At Estac Engineering, we always employ advanced loggers to scientifically record power metrics at client premises before designing PV systems. These loggers measure voltage, power factor, harmonics, and total energy demand.

Our data reveals that many clients have a power factor below 0.85, falling short of the minimum 0.9 requirement stipulated by the NRS097 South African grid code. This inefficiency is costly, as a power factor of 0.85 means clients are only utilising 85% of the power they pay for.

What is Power factor?

To understand power factor, it’s essential to first explain apparent, reactive, and active power. We like to illustrate this using the beer analogy:

Power Factor is a measure of how effectively incoming power is used in your electrical system (energy efficiency) and is defined as the ratio of Real (working) power to Apparent (total) power.

Our goal is to reduce the reactive power caused by certain transformers and motors to increase energy efficiency and lower electricity bills and peak demands. By lowering the peak demand at a site, the scope for a PV system is also reduced in size, resulting in savings for the client. We have had clients with power factor as low as 0.33. This means they are non-compliant, and risk of damaging electrical equipment on site and only using 33% of the power they are paying for. Below is a snippet example of their logging results:

How is Power Factor correction achieved?

Inductive Power factor correction is achieved by installing a power factor correction panel on site. This panel contains capacitors which produce reactive energy to counteract the energy absorbed by certain motors.

By installing a power factor correction unit, you will benefit in several ways:

• Improved power quality and efficiency on site
• Protection of electrical equipment on site
• Reduce maintenance and downtime
• Savings on electrical bill
• Regulatory compliance
• Reduced carbon footprint
• Enhanced Voltage Stability

How to determine the power factor of your premises:

To ensure you are not experiencing high reactive power, request a 10-day logging quotation from Estac Engineering. We will install a logger, provide a detailed report, and design a power efficiency solution if necessary. Logging a site’s energy consumption before expanding or amending is crucial to understanding its unique energy requirements. After completing any infrastructural changes, repeating the logging is advisable to evaluate the impact on the entire energy topology.

Contact us today for expert advice and quality solutions.

Gauteng and surrounding: Dewald Pretorius (dewald@estac-engineering.co.za)