How would you react if a bartender gave you a pint of beer that was 50 per cent foam? Most beer drinkers would be dissatisfied, expecting a pint with minimal foam, and the same analogy can be applied to power factor. Just as too much foam in your beer wastes space, poor power factor wastes energy that you are paying for but not using effectively.

At Powerdown220, we believe that understanding and improving power factor correction (PFC) is crucial to improving energy efficiency and lowering costs.

What is Power Factor?

Power factor is the ratio of active power (the useful work done) to reactive power (the energy used to maintain equipment like motors and transformers). Active power, expressed in watts (W) or kilowatts (kW), is what does the actual work, like turning a motor or running a conveyor. Reactive power, on the other hand, is essential for the operation of equipment but doesn’t contribute directly to useful work.

The more reactive power a facility requires, the lower its power factor. Ideally, you want a power factor of 95 per cent or higher, meaning most of the supplied power is being used efficiently. However, in some industrial facilities, power factor can drop to 50 per cent, which means only half of the power supplied is doing useful work, with the rest going towards reactive power needs.

Power Factor Correction: Why It Matters

Facilities with a low power factor, particularly those with heavy inductive loads like motors, fans, and transformers, draw more reactive power. This results in a lagging power factor, where the current and voltage become out of sync, causing inefficiencies.

While electricity suppliers bill for active power, they still have to supply enough reactive power to meet your equipment’s needs. When your power factor is low, your supplier must provide more power than what you’re paying for, leading to increased costs. To offset this, suppliers often impose penalties on businesses with poor power factor, similar to paying for a pint of beer that’s half foam.

Power factor correction (PFC) helps minimise the amount of apparent power needed by your facility. PFC achieves this by generating the reactive power locally rather than drawing it from the grid, thereby reducing the overall demand on the transmission system. This lowers your energy bills, prevents power factor penalties, and improves the overall lifespan of your electrical equipment.

Power Factor Correction and Energy Savings

Improving your power factor through PFC brings a variety of financial and operational benefits, including:

• Lower electricity bills: By improving your power factor, you reduce the amount of apparent power required, which leads to significant energy savings.
• Extended equipment lifespan: A better power factor means less strain on your electrical systems, reducing wear and tear, and improving the longevity of your equipment.
• Avoidance of capacity upgrades: With an improved power factor, your existing electrical infrastructure can handle more work, potentially avoiding the need for costly upgrades to accommodate increased demand.

The Importance of a Power Quality Survey

To find out if power factor correction is needed for your facility, a power quality survey is essential. A power quality survey identifies power factor issues and provides insights into how much you could save with PFC. The savings can often be predicted with great accuracy, offering businesses a clear idea of how long the payback period will be, typically between one and three years.

Once power factor has been optimised, a power quality survey will also determine if further energy savings can be achieved with voltage optimisation (VO).

Combining Power Factor Correction and Voltage Optimisation

While PFC addresses reactive power, voltage optimisation focuses on reducing the incoming voltage to optimal levels for your equipment, further enhancing energy efficiency. By installing VO technology, businesses can cut electricity bills by around 8%, extend the lifespan of their electrical equipment, and reduce their carbon footprint.

VO works hand-in-hand with power factor correction to provide a holistic energy efficiency solution. For businesses seeking to cut costs, enhance sustainability, and improve equipment reliability, both PFC and VO offer significant long-term benefits.

The Future of Power Factor Correction at Powerdown220

At Powerdown220, we’ve seen increasing demand from clients for solutions to power factor and power quality issues, leading us to expand our expertise in these areas. By offering PFC and VO together, we can help businesses save not only on energy bills but also on installation costs by delivering comprehensive solutions tailored to their specific needs.

In recent years, we’ve successfully rolled out the largest voltage optimisation project in UK history, installing VO units across over 1,100 sites for major chains like Mitchells & Butler. Now, with our expanded focus on power factor correction, we’re helping even more businesses enhance their energy efficiency and improve power quality across their operations.

Conclusion: How to Improve Your Power Factor

If a bartender consistently served you pints with too much foam, you’d probably ask them to check their taps. Similarly, businesses should check their power factor to ensure they’re not wasting energy and money. Conducting a power quality survey is the first step towards identifying opportunities for improvement. Once your power factor is optimised, you can also explore further savings through voltage optimisation.

For more information on how power factor correction can benefit your business or to calculate potential savings with voltage optimisation, visit Powerdown220.co.uk.