A Comparative Study of Supercapacitor-Based STATCOM in a Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System for Regulating Power Quality Issues

• Main Authors: Muhammad Moin Afzal, Muhammad Adil Khan, Muhammad Arshad Shehzad Hassan, Abdul Wadood, Waqar Uddin, S. Hussain, Sang Bong Rhee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2020-08-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: STATCOM; SCESS; BESS; renewable energy resources; PV; d-q axis controller
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/17/6781

Renewable energy resources (RERs) play a vital role in reducing greenhouse gases, as well as balancing the power generation demand in daily life. Due to the high penetration of RERs and non-linear loads into utility power systems, various power quality issues arise, i.e., voltage drop, harmonic distortion, reactive power demand, etc. In order to handle these power quality issues, there is a need for smart flexible alternating current transmission system (FACTS) devices. In this paper, a super capacitor energy storage system (SCESS)-based static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) is designed in order for the grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system to overcome the abovementioned power quality issues. A voltage controller and a d-q axis controller are used for the efficient performance of the STATCOM. In order to show the superiority of the supercapacitor, a detailed comparison is made between a battery energy storage system (BESS)-based STATCOM and a SCESS-based STATCOM. Four scenarios are studied to evaluate the performance of the proposed STATCOM design. The proposed SCESS-based STATCOM not only boosts the voltage but also stabilizes it from 368 V to 385 V (Ph-Ph_rms). The simulated results have confirmed that the proposed design is not only superior to a BESS-based STATCOM but also has the capability to overcome the power quality issues as well.