Energy efficiency is a critical concern for both individual users and organizations. Optimizing energy consumption not only reduces electricity bills but also extends the lifespan of hardware and contributes to environmental sustainability. In the context of Windows systems, there are several built-in features and tools that can help manage and reduce energy usage effectively. This article will guide you through various methods to optimize energy consumption on Windows systems, including configuring power plans, using command-line tools, and leveraging PowerShell scripts.

Examples:

1. Configuring Power Plans:
Windows offers predefined power plans that can be customized to balance performance and energy consumption. To access and configure power plans:

• Open the Control Panel.


• Navigate to "Hardware and Sound" > "Power Options".


• 
  

  You can select from Balanced, Power Saver, or High Performance, or create a custom plan.

  
  

  Example of creating a custom power plan via CMD:

  
  

  powercfg -create -name "MyCustomPlan"
  
  powercfg -setactive SCHEME_MIN

  
  

2. Using Command-Line Tools:
Windows provides the powercfg command-line tool to manage power settings. This tool can be used to generate detailed energy reports and configure power settings.

Example of generating an energy report:

   powercfg /energy

This command will create an HTML report in the current directory, which can be opened in a web browser to review detailed information about energy consumption and potential issues.

3. Leveraging PowerShell Scripts:
PowerShell can be used to automate and manage power settings more efficiently. Here is an example of a PowerShell script that sets the system to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity:

   powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 15

   powercfg -change -standby-timeout-dc 15

This script sets the system to enter sleep mode after 15 minutes of inactivity when plugged in (AC) and on battery (DC).

4. Disabling Unnecessary Startup Programs:
Reducing the number of programs that run at startup can also help save energy. This can be done via Task Manager or using PowerShell.

Example of disabling a startup program using PowerShell:

   Get-CimInstance Win32_StartupCommand | Where-Object { $_.Name -eq "ProgramName" } | Remove-CimInstance

5. Adjusting Display Settings:
The display is one of the most power-hungry components of a computer. Adjusting display settings can significantly reduce energy consumption.

Example of adjusting display brightness via PowerShell:

   (Get-WmiObject -Namespace root/wmi -Class WmiMonitorBrightnessMethods).WmiSetBrightness(1,50)