Reactive power

Ineffective lighting can cause high electricity bills. Replacing traditional light sources with LED technology will reduce operating costs and contribute to environmental protection. It is also worth taking a look at the amount of reactive power generated by devices - it can have an impact on reducing the budget.

What is reactive power?

Most of the receivers use active energy and reactive energy from the mains. The active power is converted into useful work and heat losses are expressed in watts. Reactive power (inductive or capacitive), pulsating between the energy source and the receiver, is expressed in var. The modified current and voltage waveform results in an advance or lag phenomenon and is defined tgφ factor, i.e. ratio of reactive power to active power.

Where are the extra energy costs coming from?

The excess reactive power is optimized by electricity distributors who regulate the voltage level through capacitor banks or transmission transformers. However, each enterprise connects devices to the network that generate reactive power of a different value.

On the bill, we can very often see the cost of introducing reactive energy into the grid. It happens when we exceed the limit of tanφ agreed with the distributor. Charging for inductive power starts when this value is 0.4. In the case of capacitive power, for each var fed into the network.

How to reduce expenses?

Thanks to the cost analysis, we can determine how much excess reactive power we generate. It is also helpful to connect the power quality analyzer to the device or main switchboard.

The most popular method of compensation, after identifying its source and selecting an appropriate solution, is the use of capacitor banks or chokes . This system returns most often within 6-24 months. If the costs related to reactive energy exceed PLN 150 per month, it is worth considering the installation of compensation.

Dzięki temu można:

• obniżyć rachunki za energię elektryczną
• zmniejszyć pobór energii biernej
• ustabilizować pracę całej sieci elektroenergetycznej.

Lighting modernization

Traditional lighting fittings generate inductive reactive power into the network. In the case of LED technology, they introduce capacitive reactive power. In this case, when modernizing the lighting, the phenomenon of overcompensation may occur, and hence the increase in costs for excessive reactive power. Replacing lighting with LED is the first step to balancing it, but it requires the installation or modification of compensators.

When electricity bills with LED system will drop by up to 70% and increase comfort and working conditions, remember that they still require audit so as to be able to personalize reactive power compensation and optimize network performance