Reactive power compensation bridge with minimized equipped capacitor and its application to static var compensator

This paper discusses reactive power compensators from the point of stored energy amount in the capacitor or inductor, and proposes a full-bridge configuration of semi-conductor switches with reduced equipped capacitance for reactive power compensation and its application to the shunt type static var compensator. By applying this concept, the STATCOM can be achieved with reduced sized capacitor. Additionally, the switching loss can be reduced due to its distinctive capacitor voltage waveform. Modulation technique and capacitor voltage control method based on the reduced capacitance and high voltage ripple in the capacitor are proposed. The concept and control method was confirmed with small scale experiments.