Single-Phase Average Reactive Power Measurement Using Instantaneous Power Theory in a Fixed Point Processor

Nowadays, in AC power systems, reactive power and its measurement are important factors, as these affect the system efficiency. A number of measurement techniques have been developed using quadrature phase shifting circuit, wavelet transform, Hilbert filtering, integration-differentiation method etc. A new technique of average reactive power measurement in a single phase AC circuit using instantaneous power theory has been presented in this paper. This is based on a simple algorithm using instantaneous power concept in α-βreference frame. Any complicated calculation like integration etc. has been totally avoided. The technique is applicable for generic voltage and current waveforms. The algorithm is validated via simulation in a digital platform and via experimentation, using an inexpensive mid-level 8-bit fixed-point processor.