Knowledge base
Plain-language guides to the standards, technologies and compliance requirements that apply to charging products — written for people who have to make a decision, not for people who want a textbook.
The knowledge base is a set of plain-language guides to the standards, technologies and compliance requirements that apply to charging products. Each guide explains a mechanism or a trade-off — how magnetic alignment changes the thermal problem in Qi2, why two chargers of the same wattage behave differently, what a power bank's milliamp-hour rating does and does not mean — rather than restating the text of a standard. Every guide names its sources, links to the issuing organisation, and states the date it was last reviewed. The collection is written for people who have to make a decision, not as a textbook.
CE, FCC, UL and the rest: what each market actually requires
These are not competing versions of the same thing. CE, FCC and UL are three different kinds of requirement, and treating them as comparable causes expensive mistakes.
Market complianceConformance, certification and market access are three different things
Most compliance disputes in the charging industry come from treating three distinct ideas as one. Here is how to tell which of them a supplier is actually claiming.
Power conversionGaN chargers: what changes, and what does not
Gallium nitride lets a charger be smaller. It does not make the heat disappear — it concentrates it. Here is what that means for a product decision.
BatteriesPower bank capacity claims: what a mAh rating actually means
A 20,000 mAh power bank does not deliver 20,000 mAh. Here is the arithmetic behind the number, and how to compare two products honestly.
Wireless powerQi2 explained: what the magnetic profile changes in practice
Qi2 adds mechanical alignment to wireless charging. Here is what that changes for efficiency, thermal design and the accessories built around a product.
Market complianceReading a test report: what it proves and what it does not
A test report is the most useful document a supplier can send you, and the easiest to misread. Eight things to check before you rely on it.
BatteriesUN 38.3 in practice: what is tested, and what the shipper must hold
UN 38.3 is a transport requirement, not a product safety standard. Here is what the eight tests cover and which document carriers actually ask for.
Wired powerUSB Power Delivery and PPS: how to read a charger specification
Two chargers with the same wattage can behave completely differently. The reason is in the list of power capabilities, and here is how to read it.
What the working groups are on next
Guides are published when they are right, not on a schedule. These are the topics currently being drafted. If one of them is blocking a decision you are making, say so and it moves up.
- Reading a wireless charging specification sheet without being misled by the wattage
- Coil geometry, shielding and what changes when a charger is built into furniture
- Thermal derating in magnetic chargers: when a slow charge is the correct behaviour
- USB-C cable capability in depth: what an e-marker does and does not guarantee
- Multi-port chargers: how total power is divided, and why the total is not the sum
- Standby consumption, no-load behaviour and the cost of a charger left plugged in
- Protection circuits: what each layer does, and the failure modes worth designing against
- Cell grading, second sources and the risk of a silent substitution
- Cycle life claims: what the test conditions hide
- Planning a test programme across several markets without testing twice
- Safety listing in practice: what a listing covers and what it does not
- Supplier qualification: the documents worth asking for, in order
How guides are written
Every guide names its sources, links to the issuing organisation, and states the date it was last reviewed. Where a requirement is changing, the page says so rather than presenting the current position as permanent.
Where members disagree on a point, the disagreement is published. A guide that resolves a live technical argument by assertion would be more comfortable to read and less useful.
Where a guide is wrong, it is corrected and the correction is recorded on the page. Reports go to info@globalchargingalliance.com.