3DFS Power Controllers Add Power Factor Correction Capabilities and Demonstrate Power Savings

PITTSBORO, NC, March 03, 2011 (Press-News.org) Until recently less than ideal power factors were largely ignored at the power grid level by utility regulators. Then they were implicated as a major factor in causing the Great Northeast and Canada Blackout of 2003. Accordingly Federal regulators have instructed the electric utility industry to correct their network's power factors. Today well over 90% of their distribution networks operate uncorrected. At the customer level state regulators have typically allowed utilities to bill large industrial and commercial customers for power factor penalties. Residential customers are typically not billed based upon power factors. However, the poor power factors present in the distribution grids cause early failures and inefficient operation of motors and compressors that are abundant in everyday use for all customers.

Black Velvet Solar estimates that over 25% of electrical power is wasted annually in the US due to bad power factors and noise in the electrical power supply. This represents approximately 1 trillion kWh (or $100+ billion) annually could be saved by a total adoption of 3DFS power controllers across the US with a payback of approximately one year. This power savings is the equivalent of 1,000 typical coal fired power generating plants. In addition to delivering ultra clean power to equipment, such as motors and compressors, clean power will at least double the service life of such equipment.

The quality of electricity drawn from the public grid is surprising poor due to both less than ideal power factors as well as distortions, i.e. noise. 3DFS estimates that the typical home operates at a power factor worse than 0.8 and a noise factor (THD) of 15 to 18%. The 3DFS Power Controllers deliver ultra clean power with a power factor within 1.0% of ideal and THD under 0.1%.

In January Black Velvet Solar had announced successful testing and demonstration of the 3DFS Power Controllers harmonic distortion and noise cancellation capabilities. These two technological advancements represent a major leap forward for power savings in excess of 25% and cleaner power (more than 100X cleaner than the public grid) as well as increased reliability for the power grid itself.

The example below shows power factor correction on a circuit powering a fan motor. The US Department of Energy estimates that 70% of the electric motors in the US operate on less than an ideal power factor. Electric motors in turn are estimated to consume over 60% of the electricity in the US. The Power Factor before correction by the 3DFS Power Controller averages 0.77 as shown by the volts and amps being approximately 40 degrees out of phase in the beginning. After conditioning the Power Factor is over 0.99, i.e. within 1.0% of ideal.

The 3DFS Power Controller also operated in excess of 98% efficiency.

The 3DFS Power Controllers are unique in that they operate on a real-time basis, correcting power factors and removing all noise and transient disturbances in the power supply. 3DFS 's revolutionary technology has been designed with today's and tomorrow's complex power grid in mind - introducing real-time smart capabilities that deal effectively with dynamic changes both in the power supply and in load side profiles. This yields a more efficient, effective delivery (more than 25% power savings) of ultra clean electrical power (more than 100X cleaner than the public grid), while increasing the reliability and capability of the public power grid. Existing technologies are neither designed nor functional for tomorrow's grid, one which will incorporate distributed variable energy resources, such as wind and solar, and will experience increasingly variable load side demand from new sources, e.g. the plug in electric vehicle.

Thus 3DFS Power Controllers present a necessary solution for today's and tomorrow's complex, integrated power grid.

Furthermore 3DFS power controllers present a more cost effective solution in the short and long-term in that they provide both Power Conditioning and Power Factor Correction in a single unit at a projected cost of less than half that for individual power conditioning and PFC devices.

Unlike most energy programs that encourage adoption of clean (but uneconomic) renewable energy power sources, the 3DFS Power Controllers represent the ultimate "negawatt" device in that they save wasted energy, instead of replacing it with sources that are more socially acceptable despite their higher costs. The 3DFS Power Controllers also provide audit trails of power savings for federal and state energy credit programs and can be networked to implement smart grid functions.

3DFS is a dba of Black Velvet Solar, Inc.

For further information please visit 3dfs.com

Contact: Dan Lynch
(888) 564-7773