Quantification Errors Due to Inaccurate Use of Power Factor Definition

Jose  A. Pomilio; Sigmar M. Deckmann; Jose C. U. Pena; Mateus P. Dias

doi:10.18618/REP.e202617

Authors

Jose A. Pomilio Universidade Estadual de Campinas https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5457-4438
Sigmar M. Deckmann Universidade Estadual de Campinas
Jose C. U. Pena Flex Power Grid Lab https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5958-6227
Mateus P. Dias Universidade Estadual de Campinas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1624-4582

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18618/REP.e202617

Keywords:

Luminaires, Power Factor, Power Quality, Standards

Abstract

This article discusses the anachronism, insufficiency, and imprecision of the formulation and definitions of power factor (PF) in several regulatory texts. For consumer units in distribution networks, analyses are presented of how ANEEL defines this figure of merit. In the case of individual equipment, INMETRO's measurement procedures employ formulas that, depending on the tested device's operating principle, may yield technically erroneous results. For example, the results of LED luminaires, which are supposedly designed to have a high power factor, are analyzed and it is concluded that the solution for the errors in single-phase case is straightforward, and are achieved by using the correct formulation of the power factor, defined as the ratio between active and apparent power, with a sufficiently high sampling rate to capture the possible high-frequency spectral components of the current. Modern digital measuring instruments can easily obtain such quantities and do not incur errors that may arise from using quantities such as distortion factors or fundamental displacement.

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Author Biographies

Jose A. Pomilio, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

was born in Jundiaí, Brazil, in 1960. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil, in 1983, 1986, and 1991, respectively. From 1988 to 1991, he served as the Head of the Power Electronics Group at the Brazilian Synchrotron Laboratory. He was a visiting professor at the University of Padova, Italy, in 1993 and 2015, and at the Third University of Rome, Rome, Italy, in 2003. He is a Professor with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Campinas, where he has been teaching since 1984. His research interests include power electronics and power quality. Dr. Pomilio served as President of the Brazilian Power Electronics Society from 2000 to 2002. Prof. Pomilio is a member of SOBRAEP, SBQEE, SBA, SBPC, ABENGE, and IEEE.

Sigmar M. Deckmann, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

graduated in Electrical Engineering from the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) in 1973. He obtained the M.S. and D.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Unicamp in 1976 and 1980, respectively. He began his career in the electrical field through a technical course in Electrotechnics at the Parobé Technical School in Porto Alegre (1965). He is a retired full professor from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (FEEC) at Unicamp, where he taught from 1974 to 2006. He served as associate director of FEEC from 1999 to 2003. He was the executor of several projects with companies in the Brazilian electric sector, such as CEMIG, Eletropaulo, Elektro, and CPFL. He served as a consultant to the National Electric Energy Agency (ANEEL) and the National System Operator (ONS) on studies related to electric power quality. He developed pioneering equipment in the field of electric power quality assessment, particularly for measuring light flicker, and received an international award for this work. Throughout his career, he supervised more than 20 master's and doctoral students who developed work in the areas of power systems dynamics, electric power quality analysis, and the development of power quality instrumentation.

Jose C. U. Pena, Flex Power Grid Lab

was born in 1984 in Peru. He received the B.S. degree in Electronic Engineering from the National University of Engineering, Lima, Peru, in 2010, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from São Paulo State University, Brazil, in 2012 and 2016, respectively. From 2022 to 2025, he was a Researcher with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Campinas. Currently he serves as a Test Engineer in Kema Labs, in the Netherlands. His research interests include power electronics, modeling and control of power converters, microgrids, and power quality. Dr. Peña is a member of the SOBRAEP and IEEE

Mateus P. Dias, Universidade Estadual de Campinas

was born in 1996 in Quixadá, Brazil. He received the B.S.degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil in 2017. He received the M.Sc. degree in 2020 and the PhD degree in 2025 at the University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil. His research interests include power electronics, more electric Aircraft and dc microgrids, bipolar dc microgrids, power quality, high frequency interactions. Dr. Dias is a student member of the SOBRAEP and IEEE.

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