Whatever the nature of reactive power compensation in power systems and no matter the voltage level, capacitors are the common elements in all device. Natarajan (president, Practical Power Associates, North Carolina) explains the role of capacitors in power factor correction. He first covers fundamentals such as power factor concepts, industry standards, capacitor specifications, testing of capacitors, location of shunt capacitors, power factor improvement, and system benefits. He then offers chapters on series capacitors, surge capacitors, capacitors for motor and other applications, and static VAR compensation. He then looks at various protection methods, shunt capacitor bank maintenance, system impact issues such as harmonics and induced voltage on the control cables, and economic analysis applicable to the power factor compensation. The reader is required to have a basic knowledge of protection equipment and time- domain analysis.