PFC stands for power factor correction. It involves adding reactive components, typically capacitor banks, to an electrical system to bring the power factor closer to unity. This reduces the reactive power drawn from the grid, lowering energy losses in conductors and helping industrial facilities avoid utility penalty charges.
The factory's energy bill dropped significantly after we installed an automatic PFC bank at the main switchboard.
A poorly maintained PFC capacitor bank can resonate with grid harmonics, causing severe overvoltage issues and overheating.
Related terms
Power factor
Ratio of active power to apparent power, showing how much of the current drawn does useful work.
Reactive power
Power that surges back and forth between the source and the fields of inductors and capacitors, doing no net work.
Apparent power
Product of RMS voltage and RMS current, the figure transformers, generators and UPS units are rated on.
Active power
The part of electrical power that does real work, averaged over each cycle and measured in watts.