抄録
The recent years have seen an increasing trend in the cumulative installed capacity of distributed generation. As a result, voltage management may become difficult in existing power distribution systems in the future. STATCOM (STAtic synchronous COMpensator) is a promising option for solving this problem because it can control reactive power rapidly and continuously. For a distribution system, STATCOM needs to be pole-mounted to realize its low cost. However, a transformer for STATCOM is large and heavy, and hence, it is difficult to install a STATCOM on a distribution pole. We adopt a transformerless STATCOM to reduce STATCOM size and apply SiC devices that show a low-loss performance to obtain a more compact and efficient STATCOM. There are a large number of circuits available for STATCOM and there has been considerable research on the performance comparison among these circuits. However, these comparisons were drawn under different conditions of switching frequency and level number of circuit. In addition, these comparisons do not encompass the application of SiC devices. We made an equitable comparison for a 100kVA pole-mounted STATCOM using SiC devices. We discuss the performance and characteristics of each circuit in terms of efficiency and volume.
