What Is The Difference Between Single Phase And Three Phase Power Supply?

What Is The Difference Between Single Phase And Three Phase Power Supply?

ADMIN BLOG / May 2, 2022

Almost 90% of the electrical energy we use in our day-to-day life is from alternating source. Be it our home appliances, office equipment or industrial machines, we use AC source to power these devices. If you are a beginner, then Alternating Current or simply AC is a type of electric power in which the electric current changes periodically, both in magnitude and direction. Further, depending on the application, AC Power can be delivered in either a Single Phase or a Three Phase system.

Single phase

A Single Phase AC Power system consists of two wires known as the phase (or sometimes a Line or Live or Hot) and the neutral wire. In case a three phase system, you use either three wires or four wires for transmitting power (no neutral in three wire three phase power and all the three wires are phases).

Let us now go into the details of single phase and three phase systems and also see the difference between single phase and three phase power supplies.

Pros and Cons of single phase power supply

Advantages

1. Depending on the region, a single phase supply is sufficient for loads up to 2500 Watts.
2. The design and operation of a single phase power supply system is often simple.
3. It is very common form of power supply to most small power requirement. Almost all residential supplies are single phase supplies as the domestic appliances require a small amount of power to run lights, fans, coolers, heaters, small air conditioners etc.

Disadvantages

1. Heavy loads like industrial motors and other equipment cannot be run on a single phase supply.
2. Small single phase motors (usually less than 1kW) cannot start directly with the help of a single phase supply as there isn’t sufficient initial torque for the motor. So, additional circuitry like a Motor Starters (like a starter capacitor in fans and pumps) are needed for proper operation.

Three phase power supply

A Three Phase Power Supply consists of three power wires (or the three phases). Additionally, depending on the type of the circuit (which there are two types: Star and Delta), you might or might not have a neutral wire. In a three phase power supply system, each AC Power Signal is 1200 out of phase with each other.

In a three phase power supply, during one cycle of 3600, each phase would have peaked in voltage twice. Also, the power never drops to zero. This steady stream of power and ability to handle higher loads makes a three phase supply suitable for industrial and commercial operations.