Voltage Independent Reactive Current Based Sensor for Static VAr Control Applications

The use of renewable energy-based converters is continuously increasing in modern power systems which inject voltage harmonics in the line. In this work, a novel, simple technique based on a binary (on/off) control of an analog switch is proposed to measure reactive current and reactive power. This method eliminates the requirement of finding sin( $\phi $ ) and its multiplication with the current signal in reactive power computation. The proposed transducer gives a dc signal proportional to the reactive current of a power system, i.e., ${I}$ sin( $\phi $ ), which is suitable for static VAr compensator (SVC) applications. This transducer output is sufficient as the terminal voltage is common for the measurement as well as for the compensation current. Thus, the required current of SVC for compensation is equal to or proportional to ${I}$ sin( $\phi $ ). Moreover, voltage harmonics are common in a power system. These harmonics affect the measurement of fundamental reactive power. This method eliminates the need for voltage measurement and hence the measurement is independent of the harmonics of the voltage, which reduces the measurement error. The proposed method is proved mathematically, and its performance is successfully validated through simulation analysis and hardware implementation. The advantages of the proposed technique are linearity of the transducer output, simple working, inexpensive hardware realization, fast response, and online measurement capability. The response time of the transducer is one cycle of supply voltage which is suitable for SVC applications.