Design and implementation of a low cost Power Factor Improvement device

A low cost single phase power factor improvement (PFI) device was designed and implemented for small signal low power loads. The designed PFI keeps the power factor of a load within a specified but adjustable range (0.85-0.90) if the load is within its capacity. The design involved designing of a small signal model load, selecting appropriate capacitors, and designing appropriate switching circuits to select proper combination of capacitors. The power factor improvement device was simple, low cost and it is an innovative way to demonstrate the logic of switching the capacitors. The components used were standard logic chips and no microcontroller or application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) was used.