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Chittesh VC
Dublin Institute of Technology

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What is actually reactive power?

From the basic engineering itself this question has posed me lot of trouble. The
main reason is that there is lot of explanation available and few contradict each
other. For example, one explanation was it is the medium through active power is
transferred, if that is the case then what about DC power transfer?

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So here i would like to know your opinion on the concept of reactive power and
would like to discuss each and every view so that i can have a clear cut
understanding of 'real REACTIVE POWER'.

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Topics
Electrical Power Engineering
Power Electronics & Drives
Power System Reliability

Electrical Engineering
Power Electronic Systems
Power System Stability

Wind Power and Power Systems

Power Systems

MATLAB Simulation

MATLAB

Power Electronics

Power System Studies

Power System Operation

Power Distribution System

Reactive Power Planning

Apr 29, 2015

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Mostafa Eidiani Khorasan Institute of Higher Education
We know that reactive loads such as inductors and capacitors dissipate
zero power, yet the fact that they drop voltage and draw current gives the
deceptive impression that they actually do dissipate power. This
phantom power is called reactive power, and it is measured in a unit
called Volt-Amps-Reactive (VAR), rather than watts. The mathematical
symbol for reactive power is (unfortunately) the capital letter Q. The
actual amount of power being used, or dissipated, in a circuit is called true
power, and it is measured in watts (symbolized by the capital letter P, as
always). The combination of reactive power and true power is called
apparent power, and it is the product of a circuits voltage and current,
without reference to phase angle. Apparent power is measured in the unit
of Volt-Amps (VA) and is symbolized by the capital letter S.
Oct 9, 2015

Asif Ferdoush Eastern University, Bangladesh

I want to make you understand about reactive power by using simple
circuit knowledge. Most of the load you see are inductive. But they are not
purely inductive, but a mix of resistive and inductive. Similarly a very few
load are capacitive, which is also not a pure capacitive load, but a mixing
of capacitive and resistive part. We know power taken by a load is called
apparent power. apparent power is composed of active and reactive
power. The power consumed by the resistive part of a load is known as
active power and it is, active power=VIcos(theta) and unit of this power is
watt(W). where V is the voltage across the load, I is the current through
the load and theta is the angle between current and voltage. The power

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consumed by the reactive (capacitive or inductive) part of a load is known

as reactive power and it is, reactive power=VIsin(theta) and unit of this
power is var (volt amp reactive). the difference between both of the
equation is only on sine and cosine. So apparent power=sqrt(active
power2+reactive power2)=VI and its unit is volt ampere. For your kind
convenience I uploaded two photo. reactive power means lost of power.
Hope you understand

May 24, 2015

All Answers (51)

Vasile Surducan National Institute for Research and Development of

Isotopic and Molecular Technologies
Prakash, that's the answer. :) As well the one of Sudha. The shape of the
waveform is visible in the Fourier analysis and discussion should continue
perhaps with distortions on electrical networks.
Josef, I've read somewhere an interesting idea about the imperfect way of
energy transportation. I do not say it's science in the ISI publications
concept...:), but it contains a lot of truth. In the actual world, the
transport/distribution of the electrical energy is based on the electrical
eld component. The magnetic eld is re-created at the
conversion/distribution/user point, by transformers/motors/electronic
converters. This way seems not to be the best one. There still low
efciency at the conversion point where the power factor component add
additional trouble and need correction. To understand my point, make a
connection with the EM waves propagation in Maxwell theory.
About "returning to the game" of the reactive power. I've did a lot of
measurements in my house using serious lab equipment to nd out what
appliances are the most power factor destroyers. I can tell that an 1500W
Bosch vacuum cleaner (manufactured in Vietnam) is decreasing the
power factor from 0.86 to 0.11... It's totally not compensated. Perhaps I
will write a paper someday...:)
Since a regular single phase energy meter in a home user does not
measure the reactive power, and at the electrical network at the entry
point of consumer is not compensated (in theory the power factor should
be near 1 in that point) where is the "returning to the game" point ? Near
the distribution transformer where the battery of capacitors are placed but
does not work? :)
Dec 31, 2015

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