Energy consumption is a necessary evil and often large expense for commercial and industrial facilities. To help reduce surcharges and penalties for excessive energy usage, many companies utilize power factor correction panels, or power factor correction capacitors. These products closely align the amount of power being pulled from the grid to the power actually being used by the machinery itself (active power).

This is especially beneficial when loads require working power and reactive power to sustain the magnetic field needed to run equipment such as transformers, motors and furnaces.

Applications that can benefit most from capacitors include circular saws, compressor, grinders, conveyors and other types of equipment where the motors are sized for the heaviest load and the equipment doesn’t always need that much power.

Even the smallest improvement of power factor can deliver big benefits, including a reduction in utility costs, prolonged equipment life and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.