Green Power is a feature of Zigbee based on energy-harvesting technology and is part of the flagship Zigbee PRO standard. Built with the open standards and global membership of the Alliance, Green Power gives users the freedom to set it and forget it.
Since its release in 2012, Green Power has undergone several revisions, delivering enhancements to the standard. Heading into 2024, the Green Power Working Group, under the Connectivity Standards Alliance, has completed its latest revision of the Green Power standard. Revision 1.1.2 introduces additional features and scripts that simplify testing and allow Green Power developers to use the same unified test harness for Green Power receiver products as used for the traditional Zigbee protocol.
Green and Energy-Saving
Green Power enables wireless devices to be powered utilizing energy-harvesting methods with limited or no batteries, thus saving on maintenance costs by reducing the need to regularly replace batteries across large areas. Battery-powered Green Power devices have an extended life of over 15 years without the need to change batteries, helping further reduce battery waste and contribute to a greener future. Additionally, this same feature in lighting products allows for continued flexibility and cost savings in commercial spaces by automating them without the limits of wired solutions. For devices in hard-to-reach places, Green Power eliminates the effort and limitations of swapping out batteries and provides dramatic ecological savings by leveraging energy harvesting by drawing on sources such as motion, light, and vibration to operate low-power IoT devices.
Battery-less and Low-Power
Zigbee Green Power devices are simpler than full-fledged network devices. They have a lower cost of components and lower cost for development. With Zigbee Green Power devices, you set them and forget them. The network handles the complexity of routing messages and keeps the Zigbee Green Power devices connected. Wireless mesh nodes are normally equipped with at least 256K bytes of program and 16K bytes of data, whereas a Zigbee Green Power device typically needs less than 32K for the program and 1K for data. A single Zigbee mesh network transmission takes as little as 500uJ of energy. Zigbee Green Power technology reduces this by a factor 5 or more in many standard use cases. Transmission of a green power message, identifying the status of a light switch, can be accomplished using as little as 50uJ of energy. This outstanding efficiency level enables using the kinetic energy of the button itself to power Green Power radio transmissions and makes it practical for energy-harvesting wireless switch products. Fully maintenance-free, they can be deployed into almost any environment.
Secure and Reliable
Because Zigbee Green Power devices are not directly exposed to the Internet, they are inherently protected against the more challenging Internet security concerns, including Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks. Even one-way simplex devices are secure with a random factory security key. Bi-directional devices can store a generated key from the network, which is different from the network key, thus adding another layer of security for the application.
Once a Zigbee Green Power device is securely commissioned, any mesh device in the Zigbee network will forward a green power message to its destination. This amplifies the power and usefulness of these simple devices and provides a reliable solution that is extremely robust against the hostile effects of indoor radio propagation, potential bottlenecks, or a router simply being offline for a while (e.g., a smart bulb disconnected from mains using a conventional switch).
Easy-to-Use
Green Power devices are straightforward and efficient. Simple push-button commissioning, or automatic commissioning when a button is unavailable, makes connecting lights to switches or heaters to thermostats and temperature sensors easy. Advanced commissioning and pairing using a smartphone or a remote control is also supported.
Interoperable
Zigbee Green Power devices use the same standard application layer as the traditional Zigbee devices, allowing them to seamlessly work together out of the box.
From providing unparalleled convenience and energy-savings in our homes to complete flexibility, reduced maintenance, and cost-savings for commercial and industrial spaces, Zigbee Green Power is the ultimate green IoT solution for a sustainable future.
Learn More About Zigbee Green Power
Visit https://csa-iot.org/all-solutions/green-power/ to learn more and join the world’s leading brands in building environmentally friendly and progressive IoT products as our connected culture evolves toward a battery-less, simplified wireless experience.