About Capacitor Bank Calculator
Power factor correction adds capacitors to supply the reactive power that inductive loads such as motors draw, so less current flows from the grid. The reactive power to add is Qc = P × (tan φ1 − tan φ2), where φ is the angle whose cosine is the power factor. The capacitance per phase for a three-phase delta bank is C = Qc ÷ (3 × 2πf × V²). Harmonics and step switching are not considered.
How to use Capacitor Bank Calculator
- Fill in "Active power", "Present power factor", "Target power factor" and "Line voltage", and the other options.
- The result appears below and updates as you type.
- Copy the result with the copy button, or download it as a file where that is offered.
Questions about Capacitor Bank Calculator
Why not correct the power factor all the way to 1?
The last few hundredths need a lot of extra kvar for little reduction in current, and a fixed bank sized for unity can overcorrect at light load, giving a leading power factor and raised voltage. Targets of 0.95 to 0.98 are common.
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