A Cost-Effective Method for Power Factor Metering Systems
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32985/ijeces.13.5.8Keywords:
Power factor, phase-angle, Zero-Crossing Detectors, Microcontroller, WattmeterAbstract
The power factor (PF) is an important measurement in an AC electrical system that indicates how much power is utilized to accomplish productive work by a load and how much power is consumed. As a result, it's one of the primary causes of excessive energy costs and power outages. This paper aims to present a simple, cost-effective, and accurate PF metering and monitoring system implemented using an Arduino microcontroller with a novel methodology different from other papers. The proposed method is to design the software code instead of using external components of Zero-Crossing Detectors (Z-CDs) for both voltage (V) and current (I) signals, and instead of using Exclusive-OR (X-OR) gates also. Determining the phase-angle and PF in an efficient manner can be useful in many approaches to electrical systems: 1-for synchronization of parallel connections of alternators; 2-for directional protection systems; 3-for PF correction and load management; and 4-for designing watt/energy meters. Using the Proteus 8 Professional (ISIS program), the proposed designed circuit was simulated for more verification. The simulation and experimental findings are presented to validate the proposed metering system's effectiveness.
