Power Triangle, Power Factor and Power Factor Correction Method:

In an AC circuit, the voltage and current waveforms are sinusoidal so their amplitudes are constantly
changing over time. Since we know that power is voltage times the current (P = V*I), maximum power
will occur when the two voltage and current waveforms are lined up with each other. That is, their peaks
and zero crossover points occur at the same time. When this happens the two waveforms are said to be
“in-phase”.

The three main components in an AC circuit which can affect the relationship between the voltage and
current waveforms, and therefore their phase difference, by defining the total impedance of the circuit are
the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor.

The impedance, (Z) of an AC circuit is equivalent to the resistance calculated in DC circuits, with
impedance given in ohms. For AC circuits, impedance is generally defined as the ratio of the voltage and
current phasor’s produced by a circuit component. Phasor’s are straight lines drawn in such a way as to
represents a voltage or current amplitude by its length and its phase difference with respect to other
phasor lines by its angular position relative to the other phasor’s.

AC circuits contain both resistance and reactance that are combined together to give a total impedance (Z)
that limits current flow around the circuit. But an AC circuits impedance is not equal to the algebraic sum
of the resistive and reactive ohmic values as a pure resistance and pure reactance are 90 o out-of-phase
with each other. But we can use this 90o phase difference as the sides of a right angled triangle, called an
impedance triangle, with the impedance being the hypotenuse as determined by Pythagoras theorem.

This geometric relationship between resistance, reactance and impedance can be represented visually by
the use of an impedance triangle as shown.

Impedance Triangle

Note that impedance, which is the vector sum of the resistance and reactance, has not only a magnitude
(Z) but it also has a phase angle (Φ), which represents the phase difference between the resistance and the
reactance. Also note that the triangle will change shape due to variations in reactance, (X) as the
frequency changes. Of course, resistance (R) will always remain constant.
We can take this idea one step further by converting the impedance triangle into a power triangle
representing the three elements of power in an AC circuit. Ohms Law tells us that in a DC circuit, power
(P), in watts, is equal to the current squared (I2) times the resistance (R). So we can multiply the three
sides of our impedance triangle above by I2 to obtain the corresponding power triangle as:
Real Power: P = I2R Watts, (W)

Reactive Power: Q = I2X Volt-amperes Reactive, (VAr)

Apparent Power: S = I2Z Volt-amperes, (VA)

Real Power in AC Circuits

Real power (P), also known as true or active power, performs the “real work” within an electrical circuit.
Real power, measured in watts, defines the power consumed by the resistive part of a circuit. Then real
power, (P) in an AC circuit is the same as power, P in a DC circuit. So just like DC circuits, it is always
calculated as I2*R, where R is the total resistive component of the circuit.

As resistances do not produce any phasor difference (phase shift) between voltage and current
waveforms. Then the power consumed by a resistance is real power which is fundamentally the circuits
average power.

To find the corresponding value of the real power the rms voltage and current values are multiplied by the
cosine of the phase angle, Φ as shown.

Real Power P = I2R = V*I*cos(Φ) Watts, (W)

But as there is no phase difference between the voltage and the current in a resistive circuit, the phase
shift between the two waveforms will be zero (0). Then:

Real Power in an AC Circuit

Reactive power (Q), (sometimes called watt-less power) is the power consumed in an AC circuit that
does not perform any useful work but has a big effect on the phase shift between the voltage and current
waveforms. Reactive power is linked to the reactance produced by inductors and capacitors and
counteracts the effects of real power. Reactive power does not exist in DC circuits.

Unlike real power (P) which does all the work, reactive power (Q) takes power away from a circuit due to
the creation and reduction of both inductive magnetic fields and capacitive electrostatic fields, thereby
making it harder for the true power to supply power directly to a circuit or load.

The power stored by an inductor in its magnetic field tries to control the current, while the power stored
by a capacitors electrostatic field tries to control the voltage. The result is that capacitors “generate”
reactive power and inductors “consume” reactive power. This means that they both consume and return
power to the source so none of the real power is consumed.

To find reactive power, the rms voltage and current values are multiplied by the sine of the phase angle, Φ
as shown.

Where, real power (P) is in watts, voltage (V) is in rms volts and current (I) is in rms amperes.
Then real power is the I2*R resistive element measured in watts, which is what you read on your utility
energy meter and has units in Watts (W), Kilowatts (kW), and Megawatts (MW). Note that real power, P
is always positive.

Reactive Power Q = I2X = V*I*sin(Φ) volt-amperes reactive, (VAr)

As there is a 90o phase difference between the voltage and the current waveforms in a pure reactance
(either inductive or capacitive), multiplying V*I by sin(Φ) gives a vertical component that is 90 o out-of-
phase with each other, so:
Reactive Power in an AC Circuit

Where reactive power (Q) is in volt-amperes reactive, voltage (V) is in rms volts and current (I) is in rms
amperes.

Then reactive power represents the product of volts and amperes that are 90o out-of-phase with each
other, but in general, there can be any phase angle, Φ between the voltage and the current.

Thus reactive power is the I2X reactive element that has units in volt-amperes reactive (VAr), Kilovolt-
amperes reactive (kVAr), and Megavolt-amperes reactive (MVAr).

Apparent Power in AC Circuits

We have seen above that real power is dissipated by resistance and that reactive power is supplied to a
reactance. As a result of this the current and voltage waveforms are not in-phase due to the difference
between a circuits resistive and reactive components.

Then there is a mathematical relationship between the real power (P), and the reactive power (Q), called
the complex power. The product of the rms voltage, V applied to an AC circuit and the rms current, I
flowing into that circuit is called the “volt-ampere product” (VA) given the symbol S and whose
magnitude is known generally as apparent power.

This complex Power is not equal to the algebraic sum of the real and reactive powers added together, but
is instead the vector sum of P and Q given in volt-amps (VA). It is complex power that is represented by
the power triangle. The rms value of the volt-ampere product is known more commonly as the apparent
power as, “apparently” this is the total power consumed by a circuit even though the real power that does
the work is a lot less.

As apparent power is made up of two parts, the resistive power which is the in-phase power or real power
in watts and the reactive power which is the out-of-phase power in volt-amperes, we can show the vector
addition of these two power components in the form of a power triangle. A power triangle has four parts:
P, Q, S and θ.

The three elements which make up power in an AC circuit can be represented graphically by the three
sides of a right-angled triangle, in much the same way as the previous impedance triangle. The horizontal
(adjacent) side represents the circuits real power (P), the vertical (opposite) side represents the circuits
reactive power (Q) and the hypotenuse represents the resulting apparent power (S), of the power triangle
as shown.

Power Triangle of an AC Circuit

Where:

P is the I2*R or Real power that performs work measured in watts, W

Q is the I2*X or Reactive power measured in volt-amperes reactive, VAr

S is the I2*Z or Apparent power measured in volt-amperes, VA

Φ is the phase angle in degrees. The larger the phase angle, the greater the reactive power

Cos(Φ) = P/S = W/VA = power factor, p.f.

Sin(Φ) = Q/S = VAr/VA

Tan(Φ) = Q/P = VAr/W

The power factor is calculated as the ratio of the real power to the apparent power because this ratio
equals cos(Φ).

Power Factor in AC Circuits

Power factor, cos(Φ), is an important part of an AC circuit that can also be expressed in terms of circuit
impedance or circuit power. Power factor is defined as the ratio of real power (P) to apparent power (S),
and is generally expressed as either a decimal value, for example 0.95, or as a percentage: 95%.

Power factor defines the phase angle between the current and voltage waveforms, were I and V are the
magnitudes of rms values of the current and voltage. Note that it does not matter whether the phase angle
is the difference of the current with respect to the voltage, or the voltage with respect to the current. The
mathematical relationship is given as:
Power Factor of an AC Circuit

We said previously that in a pure resistive circuit, the current and voltage waveforms are in-phase with
each other so the real power consumed is the same as the apparent power as the phase difference is zero
degrees (0o). So the power factor will be:

Power Factor, pf = cos 0o = 1.0

That is the number of watts consumed is the same as the number of volt-amperes consumed producing a
power factor of 1.0, or 100%. In this case it is referred to a unity power factor.

We also said above that in a purely reactive circuit, the current and voltage waveforms are out-of-phase
with each other by 90o. As the phase difference is ninety degrees (90o), the power factor will be:

Power Factor, pf = cos 90o = 0

That is the number of watts consumed is zero but there is still a voltage and current supplying the reactive
load. Clearly then reducing the reactive VAr component of the power triangle will cause θ to reduce
improving the power factor towards one, unity. It is also desirable to have a high power factor as this
makes the most efficient use of the circuit delivering current to a load.

Then we can write the relationship between the real power, the apparent power and the circuits power
factor as:

An inductive circuit where the current “lags” the voltage (ELI) is said to have a lagging power factor, and
a capacitive circuit where the current “leads” the voltage (ICE) is said to have a leading power factor.
Power Factor Correction

Most domestic loads (such as washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators) and industrial loads
(such as induction motors) are inductive and operate at a low lagging power factor. Although the
inductive nature of the load cannot be changed, we can increase its power factor.

The process of increasing the power factor without altering the voltage or current to the original
load is known as power factor correction.

Alternatively, power factor correction may be viewed as the addition of a reactive element (usually a
capacitor) in parallel with the load in order to make the power factor closer to unity. An inductive load is
modeled as a series combination of an inductor and a resistor.

We can look at the power factor correction from another perspective. Consider the power triangle in
Fig.3. If the original inductive load has apparent power then P = S1 * Cos 𝜃1 , Q1 = S1 * Sin 𝜃1 = P tan 𝜃1
If we desire to increase the power factor from to without altering the real power (i.e., P = S2 * Cos 𝜃2 ),
then the new reactive power is.

The reduction in the reactive power is caused by the shunt capacitor; that is,

But from Equation,

The value of the required shunt capacitance C is determined as

Note that the real power P dissipated by the load is not affected by the power factor correction because
the average power due to the capacitance is zero.

Although the most common situation in practice is that of an inductive load, it is also possible that the
load is capacitive; that is, the load is operating at a leading power factor. In this case, an inductor should
be connected across the load for power factor correction. The required shunt inductance L can be
calculated from

Where

the difference between the new and old reactive powers.

We considered a simplified model of the way the cost of electricity consumption is determined. But the
concept of power factor was not included in the calculations. Now we consider the importance of power
factor in electricity consumption cost. Loads with low power factors are costly to serve because they
require large currents, as explained in Section 11.8. The ideal situation would be to draw minimum
current from a supply so that and. A load with nonzero Q means that energy flows back and forth between
the load and the source, giving rise to additional power losses. In view of this, power companies often
encourage their customers to have power factors as close to unity as possible and penalize some
customers who do not improve their load power factors. Utility companies divide their customers into
categories: as residential (domestic), commercial, and industrial, or as small power, medium power, and
large power.

They have different rate structures for each category. The amount of energy consumed in units of
kilowatthours (kWh) is measured using a kilowatt-hour meter installed at the customer’s premises.
Although utility companies use different methods for charging customers, the tariff or charge to a
consumer is often two-part. The first part is fixed and corresponds to the cost of generation, transmission,
and distribution of electricity to meet the load requirements of the consumers. This part of the tariff is
generally expressed as a certain price per kW of maximum demand. Or it may be based on kVA of
maximum demand, to account for the power factor (pf) of the consumer. A pf penalty charge may be
imposed on the consumer whereby a certain percentage of kW or kVA maximum demand is charged for
every 0.01 fall in pf below a prescribed value, say 0.85 or 0.9. On the other hand, a pf credit may be given
for every 0.01 that the pf exceeds the prescribed value. The second part is proportional to the energy
consumed in kWh; it may be in graded form, for example, the first 100 kWh at 16 cents/kWh, the next
200 kWh at 10 cents/kWh and so forth. Thus, the bill is determined based on the following equation:

Total Cost = Fixed Cost + Cost of Energy

Q. A 300-kW load supplied at 13 kV (rms) operates 520 hours a month at 80 percent power factor.
Calculate the average cost per month based on this simplified tariff: Energy charge: 6 cents per kWh
Power-factor penalty: 0.1 percent of energy charge for every 0.01 that pf falls below 0.85. Power-factor
credit: 0.1 percent of energy charge for every 0.01 that pf exceeds 0.85