Dictionary of Electrical Engineering

Commonly used terms in the Electrical industry.

power factor
in an AC system, the ratio of the (active component) real power P to the apparent power S; it is given by the cosine of the angle subtended by S on the real, P axis. See also apparent power, real power, reactive power.
power factor correction
the addition of reactive load to bring the combined power factor nearer unity. Since most industrial loads are inductive, capacitors are often employed as passive devices for power factor correction.