The paper deals with the reactive power compensation in single-phase systems by active power line conditioners (APLCs), focusing on the effectiveness of the compensating action when the utility voltage is distorted. The existing compensation approach, based on the achievement of a sinusoidal load current, is first presented, showing that it suffers from some shortcomings. A novel compensation approach, based on the achievement of a unity power factor, is then proposed that has the merit of overcoming the shortcomings of the existing one and, in addition, of outperforming it in terms of power delivery capabilities of the utility. Effectiveness of the proposed compensation approach is corroborated by simulation results.
