IoT Smart Energy Meter
Live measurement of voltage, current, power and energy for a demonstration load, with a phone dashboard.
- Suitable for
- Diploma
- Technology
- ESP32
Advanced8–10 days
Electrical · Power Systems
Automatic Power Factor Correction
Continuous power factor measurement with automatic capacitor bank switching and before-and-after readings.
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Typical time
- 8–10 days
- Suitable for
- Diploma
Price
Contact for price
Cost depends on components, complexity and which deliverables you need, so we quote after understanding your requirement.
Technologies
- Zero-crossing detection
- Phase angle measurement
- Relay-switched capacitor bank
- Arduino control
Project overview
The controller measures the phase difference between the voltage and current waveforms of an inductive load, converts it to power factor, and switches capacitor stages in or out to bring it back towards unity. Both the uncorrected and corrected values are displayed, so the improvement is measured rather than claimed.
This is one of the few student projects that produces a genuinely quantitative result, which is why it holds up so well in an electrical viva. You can present a table of power factor before and after correction across several load conditions.
A settling delay between switching steps prevents the bank hunting as the load changes — a small piece of control design that gives you something substantive to explain when asked how you avoided instability.
Features
- Live power factor measured from the voltage-current phase difference
- Automatic multi-stage capacitor bank switching
- Before and after values shown together for direct comparison
- Settling delay between steps to prevent hunting
- Enclosed build with the switching section isolated
How it works
- 1Zero-crossing detectors produce a pulse each time the voltage and the current waveforms cross zero.
- 2The time between the two pulses gives the phase angle, and its cosine gives the power factor.
- 3If the measured factor is below the target, the controller switches in the next capacitor stage.
- 4After a settling delay the factor is re-measured and further stages are added or removed as needed.
- 5The display shows the uncorrected and corrected values side by side.
Components used
- Arduino Uno
- Zero-crossing detector circuits for voltage and current
- Current transformer
- Relay-switched capacitor stages
- Inductive demonstration load
- 16x2 LCD and enclosure
Questions about this project
What load is used to demonstrate a poor power factor?
A small inductive load such as a choke or a fan motor, which is enough to show a clearly lagging factor and a measurable improvement when the bank switches in.
Is this project safe to handle?
The switching section is enclosed and the accessible portions operate at low voltage. Capacitor discharge handling is covered at handover, and it should always be demonstrated with a staff member present.
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Need the Automatic Power Factor Correction in Surat?
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