Their solution is based on an the idea of standardising the power connector that is used by electronics on the standard USB connector. They have developed a variant of it for devices like laptops that need more power than a regular USB connector can deliver. This seems like a smart move since that connector is already becoming a de facto standard for low power electronics like cameras, phones etc. Additionally, USB power outlets are appearing on aircraft and even in airport lounges now, allowing people to power and recharge their small devices easily with just a cable.

Power Hub
At the center of the Green Plug idea is a single DC power hub that can be used to power all kinds of devices that need DC power. The hub itself is smart, and using a protocol they’ve called Greentalk it can detect the power needs of the device attached on each port and adjust accordingly. When a device is fully charged, it shuts off the power (regular chargers still have a trickle current flowing once the battery is full).

Scheduling
In addition to being more proactive about shutting off the power when a device is charged, the hub can also schedule the charging cycle in off peak hours, which can be cheaper if you have time based metering, but is better for smoothing out the power load on the grid even if you don’t (for those of us who lived through California’s rolling blackouts, that’s a good thing!).

Additionally, ATP has partnered with the American Forests’ National Tree planting project to use a portion of the profits from EarthDrive sales to plant new trees.

[Via GreenBlog]

While I was out the other day I came across a couple of solutions for charging portable devices, like iPods & media players, iPhones and other mobile phones, GPS navigation units or portable gaming devices using the energy of the sun. The two models I saw in the store were the Solio Universal Hybrid Solar Charger and the Solio H1000 Hybrid Battery Charger.

Of the two, the H1000 was perhaps the most appealing to me, simply because I’m not such a big fan of the fan out operation on the other model. Both have an internal battery that is charged by the solar panel, and can then be used to charge your external device. That means you can leave the charger in a sunny place all day, and then top up your phone from it overnight. And using solar power instead of leaving the phone’s AC charger plugged in all day, reduces the phantom power drain too (unplugging that AC adapter when you’re not using will help there too).