Automatic Power Factor Correction using Microcontroller

In the present technological revolution, power is very precious. Inductive loads are main reason for low power factor in power system. A utility will impose a penalty if the power factor is too low because it increases electric losses. Therefore, suitable methods are needed to improve the power factor automatically. To improve the power factor to desired level, reactive power compensators are used in the power system. The most common device is a capacitor bank or banks, which are manually turned on and off according to the needs. If the correction devices can switch automatically, not only will they respond faster, but there won't be any room for error. The paper deals with the development of Automatic Power Factor Correction (APFC) equipment based on embedded systems