International Journal Of Electrical, Electronics And Data Communication, ISSN: 2320-2084 Volume-4, Issue-4, Apr.

-2016

ARDUINO BASED POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

1
SHOBHA R.MANE, 2ASHWINI A.KOLEKAR, 3MAITHILI M. MOLAJ, 4SADHANA V.PATIL,
5
MAZHARHUSSAIN N. MESTRI
1,2,3,4,5
Electrical Department, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India.
Vishveshwarya Technical Campus Faculty of Degree Engineering,
Patgaon, Miraj, Sangli, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: 1shobhamane77@gmail.com, 2ashwinikolekar99@gmail.com, 3maithilimmolaj@gmail.com
4
sadhanapatil2727@gmail.com

Abstract- Power factor correction is a technique of counteracting the undesirable effects of electric loads that create a power
factor that is less than one. Power factor correction may be applied either by an electric power utility to improve the stability
and efficiency of system or by customer at the premises. This is required to ensure long term, effective and economic
operation and utilization of electrical power. In present paper we present automatic power factor correction scheme based on
Arduino platform and triac based capacitor switching.

Keywords- TSC (Thyristor Switched Capacitor), Capacitor bank, Arduino platform, Triac, SVC (Static VAR Compensator).

I. INTRODUCTION Our goal is to design system that would allow for

PFC in both systems viz, single and three phases.
MOST loads in modern electrical distribution systems Hence we decided to go with capacitor bank method.
are inductive. Examples include motors, transformers, In this regard, there is “design, fabrication and testing
gaseous tube lighting ballasts and induction furnaces. of microcontroller based Static VAR Compensator
Inductive loads consume two kinds of power viz. So, (SVC)” consisting of Thyristor Controlled reactor
with the presence of inductive load, power (TCR) and Thyristor Switched Capacitor (TSC) has
consumption and hence electric bill increase for same been done in a paper.[1]
amount of work done
What is power factor? To reduce harmonics introduced because of relay
e. Such condition is recognized as lagging power switching the author has used thyristor based
factor. switching of capacitor bank. Further PIC
Most loads in modern electrical distribution systems microcontroller is used which according to us
are inductive. Examples include motors, transformers, unnecessarily complicates system programming.[2] It
gaseous tube lighting ballasts, and induction furnaces. describes the design and development of a three-
Inductive loads require two kinds of power: phase power factor correction using PSoC
 Working power (kW) to perform the actual (Programmable System on Chip) micro-controlling
work of creating heat, light, motion, chip. The scheme used here is to measure the angle
machine output, and so on. between the voltage of Y and B phase and current of
 Reactive power (kVAR) to sustain the R phase, this gives value of sin(ø) relation. Also from
magnetic field the voltage of YB phase and current of R phase
Working power consumes watts and can be read on a reactive and active power in KVAR and KWA of the
wattmeter. It is measured in kilowatts (kW). Reactive system are calculated. From these parameters current
power doesn’t perform useful “work,” but at times is power factor found. Here we see that same work can
required for proper functioning of system and be obtained from cheap and easy to used Arduino
circulates between the generator and the load. platform.
Reactive power is measured in kilovolt-amperes-
reactive (kVAR). Working power and reactive power The project work describes the design and
together make up apparent power. Apparent power is development of a power factor corrector using PIC
measured in kilovolt-amperes (kVA). microcontroller chip. Measuring of power factor from
Thus the magnitude of reactive power consumed in load is achieved by using PIC Microcontroller-based
load is understood as cosine of angle between developed algorithm to determine and trigger
apparent power and true power. sufficient switching of capacitors in order to
Power factor = cos(ø) compensate demand of excessive reactive power
locally, thus bringing power factor near to unity.

In conclusion microcontroller based automatic power

factor correction using capacitor switched method
seems a very flexible solution. But unlike above
mentioned attempts we have avoided using PIC or
Figure 1: Power triangle similar microcontroller to avoid difficulty in
Arduino Based Power Factor Correction

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International Journal Of Electrical, Electronics And Data Communication, ISSN: 2320-2084 Volume-4, Issue-4, Apr.-2016

programming and debugging. Instead we use open III. FLOW CHART MODELS DESIGNS
source Arduino platform which is easy to program
and debug. Further phase measurement between
voltage and current is simplified using Opamp and
EXOR gate based circuit. To avoid adverse effect on
THD we have used thyristor based capacitor
switching instead of relay driver.

II. METHODOLOGY

Our system would be targeted towards power factor

detection and correction in single phase and also 3
phase system with minor modifications. For this we
plan to use Arduino microcontroller platform based
system. The reason is ease of using and programming
Arduino platform. Arduino is open source general
purpose prototyping platform based on AVR 8 bit
microcontroller series. [5]

Voltage and current from power line is stepped down

to low power level suitable for Arduino processing
using PT and CT transformers. Then zero crossing of
both signals is found using Opamp based ZCD
circuit. From the two ZCD signals a pulse is
generated using digital EXOR gate. The width of this
pulse is proportional to the phase difference between
voltage and current in power line. From this data
power factor can be estimated.

Further this value will be used to find the required

size of capacitor to be switched in power line to bring
power factor back to unity. Arduino is programmed
to find pulse width, calculate power factor and
calculate required capacitance value. Then arduino
will add estimated capacitor in power line for PFC.
Further improvement in PF is monitored on
continuous basis by Arduino to see if PFC is carried
out by addition of estimated capacitor in power line.
The entire process flow will be displayed on LCD.
Figure shows the simplified block level arrangement
of system. Fig 3 Algorithm

In above algorithm the flow of project is shown, our

project works in such process and we are designing
our project in such manner that all above processes
are covered under it.
Thus, the software model is designed and it can be
observed as in following sections as well as a
hardware model for the same.

IV. SOFTWARE MODELS DESIGNS

In software we are going to handle phase difference

measurement between voltage and current in power
line, calculation of power factor and required
capacitance to bring power actor back to unity and
adding that capacitance to line. Also we do displaying
of process flow on LCD for user feedback.
Following is circuit plan for Arduino based automatic
PFC.
Fig 2 Block diagram of system

Arduino Based Power Factor Correction

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International Journal Of Electrical, Electronics And Data Communication, ISSN: 2320-2084 Volume-4, Issue-4, Apr.-2016

width we have effectively measured phase difference

Schematic in figure is simplified is representing between voltage and current signal.
driver for Triac circuit. The complete driver circuit
for Triac can be seen in following software model D. Power factor measurement:
figure. From the value of measured pulse width the Arduino
now finds out the power factor.
This software model gives us a graphical as well as
the numerical outputs from this software model we E. Capacitor calculation:
are able to design the hardware model and be From power factor it finds out required value of
analyzing software and hardware we had completed capacitor to bring power factor back to unity. For this
our project. we use following formula.
C=KVAR / (2xpixfxVrmsxVrms)
F. Capacitor switching:
Arduino then adding required capacitor value across
the load using thyristor based switching scheme.
It generates the required gate drive for thyristor to
switch it ON.

G. Thyristor based capacitor bank:

The capacitor bank used in our project is thyristor
based. capacitor is added in line.

V. HARDWARE MODELS DESIGNS

Following is the snap of complete system. The

system was tested with 2 inductive loads in series
Fig 4 Proteus VSM simulation for system with 200 watt resistive load. The inductive load can
be added/removed from circuit using switch.
Here system is divided into following major Detection of power factor by system was checked
components. once for resistive load and than for added inductive
load.
A. Zero crossing detection of voltage and current
signal:
Zero crossing detection is done for both voltage and
current signals. The power signal voltage is stepped
down to lower level using 6-0-6/750mA step down
transformer and then is applied to LM358 based ZCD
circuit. The ZCD circuit then gives zero crossings for
voltage signal. For power line current we use non-
invasive current transformer to step down it to lower
level. This signal is then applied to ZCD to get its
zero crossing. From these to ZCD outputs we know
the phase difference between voltage and current Figure 5: Actual setup
signals using single XOR gate.
When the load is purely resistive the system detects
B. Pulse generation corresponding to phase so and also the corresponding PF of 0.99 is displayed
difference between voltage and current: on lcd. The in-phase waveforms of V and I can be
The two ZCD outputs are then applied to EXOR logic seen on oscilloscope.
gate to get a pulse corresponding to phase difference When the load is made inductive by adding an
between voltage and current signal. inductance is series with resistance, the net load is
Arduino based decision making: inductive and the corresponding lag created between
The arduino microcontroller forms the main decision V and I can be clearly seen on oscilloscope. The
maker here. Its functions can be divided into system detects this condition and corresponding PF is
following component parts. displayed on LCD.
The system reliably detects leading and lagging PF
C. Phase difference measurement: conduction and switches capacitor from bank to
The pulse output from EXOR gate is applied to correct it.
Arduino. The Arduino then measures the width of Following is the table to illustrate calculated PF and
pulse. The pulse width corresponds to phase detected PF by system for various load conditions.
difference measurement. Thus by measuring pulse The calculated values are based on measured current

Arduino Based Power Factor Correction

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International Journal Of Electrical, Electronics And Data Communication, ISSN: 2320-2084 Volume-4, Issue-4, Apr.-2016

in line using clamp meter. VI. RESULT ANALYSIS

The following figures show the characteristics from
project and the readings with respect to those TABLE 1 Result Comparison
characteristics.

Figure 6: Purely resistive load

Fig 11 Characteristics Analysis

CONCLUSION

By using Arduino microcontroller platform the

system is made automatic detector of PF lag/lead
Figure 7: V and I waveforms when load is purely resistive
condition. Again by using Triac based switching of
capacitor bank the THD is reduced compared to relay
based switching. The results obtained with various
load conditions are satisfactory and the system would
make a cost effective solution for automatic power
factor improvement in industrial environment.
Further the system can be modified for monitoring
power changes over period using Data logging
methods. Also same data logging techniques can be
used for more scientific analysis of PF of a certain
facility.
Figure 8: V and I waveforms when load is inductive
ACKNOWLEDGMENT

For our pleasure we are presenting deepest gratitude

towards all those who have contributed their valuable
efforts and time directly or indirectly in completing
our project work as curricular activity. We express
our sincere gratitude towards all the facilities offered
in the institute. We have unhesitatingly approached
our faculty members for guidance for preparing
project.
Figure 9 Lagging PF detected by system

REFERENCES
[1] G.PREMKUMAR, “Design, Fabrication and
Implementation of Microcontroller Controlled Static Var
Compensator,” International Journal of Computer
Applications, vol. 81, pp. 43-50, Nov 2013.
[2] S. B. Jamge, “Automatic Power Factor Controller using
PSoC3,” International Journal of Engineering Research &
Technology, vol. 3, pp. 1056-1058, May. 2014.
[3] Anant Kumar Tiwari, “Automatic Power Factor
Correction Using Capacitive Bank”, International Journal
Figure 10: PF correction by system

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International Journal Of Electrical, Electronics And Data Communication, ISSN: 2320-2084 Volume-4, Issue-4, Apr.-2016
of Engineering Research and Applications, vol-4, Page- Capacitor Banks with Load Monitoring”, Global Journal
393-395, Feb- 2014 of Researches in Engineering Electrical and Electronics
[4] Murad Ali, “Design and Implementation of Engineering, Vol-13, pp. 21-31, 2013
Microcontroller-Based Controlling of Power Factor Using

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Arduino Based Power Factor Correction