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bones007 · 10-24-2009, 05:09 PM

In my opinion the active power factor correction is very valuable as it provides three things:

1- It allows much higher charging current from a standard 110V 15A circuit (fully utilizing the 15A available from the supply).

2- Your power meter measures the Volts*Amps not the watts. If the power factor of the charger is only 0.6 than 40% of the electricity you are paying for is not going into your batteries.

3- It creates a charger that can operate from a universal source (ie: 85-250VAC), so if a higher voltage (220VAC) power source is available just plug it in and it will work. The charging circuit could be designed to detect the value of the supply voltage and adjust the charging current to maximize usage of the AC line.

I found an interesting application note from International Rectifier explaining the use of their Active Power Factor Correction IC IR1150.

See:
http://www.irf.com/technical-info/appnotes/an-1077.pdf

Also, there is an interactive design page that can tell you the value of components required for the desired performance of the basic PFC circuit:

You can get to this design page by creating an account and logging into:
International Rectifier - Design Center
Look for the "Design a PFC Circuit" link.

10-24-2009, 05:09 PM	#173 (permalink)
bones007 EcoModding Lurker Join Date: May 2009 Location: Brampton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 15 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	In my opinion the active power factor correction is very valuable as it provides three things: 1- It allows much higher charging current from a standard 110V 15A circuit (fully utilizing the 15A available from the supply). 2- Your power meter measures the Volts*Amps not the watts. If the power factor of the charger is only 0.6 than 40% of the electricity you are paying for is not going into your batteries. 3- It creates a charger that can operate from a universal source (ie: 85-250VAC), so if a higher voltage (220VAC) power source is available just plug it in and it will work. The charging circuit could be designed to detect the value of the supply voltage and adjust the charging current to maximize usage of the AC line. I found an interesting application note from International Rectifier explaining the use of their Active Power Factor Correction IC IR1150. See: http://www.irf.com/technical-info/appnotes/an-1077.pdf Also, there is an interactive design page that can tell you the value of components required for the desired performance of the basic PFC circuit: You can get to this design page by creating an account and logging into: International Rectifier - Design Center Look for the "Design a PFC Circuit" link.