On a related topic, is power factor by residential users enough of a problem to financially penalize/incentivize users to correct it? My understanding is that this is already applied to large commercial users to help the grid work most efficiently.
Alberta grid alerts
- Thread starter jhurkot
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jhurkot
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For residential it’s pretty minor. Enough so that utility companies don’t care. For commercial and industrial it’s a very big deal.
We learned how to do power factor correction in school but I’ve never actually had to do it in the field. Everything in industrial was always engineered and you built it according to the drawings. If the engineer Phu*ed up you still do it the way they said and then you get to nail them for extras when you redo it.
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ABMax24
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Most household appliances don't produce a lot of reactive power. I've got a whole house energy monitor, that also shows reactive power. My LED lights, TV, laptop and phone chargers all produce a small amount of negative reactive power, but it's pretty minimal. My inverter driven motors (fridge, dishwasher, washing machine) all produce almost none. The worst offender in my house is by far the clothes dryer, it's induction motor averages a PF of 0.5. Now I'm curious what my welders would be, but they're inverters as well, so maybe not that bad.
The power company doesn't even care about the PF at the shop at work. We've got a bunch of induction motors for ventilation, about 15 welding machines, and even a 300 amp CNC Plasma.
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jhurkot
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mclean
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Yeah I think I'm gonna look In to solar this week
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jhurkot
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ABMax24
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Just keep in mind if you want backup in the event of an outage you need inverters and batteries for that. $$$ goes up a lot.
I have solar, but it shuts off when the grid goes down to protect the lineman.
Solar System Install and Performance
With the topic of renewable/alternative energy being front and center the last few years I've decided to post a thread on our Grid-Tied Solar System Install. My motives for this install are mostly based on intrigue and the eventual return on investment through net metering. Here we go...
www.snowandmud.com
ABMax24
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Where's that, that's a pretty good price.
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jhurkot
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mclean
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Yeah I've been wanting to do it for a few years. I just figured I'd wait until all the government grants and "free" money incentives were done lol. Silly meJust keep in mind if you want backup in the event of an outage you need inverters and batteries for that. $$$ goes up a lot.
I have solar, but it shuts off when the grid goes down to protect the lineman.
Solar System Install and Performance
With the topic of renewable/alternative energy being front and center the last few years I've decided to post a thread on our Grid-Tied Solar System Install. My motives for this install are mostly based on intrigue and the eventual return on investment through net metering. Here we go...
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