9 Figure 2.1: Power Factor Correction Concept
If the power factor can be reduced, then it is proved the effectiveness of ESD and it gives benefits when the consumers installed the ESD in their houses. The assessment
method for the power factor has been described in the following sections.
Power factor is related to the current amperes and voltage volts of the power system. A circuit can operate in 100 efficiency, which means the power factor is exactly
1.0. When the power factor drops below 1.0, the utility must generate more than its minimum power supply to the circuit. If the power factor drops, it is needed to correct or
improve, so it can reduce the consumption and create efficiency system [6]. In order to make the power factor correction, the power factor must be measured.
2.2.3 Assessment Method for Power Factor
In order to assess the power factor and the electrical measurement, the digital multimeter DMM is used [14]. DMM is an electronic tape measure used for making
electrical measurements. DMM is an electronic technician’s most widely used piece of test
equipment. The digital multimeter can be used for measuring voltages, currents, ohms, resistance and continuity. It combines the functions of a voltmeter, ammeter and
ohmmeter, so that it called as multimeter [9]. Digital multimeter is more practical than analogue meters have used a digital multimeter Fluke 289 True RMS Multimeter in their
study to measure the power consumption through the supply current usage [13]. DMMs
10 give in a direct formal data and free from parallax error of analogue meters. DMMs also
show positive and negative values and have much better overload protection [11]. Other than digital multimeter, the power logger also can used to assess the power
factor and electrical measurement. Dunham
et al
. 2005 have used power logger to measure the electrical measurement like voltages and currents. The power logger takes
time to do a load study [8]. But by using the power logger, the user can understand the power consumption in the house. Furthermore, the user can pinpoint the areas in the
electrical systems that are making the power factor increase.
2.3 Electricity Costs is Reducing or Not after the Installation of Energy Saving Device ESD
The ESD can be said as effective when it can reduce of power consumption after the installation. When the power consumption reduces, definitely the electricity costs reduce;
hence give the satisfaction to the user. The focused of using ESD is the reducing of power factor, power consumptions, hence, the reducing of electricity costs.
2.3.1 Effect of Power Factor Correction
