PSO-based self-tuning PI control for STATCOM

In order to regulate the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage of power electronics system under different disturbance conditions, a self-tuning PI controller using particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm is designed to control a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM). The mathematical model of STATCOM is firstly deduced in order to design an effective controller. Then, a self-tuning PI controller is designed as a PCC voltage regulator. A PSO algorithm considering the best particle gains, the best global gains, and previous change of gains is applied to achieve the desired PI controller gains when the load is varying. The system responses of the PSO self-tuning controller are compared with those from the fixed-gain PI controller. The simulation results for a system with different loads verify the effectiveness of the PSO self-tuning controller for a STATCOM.