request power from universal power supplies that are capable of delivering device-specific power requirements. All Green PlugTM-enabled devices utilize uniform cables and connectors; so, you never have to worry about finding the right adapter for your laptop, DV camera, cell phone or power tool. And, since Green PlugTM–based power supplies serve power to any device, you NEVER need to throw adapters away when you get a new laptop, cell phone or any battery-powered device.

The company licenses free of charge its universal power connector design and GreentalkTM firmware for any product that wishes to eliminate the need for a proprietary, device-specific power adapter or battery charger. The company’s wish is to make it easy and affordable for products to quickly adopt a truly universal and safe power model. Green Plug makes money on the inclusion of its technology in power supplies and not on the electronic devices that need them. Green PlugTM-based power supplies:

• Provide universal and safe connections
• Are reusable and make products more affordable by eliminating the need for disposable, device-specific power supplies
• Eliminate waste – providing benefits from environmentally friendly marketing
• Generate customer loyalty by responding to the outcry of consumers for universal power solutions

Frank P. Paniagua, Jr. (FP), Founder and CEO of the company shares with Frost & Sullivan, Green Plug’s vision of the future in the "Green" powered market and talks to us about the developments that have taken place in the company.

Vishal Sapru (VS), Industry Manager – Energy & Power Systems with Frost & Sullivan is in conversation with him and following are the extracts.

VS: When and how did Green Plug start?

FP: Like so many people, I have always disliked the need to carry four or five power adapters and battery chargers with me when I travel. And, my home office has always been cluttered by unsightly black bricks that are needed by so many products today. For years, I have wanted a better solution and developed the business plan and invested in product development research.
The company’s genesis was 2005. I smiled broadly and was quite happy after listening to Larry Page, Co-Founder of Google keynote speech at CES in 2006. His speech was about the need for universal power. His remarks about the need for change and correct architecture for intelligent, real time digital charging of consumer electronic devices mirrored Green Plug to perfection.

VS: Does Green Plug have a product in place as of now?

FP: Yes. Green Plug launched its first product, the Universal Power Protocol (UPP) chip at CES 2008. The UPP chip can be embedded in power supply designs to make them universal, reusable, multi-function and smart. Our business model is an OEM sale and you will likely see companies announcing Green Plug-enabled power supply solutions late this year or early in 2009.

VS: Green Plug is a new company. What do you consider as growing or emerging opportunities in the power supply market? What sets you apart from your competitors, if you have any?

FP: I do believe we will be a market leader because we have an effective, inexpensive and very logical approach to solve this DC power problem. What’s been missing up to now is a model of collaboration – where devices communicate with power supplies so that they can dynamically adapt to each product’s changing requirements. Green Plug is the first to introduce a realistic and affordable architecture. The 15KB lines of code on the client device is licensed free of charge to make it easy for vendors to quickly add power intelligence to their products. Green Plug is set apart from competitors in its collaborative approach to negotiate power requirements. We don’t compete with power supply vendors as do other universal power supply products; we provide embeddable technology they can use to make their products better.

VS: What do you consider as emerging opportunities for the company in the power supply market?

FP: 3.2 billion power supplies will be sold in 2008 according to Gartner. There is the opportunity. Moreover, our technology lends itself to solid state or LED lighting and other new and emerging technologies that require real-time digital communication to conserve energy and adapt to changing state of electronic products that need DC power. We envision that many products that today have internal AC-DC converters in them, such as plasma televisions and stereo equipment, will someday be able to eliminate the need for these power converters. By collaborating with universal DC power distribution systems, many products can drop the expense of internal AC-DC power supplies that are unnecessary in a world where universal DC power is now practical.

VS: Do you foresee any existing or emerging competitors in this segment for your company in the next two years?

FP: There are emerging competitive technologies like wireless, conduction and induction power. Some of these technologies hold promise and can be complementary to what Green Plug offers. Currently, these technologies require device-specific components that tell the power supplies what power they need. We think the market is crying for the elimination of device-specific hardware and truly wants universal power. Therefore, we don’t see these technologies as competitive; we see them as potential beneficiaries of universal power through common digital interfaces, and we can bring to them the green aspect that they don’t have currently. Green Plug can help companies that implement these technologies overcome the challenge of energy loss and a lack of standards. What we don’t want is 50 mats with three appliances on each mat. Digital collaboration between power supplies and electronic products is the key to standardization.

VS: What does Green Plug have that your competitors do not have?

FP: It’s a common-sense approach. Green Plug does not necessarily require any additional hardware on any CE manufacturer’s product. Vendors can optionally embed GreentalkTM firmware that we give away for free on an available processor like the PMU (power management unit) chip or on a very small dedicated GreentalkTM processor. Historically, digital communication is the basis for conversion from closed systems to open systems in a variety of areas. Applying GreentalkTM for digital communication is a natural way to open the currently closed and broken power model and constitutes Green Plug’s innovation.

VS: The technology is unique in its way, any other factor that makes Green Plug stronger?

FP: Yes. Companies like Intel, AMD and their customers can add significant value to Green Plug core technology. We’re only just beginning to explore the optimizations that are possible with a new power model that is built upon digital communication. Potential improvements to be explored include:

• Quick charging of batteries without degradation to batteries
• Dynamically adjusting output voltage to match changing state on devices
• Direct collaboration with power utilities to better manage peak energy demand periods
• Controlling solid state lighting systems.

For example: If it’s cloudy in our homes 10 years from now, the lights automatically turn up. When sun breaks through, the lights automatically dim down, providing a consistent luminescence. I don’t need to walk around switching off the lights, that happens automatically.

VS: The chip would go into the power supply and the firmware will be installed in client device? 

FP: Yes, the Universal Power Protocol (UPP) chip goes into the power supply.  The firmware goes into the electronic device to identify it and to communicate its changing power needs.

VS: What markets are primary markets for your company, and what international markets do you consider for present and future growth?

FP: Our primary market is the CE manufacturer because that market generates the highest volume of disposable, wasteful external power supplies. However, Green Plug licenses its technology for the product side free of charge. We make money when companies that build power solutions utilize GreentalkTM digital communication to power smart power products that utilize the universal power interface. Our customers, therefore, will be CE manufacturers, accessory power supply makers, office workspace providers, airplane and automobile manufacturers, and building and commercial developers.

VS: Are their any alliances or partnerships in place? Are you looking for more?

FP: We won the DemoGOD™ award in CES. We just publicly announced the availability of the UPP chip earlier this year. Green Plug is launching a non-profit called the Alliance for Universal Power – a global organization that will be run by industry, government, academic and NGO leaders to drive the world towards universal power. Please visit www.allianceforuniversalpower.org for details and register for the upcoming June conference.

VS: Looking at the company, are there any lessons learned last year that helped you achieve your targets this year?

FP: We need a better catalyst to get vendors over the tipping point. So many executives all agree that consumer demand is exceptionally strong and universal power makes a lot of sense for them, but migrating from a closed system to an open system represents internal challenges. We’re encouraged by the fact that vendors unanimously agree universal power makes sense and is good for them. But, we need better tools to get from acknowledgement to action.

VS: What are the challenges for Green Plug, and how are you going to overcome them?

FP: Adoption is the keyword. You’ve got to find people to adopt and break the rules of the old ways of charging. That’s the key.

VS: What is in the future for Green Plug?

FP: Our future is very bright. We are already engaged with early adopters on the product side as well as on the power supply side. We anticipate that these products will reach store shelves by Q1 2009. As soon as we can publicly discuss these products, we anticipate they will drive other vendors to adopt GreentalkTM as well.  As was the case when I co-founded the Video Electrons Standards Association (VESA) 20 years ago, after we signed the first company (NEC) to adopt the open graphics interface, within a year every major vendor followed.