Critical comments on the Conservative Power Theory (CPT)

Main features of the Conservative Power Theory (CPT) are examined in the paper. It was concluded that the “reactive energy” as defined in CPT cannot be regarded as a physical quantity. It was demonstrated that separation of the void reactive current can lead to wrong conclusions at a reactive compensator design. It was shown that distortion power defined in the CPT has no relation to mutual distortion of the load voltage and current. The meaning of the term “conservative” as used in the CPT, is discussed as well. It is emphasized that the conservative property of the “reactive energy” is only mathematical, but not physical property of that “energy”.