Hello,
Do Capacitors have so called POWER FACTOR too?
Thanks
Hi there,
To add a little to the other posts already here...
We usually dont refer to capacitors as having a power factor when
they are the only load in the system because they effectively have a
zero power factor or very close to it and anything with a zero power
factor wont do too much by itself.
Power Factor is a phrase usually used when a load draws more current
than it should in order to work properly due to the current being out of
phase with the voltage, in which case the cost of the system goes up
(sometimes very substantially) due to the cost of the more robust parts that
have to be used to carry the extra current. In some cases power factor
correction is employed in order to help this situation and in other cases even
mandated by law.
"Power Factor" therefore is usually applied to some kind of load that
is known to draw current out of phase with the voltage in an AC
power circuit of some kind, and not to a capacitor alone.
You will see writings like, "That load draws 1000 watts and has a
power factor of 0.7", or similar, but never see something like, "That
capacitor has a power factor of X", because it simply doesnt really
come up in practical real life probably because the capacitor always
has a 'power factor' of zero or close to zero.
What else you will see a lot is, "Power factor correction capacitor",
which simply means that capacitor is used for power factor correction
for some load.
In the strictest sense, it is true that a capacitor, a real life capacitor that
is, can have a power factor all it's own because it must use some real
power as well as act mostly like a capacitor does and mostly store energy.
However, rather than rate the capacitor in terms of "Power Factor" they are
typically rated in "watts lost per kvar". This terminology relates more closely
to the overall effects the actual capacitor in question has on the system.