Real and Reactive Power Control in a Three Phase Unbalanced Load Supported by Solar PV Plant at Consumer End

Abstract

In-order to improve the performance of electrical network with three phase industrial loads the real power and reactive power control is essential in today’s power crisis scenario. The reactive support is obtained by conventional devices like synchronous condenser, static capacitors, and Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) devices. These devices support only reactive power with additional initial cost and maintenance cost. The proposed Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) based solar power plant gives real power support at day time and it is utilized as a STAticvar COMpensator (STATCOM) at night time and gives reactive power support to the loads. The installation of solar power plant at consumer side eliminates the need for additional transmission lines and related losses and also leaves the existing lines free for other utilities and loads. The proposed Individual Phase Current Sensing (IPCS) control technique for VSI based solar power plant gives better support on reactive power at both balanced and unbalanced load conditions compared with conventional Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) technique. A proto type is fabricated and tested for various loads. The power factor cos∅ of the system is improved from 0.954 to 0.991 for balance load and 0.987 for unbalanced loads.