Enter your Circuit Type, Voltage, Real Power, Current, and Frequency into the Power Factor Calculator to find your Power Factor, Apparent Power, and Reactive Power — plus plug in a Target Power Factor to get the exact Correction Capacitance needed to hit it.
Power Factor
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Apparent Power
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Reactive Power
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Correction Capacitance
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Power factor is the ratio of real power to apparent power in an AC circuit, representing how effectively electrical power is being used. A higher power factor means more efficient power usage and lower electricity costs.
Power factor is calculated as PF = Real Power (kW) / Apparent Power (kVA) or PF = cos φ, where φ is the phase angle between voltage and current. It ranges from 0 to 1, with 1 being ideal.
Low power factor is primarily caused by inductive loads such as motors, transformers, and fluorescent lighting. These devices cause current to lag behind voltage, reducing power efficiency.
Power factor correction reduces reactive power demand, lowers electricity bills, improves voltage regulation, and increases system capacity. Most utilities charge penalties for poor power factor below 0.9.
Capacitors provide leading reactive power that cancels out the lagging reactive power from inductive loads. This brings the power factor closer to unity (1.0) and improves overall system efficiency.
Single-phase uses voltage and current directly, while three-phase calculations involve √3 factor and can use either line-to-line or line-to-neutral voltages. Three-phase systems are more complex but more efficient for higher power applications.
A power factor above 0.95 is considered excellent, 0.85-0.95 is good, and below 0.85 typically requires correction. Most utilities require a minimum power factor of 0.9 to avoid penalties.