Economic comparison of power factor correction by capacitors and high power factor/high-efficiency motors

The traditional approach to power factor correction in a facility is to add capacitors to individual loads such as motors and fluorescent lighting circuits, to add a capacitor bank with switching to a major distribution panel, or to add a capacitor bank with switching to the power input panel from the utility lines. Recently it has been shown that careful selection of high-efficiency motors for a facility can result in new motors with a significantly higher power factor than the motors they replaced. This paper compares and discusses the cost-effectiveness of installing capacitors on individual motors with the cost-effectiveness of installing high-efficiency, high power factor motors.