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WHAT IS POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

01 / WHAT IS POWER FACTOR CORRECTION?

The Reactive Power charge on your electricity bill is directly targeted against those companies who do not demonstrate clear energy efficiency use. You will find this charge itemized on your electricity bill.

Reactive power charges can be made significantly smaller by the introduction of Power Factor Correction Capacitors which are a widely recognized method of reducing an electrical load and minimizing wasted energy, improving the efficiency of a plant and reducing the electricity bill.

It is not always necessary to reach a power factor of 1. A cost effective solution can be achieved by increasing your power factor to greater than 0.95

A full site survey is required to determine what type and size of system is required to meet your current and future needs.

Power Factor Correction Ltd will carry out the survey, including harmonic analysis, and the cost of the survey can be remitted against the cost of the equipment purchased.

Power Factor is a measure of how efficiently electrical power is consumed. In the ideal world Power Factor would be unity (or 1). Unfortunately in the real world Power Factor is reduced by highly inductive loads to 0.7 or less. This induction is caused by equipment such as lightly loaded electric motors, luminary transformers and fluorescent lighting ballasts and welding sets, etc.

Once in place, the cost of PFC can often be recovered in less than 1 year.

02 / WHAT DOES IT DO TO MY ELECTRICITY BILL?

In a 3 phase supply, kW consumed is (VOLTS x AMPS x 1.73 x Power Factor) / 1000. The Electricity Company supply you VOLTS x AMPS and they have to supply extra to make up for the loss caused by poor Power Factor. When the power factor falls below a set figure, the electricity supply companies charge a premium on the kW being consumed, or, charge for the whole supply as kVA.

03 / WHAT CAUSES POWER FACTOR TO CHANGE?

Inductive loads cause the AMPS to lag behind the VOLTS. The wave forms of VOLTS and AMPS are then "out of phase" with each other. The more out of phase they become then the lower the Power Factor. Power Factor is usually expressed as Cos Phi.

In 3 phase power supplies the "power" can be measured as a triangle.

ACTIVE Power is the base line and is the real usable power measured in kW.

REACTIVE power is the vertical or that part of the supply which causes the inductive load. The reactive power in is measured in kVAr (kilo volt-amperes reactive).

APPARENT Power is the hypotenuse. This is the resultant of the other two components and is measured in kVA.

04 / WHY DO I NEED POWER FACTOR CORRECTION?

Capacitive Power Factor correction (PFC) is applied to electric circuits as a means of minimizing the inductive component of the current and thereby reducing the losses in the supply.

The introduction of Power Factor Correction capacitors is a widely recognized method of reducing an electrical load, thus minimizing wasted energy and hence improving the efficiency of a plant and reducing the electricity bill. It is not usually necessary to reach unity, i.e. Power Factor 1, since most supply companies are happy with a PF of 0.95 to 0.98

05 / HOW DOES IT WORK?

Power Factor Correction Benefits

By installing suitably sized switched capacitors into the circuit, the Power Factor is improved and the value becomes nearer to 1 thus minimising wasted energy and improving the efficiency of a plant.

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About Us

OUR STORY

We are a company that has been built on firm principles of caring for our clients and always offering them the best technical solution.Our 2 principal engineers have 70 years of accumulated experience between them.

OUR SERVICES

We offer a comprehensive maintenance and repair package for all power quality products and switchgear. Irrespective of manufacturer or supplier, these products may offer a challenge to general maintenance staff and contractors who may not be experienced with this type of specialized equipment.

Malfunctioning equipment can manifest a multitude of effects onto the whole system with unexplained electrical failures.

This equipment is usually vital to a customers operation, we will ensure the correct operation and reliability through a cost effective preventative maintenance scheme that covers all the equipment.