Practical Measurement of Automatic Power Factor Detection and Correction Using Smart Arduino in Three-Phase Distribution Networks

This study focuses on enabling real-time power factor measurement and automatic correction using a smart Arduino UNO R3 system. By continuously monitoring the power factor, the system can engage capacitors to optimize energy consumption and reduce costs. It's important to adhere to safety standards when working with high-voltage circuits. In recent years, many commercial and industrial installations in the country have had large electrical loads, often highly inductive, resulting in a lagging power factor. This can lead to significant penalties imposed by the electricity board. Power factor correction (PFC) addresses this issue. For fixed loads, manual switching of capacitors can be effective; however, for rapidly varying loads, maintaining a high-power factor becomes challenging through manual intervention. This limitation is overcome by using an automatic PFC panel. In this work, the power factor is controlled using Arduino with a microcontroller to activate the necessary capacitors for reactive power compensation, bringing the power factor closer to unity.