Single-Phase Fast Response Power Factor Transducer

This paper presents a novel technique for the direct measurement of power factor of loads without measuring the phase angle between the ac line voltage and current. The advantages of the proposed scheme are linearity of the transducer output, simplicity, continuous measurement, fast response and low cost. The technique is suitable for measurement of power factor of inductive as well as capacitive loads. The device can be used in feedback control loop where a DC voltage signal proportional to power factor is required. The proposed transducer has a fast response time i.e. one cycle of supply frequency, which is suitable in static VAR compensator and active power filter for harmonic mitigation in power system. The proposed power factor transducer has been developed and tested for single phase system.