Power factor improvement for the new year and beyond

Power factor improvement is a continuous effort to ensuring the most efficient use of energy and the best possible cost savings, for your business and the production overheads, in the long term. It is an important topic to not only people who work in the engineering sectors, but also those who simply own businesses and need energy efficiency solutions to help with the decreasing of costs on each month’s balance sheet.

Power factor correction is an industry that we at Alpha Power Solutions have specialised in for over 30 years. It is power saving technology that helps with the improvement of a low power factor present on a power system by possible means of installing PFC capacitors, and in so doing, increasing the ratio of active power to apparent power.

It all sounds exceptional technical and it is, but it needn’t be a daunting task that you choose to ignore entirely. Often, we find that many industries; although they understand the need for efficiency, are a tad skeptical to take on the initial ‘expensive’ investment in power factor correction solutions.

Calculating Power Factor Correction

The first step to understanding and deciding if the power-saving technology is for you lies in the use of a power factor correction calculator.

Our online power factor calculator can be used to calculate what your power factor correction requirements are, and how your business, through the installation of the relevant products, can reap optimal benefits from power factor improvement.

A few of the benefits of power factor improvement are:

• Reduced demand chargesUtility companies charge for maximum metered demand based on either; demand in kilowatts (KW meter), or a percentage of the highest registered demand in KVA (KVA meter), whichever is greater.
  
  If your system’s power factor is low, the KVA will be significantly greater than the KW demand. Improving that power factor will therefore lower the demand charge and in turn, reduce your electricity bill.
• Improve voltage
  As the current in a power line increases, the voltage drop in a conductor increases which results in a lower voltage at the equipment point. Power factor improvement would improve the drops in voltage and ensure that equipment receives adequate voltage.
  
• Lighter circuits. More carrying capabilities.
  Installation of a power factor correction product like at the end of existing circuits, near the inductive loads helps in the reduction of the current carried by each circuit.A reduced current flow then frees up space for the circuit to carry new loads, instead of forcing your production to halt and upgrade and realign the distribution network when extra capacity is required for additional machinery or equipment.In a nutshell – no need to spend thousands of Rands on upgrades to carry your business’ production demands, as and when you grow from strength to strength.

Alpha Power Solutions

As a certified corporate member of the Southern African Association for Energy Efficiency (SAEE) and the Belgian Chamber of Commerce for Southern Africa, as well as associate member of the Electrical Contractors Association of South Africa (ECASA), we trust that we are in the best position to give you and your business the energy efficiency knowledge and savings you need.

Try out our power factor correction calculator and contact us for any other questions we haven’t covered.

The start of a new year is the Perfect time to get on the right side of energy efficiency.