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The LCL-type grid-connected inverter (GCI) is widely adopted between distributed generation (DG) and power grid to realize DC/AC power conversion. However, the underdamped LCL filter will cause a resonance phenomenon near the control stability boundary, which may lead to instability of the GCI system. The traditional passive damping method will cause power loss, while the active damping method may have the need for additional sensors or be sensitive to parameter changes. In this article, a control scheme based on active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) is proposed for the LCL-type GCI, and the systematic parameter design method is presented through root locus analysis. With the proposed strategy, only the grid-injected current is sensed to achieve the objectives of grid-injected current direct control and robust resonance damping for the LCL-type GCI. In the design process, the influence of digital control delay and grid impedance uncertainty on system stability is explicitly analyzed in detail. Through this, the GCI can work stably over a wide range of the typical inductive-resistive grid impedance. In addition, it is found that the proposed strategy also has good adaptability to the filter parameter perturbation. Simulation and experimental results validate the theoretical analysis in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The technology of supercapacitor is vastly examined by researchers to cope with a lower power density of battery. It is validated that a hybrid battery-supercapacitor storage (HBSS) framework can improve the overall efficiency due to taking advantage of battery's higher energy density and supercapacitor's higher power density. Despite the extensive investigations on this hybrid storage scheme in the electric vehicle (EV) industry, its experimental implementation in the power grid to cope with non-dispatchable nature of wind and solar energy is still in its initial stages. As a result, this paper concentrates on analysis of its experimental implementation on a lab-scale hybrid microgrid located at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA containing two wind turbines and two photovoltaic (PV) modules. The objective of this work is to promote the utilization of the experimentally validated lab-scale HBSS in power industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a high-gain modular input-parallel output-series dc-dc converter for photovoltaic integration with medium-voltage dc grids. A new full-bridge zero-current-switching (FB-ZCS) converter proposed in this paper is used as a fundamental building block. Existing FB-ZCS converters utilize transformer leakage inductance and a shunt-connected resonant capacitor for achieving smooth resonant current commutation and ZCS. The shunt-connected capacitor requires dedicated charging interval in every switching cycle and stores full-load-rated resonant energy at all load/input conditions, resulting in significant duty-cycle loss. Moreover, it suffers from energy leakage through transformer winding and requires overrating. All these factors adversely impact the operation range of the converter, which is important for achieving a wide maximum power point tracking range. Novel improvements in the proposed converter include minimization of duty-cycle loss and resonant capacitor leakage and the realization of the current-adaptive resonant energy storage mechanism, without using additional switches or auxiliary circuits. Operation of the proposed converter is presented and validated with simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel maximum output power point tracking (MOPPT) strategy for a three-phase dual-active bridge (DAB3) converter to integrate a large-scale photovoltaic (PV) energy generation into medium-voltage dc grids. The DAB3 converter is employed as a single-stage solution to step up dc voltage levels and perform the maximum power point tracking of the PV farm at the same time. In order to achieve a high weighted average efficiency over a wide operation range, design considerations of the stray inductance and transformer's turns ratio are presented to shape the soft-switching region of the DAB3 converter in order to match the area of the maximum power points for the PV panels in the given environmental conditions. To further maximize the energy yield of the entire PV power generation system, a novel MOPPT method is proposed to track the maximum output power point of the DAB3 converter. The MOPPT is implemented by a cascaded closed-loop voltage control with the PV current feedforward compensation to improve the dynamic performance. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is validated by both simulations and the experimental verification of a down-scaled laboratory prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High penetrations of renewable energy sources (RES) in distribution grids lead to new challenges in voltage regulation. These challenges are not just limited to the steady-state voltage rise, but they are extended to rapid voltage changes due to wind speed variations and moving clouds, casting shadows on photovoltaic panels. According to EN50160 in low-voltage (LV) grids, the steady-state voltage should not exceed 1.1 pu (static characteristic), and rapid voltage changes should be kept less than 0.05 pu (dynamic characteristic). These two characteristics may limit the maximum amount of RES that can be installed in LV grids, called, respectively, the static hosting capacity (SHC) and dynamic hosting capacity (DHC). Although existing research just evaluated SHC in distribution grids, high-penetrated RES grids can be faced with such large voltage changes, which cause a smaller DHC than the SHC. This paper studies both SHC and DHC in distribution grids and proposes an adaptive controller for static synchronous compensators to regulate the steady-state and dynamic voltage while avoiding the unnecessary increase in the reactive power. The simulation results in some German distribution grids show considerable effects of the proposed adaptive controller on improving both SHC and DHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a power mismatch elimination strategy for a medium-voltage modular multilevel converter (MMC) -based photovoltaic (PV) system. In the MMC-based PV system, each submodule of the MMC is energized by multiple PV generators, each interfaced with the dc port of the submodule by a corresponding isolated dual active bridge dc–dc converter. This configuration allows for a transformerless connection to the host grid and independent maximum power point tracking for the PV generators. The paper then proposes a power mismatch elimination strategy that ensures that the current delivered to the host grid is balanced in spite of unbalanced PV generator outputs. The proposed power mismatch elimination strategy employs a dc differential current to equalize the leg powers, and an ac differential current to stabilize the dc voltages of the submodules. The effectiveness of the proposed power mismatch elimination strategy is demonstrated by time-domain simulations conducted on a model of the PV system in PSCAD/EMTDC software environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This letter studies the mechanism of a type of forced power system oscillation induced by imperfect nonlinearity compensation with a steam-turbine governing system. The nonlinear valve control characteristic of a steam turbine is usually compensated by its inverse characteristic performed by its governor for an overall linear characteristic of the governing system. In reality, a governing system may remain nonlinear due to imperfect compensation, which can result in a limit cycle forcing the generator and even an extensive neighboring area of the power grid to oscillate at a low frequency. A compensation imperfection index is proposed to evaluate the residual nonlinearity and discover how a limit cycle can occur and cause forced oscillation of a steam-turbine generator. Time-domain simulation on a real forced oscillation event caused by a steam-turbine governor validates the finding of the paper and supports the fact that opening the governor control loop of the oscillation-source generator can effectively eliminate this type of forced oscillation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an intelligent wind speed sensor less maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for a variable speed wind energy conversion system (VS-WECS) based on a Q-Learning algorithm. The Q-Learning algorithm consists of Q-values for each state action pair which is updated using reward and learning rate. Inputs to define these states are electrical power received by grid and rotational speed of the generator. In this paper, Q-Learning is equipped with peak detection technique, which drives the system towards peak power even if learning is incomplete which makes the real time tracking faster. To make the learning uniform, each state has its separate learning parameter instead of common learning parameter for all states as is the case in conventional Q-Learning. Therefore, if half learned system is running at peak point, it does not affect the learning of unvisited states. Also, wind speed change detection is combined with proposed algorithm which makes it eligible to work for varying wind speed conditions. In addition, the information of wind turbine characteristics and wind speed measurement is not needed. The algorithm is verified through simulations and experimentation and also compared with perturbation and observation (P&O) algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capacity to provide ancillary services has become more and more important for generators in the distribution grid. New grid codes have been implemented which regulate inverter behavior regarding different aspects of system safety and stability. This mainly includes the frequency-dependent power reduction or the allocation of reactive power. These standards affect mains monitoring because the power control directly changes penetration after the generator has islanded. In this paper, equations for active and reactive power balance are set up and developed further. Non-Detection Zones for different control methods are shown. These are then described and interpreted in detail to show how different effects that result from grid codes interfere with one another. Frequency-dependent power reduction was found to change the size and shape of the Non-Detection Zones. Reactive power control results in a shift of the Non-Detection Zones. In fact, even the initial operating point before loss of mains has an impact on inverter behavior after islanding. Islanding operating points are sometimes undefined which leads to oscillation. An interpretation of the results and advice for future revisions of grid codes conclude the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The unpredictability of the solar irradiance fluctuations can result in both photovoltaic (PV) power output fluctuations and high ramp rates. This can lead to significant voltage fluctuations with high ramp rates at the point of common coupling. Traditionally, the energy buffer units (EBUs) are used to smooth out the power fluctuations using the moving average method or the PV power gradient control. However, these methods can only smooth out the power at the output of grid inverter without considering the local load. This paper proposes a power management strategy to address this issue with two main operation modes: first, the load-feeding mode to minimize the grid power consumption by maximizing the local load consumption from both the PV and the EBU; second, the grid-feeding mode to smooth out the PV output fluctuation and to control the ramp rate to a desired value when supplying the grid. Furthermore, the EBU can be fully charged during the off-peak period or at night by the grid to take advantage of the time-of-use electricity price. The proposed control strategy is first simulated using MATLAB/Simulink and then a laboratory prototype platform is built and tested to verify the feasibility and the effectiveness of the proposed power management strategy with ramp-rate control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a deadbeat finite set model predictive current control based on discrete space vector modulation (DSVM) in order to achieve robust characteristics from the grid impedance variation while guaranteeing high performance of output current waveforms and a fixed switching frequency. The proposed DSVM strategy enables to obtain a large number of virtual voltage vectors without complex initialization process or lookup table, which are the drawbacks of the conventional DSVM strategies. A deadbeat technique was adopted to minimize the number of candidate voltage vectors considered in the cost function in order to avoid the high computational burden caused by considering all voltage vectors. The simulation and experimental results were presented to verify the effectiveness and performance of the proposed method using a two-level grid-connected voltage source inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel Vector Control topology for stator current harmonic mitigation, due to the grid voltage harmonic content, focusing on mitigating the torque undulations in the Doubly Fed Induction Generator. The Proposed Controller referred here as to HVC - Harmonic Vector Control, is capable of mitigating any desired current harmonic. Voltage grid fifth, seventh, eleventh and thirteenth harmonic components causes current harmonic components of the same order (5th, 7th, 11th and 13th) in the generator but of higher relative amplitudes, due to the low stator series impedance. Therefore, the HVC has been tested for the control of such current harmonic components. As an advantage, the proposed control does not require a harmonic filter to estimate the harmonic content present in the stator current due to the power grid, which are the main disadvantages found in literature for the existing controllers. Firstly, the control topology is described and explained in detail. Next, simulation and experimental data are shown and compared to prove the suitability and efficacy of the proposed control. In the cases studied, the steady state error of the proposed controller is close to zero. Furthermore, the HVC can be used as a harmonic filter in DFIG and the harmonics can be chosen according to the application requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The supercapacitor-based regenerative braking system heightens energy utilization efficiency of the motor. However, the power mismatch between the energy storage unit and the motor would cause the supercapacitor to absorb energy from the power grid and unnecessary energy loss. In this paper, a multi-parameter collaborative power prediction control of the motor-driven system is proposed to solve the power mismatch. Mechanism analysis of energy flow is investigated. Afterward, a power prediction model of the supercapacitor is established based on various signals of certain time sequences. The modeling is carried out by discrete forms, and the collaboration among multi-parameters is considered. The performance optimization function is deduced from the perspective of the minimum energy consumption principle. The storage/release energy of the supercapacitor can be fully coordinated with the energy of the power grid and the power of the motor to maintain the dynamic supply-demand power balance. Simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. The energy utilization efficiency is increased by 20% in comparison with the typical control strategy under the recommended operating condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generic electrical simulation models of wind power generation have been developed as standards, such as the IEC 61400-27-1, to be used by wind industry, system operators, and academia for power system stability studies. In this paper, the IEC type 3 wind turbine model with wind turbine level voltage controller and with wind power plant level power factor controller is validated based on field measurements from a 52-MW wind power plant. In addition to the validation of the IEC type 3 wind turbine and wind power plant controller models, a comparison of the validation approaches, which are the full grid and play-back simulation, is provided together with a survey of the existing validation studies and recommendations for future modeling and validation tasks. The implemented IEC models are tuned to match the measurements accurately and the validated values for the control parameters of the reference wind power plant model are given. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the control strategy of achieving sinusoidal stator current of doubly fed induction generator using improved repetitive control (RC) regulator under generalized harmonic grid voltage. The improved RC regulator, with the larger magnitude response at the higher control frequency due to the magnitude response compensation unit, is proposed to restrain the stator current higher harmonic sequence more effectively. Besides, the appropriate phase leading compensation can also be automatically introduced by the improved RC regulator. The steady-state control performance and the closed-loop operation stability using the improved RC regulator are discussed in this paper. The availability of the proposed strategy under generalized harmonic grid voltage is verified by experiment results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a robust nonlinear distributed controller design for islanded operation of microgrids in order to maintain active and reactive power balance. In this paper, microgrids are considered as inverter-dominated networks integrated with renewable energy sources (RESs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs), where solar photovoltaic generators act as RESs and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles as BESSs to supply power into the grid. The proposed controller is designed by using partial feedback linearization and the robustness of this control scheme is ensured by considering structured uncertainties within the RESs and BESSs. An approach for modeling the uncertainties through the satisfaction of matching conditions is also provided in this paper. The proposed distributed control scheme requires information from local and neighboring generators to communicate with each other and the communication among RESs, BESSs, and control centers is developed by using the concept of the graph theory. Finally, the performance of the proposed robust controller is demonstrated on a test microgrid and simulation results indicate the superiority of the proposed scheme under different operating conditions as compared to a linear-quadratic-regulator-based controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the power grid with penetration of renewable energy sources is modeled as a multigenerator interconnected power network. The power grid includes distributed energy resources including conventional synchronous generators and renewable energy sources; here called renewable generators that are connected to the grid via grid-tie inverters (GTIs). With the proposed modeling, the GTI resembles a synchronous generator with excitation control. The modeling takes into account the dc-link capacitor stored energy as a dynamical state, in contrast with the available methods, and through an appropriate controller assures the stability of the dc link and the entire grid without needing an abundant-energy dc link. Next, the power grid comprising the synchronous and renewable generators is converted to decentralized control form with subsystems in Brunovsky canonical form whose interactions with the rest of the grid are unknown. A decentralized adaptive neural network (NN) feedback controller is proposed with quadratic update law to stabilize the rotor speed and dc-link voltage oscillations in asymptotic fashion in the presence of grid disturbances. The proposed controller is then simplified. Though the solar power interacting with conventional synchronous generators is considered in this paper, the proposed modeling and controller design can be applied to many other renewable energy systems. Simulation results on the IEEE 14-bus power system with penetration of solar power are provided to show the effectiveness of the approach in damping oscillations that occur after disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many advanced energy conversion systems utilize multiphase (e.g., six or more phases) electrical machines that feed high-count-pulse (e.g., 12 or more pulses) rectifiers for supplying dc power. Efficient simulation of such power systems in commonly-used state-variable-based programs requires fast and accurate models of electrical machines and power electronic converters with compatible interfaces. As an alternative to the existing $qd$ and voltage-behind-reactance (VBR) machine models, this paper develops a constant-parameter VBR model for six-phase permanent magnet synchronous machines to offer computationally efficient interface. For system-level studies where the switching details of rectifiers can be neglected, a multiple-reference-frame parametric-average-value model is developed for the 12-pulse rectifiers that provides fast simulation and preserves the dominant ac harmonics of interest. The accuracy and numerical efficiency of the proposed machine-converter models are verified using the detailed and alternative existing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel decentralized control for offshore wind farms connected to the onshore grid through a high-voltage dc link by means of a diode rectifier. The proposed control system is implemented in each wind turbine generator system (WTGS). The capacitor placed at the filter of the wind turbine front-end converter is used for the proposed control implementation. Frequency control is achieved by aligning the capacitor voltage vector along a reference axis rotating at the reference frequency. Then, a frequency-reactive power droop control allows the synchronization of all the WTGSs. On the other hand, this droop strategy also leads to total reactive power sharing among WTGSs without relying on communications. An additional secondary frequency control is also implemented to compensate the frequency deviation caused by the droop control. The proposed control system has been validated by simulation and results demonstrate the appropriate performance even during start-up and faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Impedance-based method is an effective method to analyze the system stability. Based on the impedance stability theory, a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind power generation system can be decoupled into a positive- and a negative-sequence subsystem. Then, under small-signal operation, each subsystem is assumed to have linear characteristic in the frequency domain. Therefore, a single-in-single-out stability criterion can be applied for each subsystem to analyze the stability of the interconnected system consisted of the DFIG system and the grid. However, when there is frequency coupling in the DFIG system, this linear assumption may lead to wrong conclusion of the system stability analysis. The frequency coupling of DFIG can be caused by the PLL and the asymmetric rotor current control. In this paper, the frequency coupling characteristic of DFIG caused by these two causes will be studied, and an analytical model that describes the frequency coupling of DFIG will be developed and validated by simulations. Based on this derived model, the system stability and the influencing factors of frequency coupling will be analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a simplified and improved model predictive current control (MPCC) scheme for grid-connected bidirectional voltage source converter (GC-BVSC) when the unbalanced grid voltages occur. In conditions of unbalanced grid voltage, the current harmonic components of the GC-BVSC increase significantly, and twice grid-frequency ripple exist in both active power and reactive power, which influence the output power quality. To reduce harmonic currents and power fluctuations, an improved MPCC (IMPCC) method is proposed, and a two-step predictive model of GC-BVSC is put forward. The current compensation values are expressed by grid voltages and their quadrature signals that lag 90 electrical degrees in the αβ stationary coordinates system. The cost function reducing both the power ripple and current distortion is designed. Compared to conventional methods, phase-locked loop, pulse width modulation, and complex positive and negative sequence extraction of grid voltage are not required. In addition, IMPCC presents a better performance by reducing both grid-connected current harmonics and power ripple of GC-BVSC with flexible bidirectional power regulation capability. Simulation and experimental results on power electronics-professional (PE-PRO) platform verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme under both single-phase and three-phase unbalanced grid voltages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper first derives a usable formula for frequency shift islanding detection methods on the basis of the parallel R, L, C load and the conclusions in current literature: the angle by which the total output current of the distributed resources (DR) units leads the point of common coupling (PCC) voltage must be conducted to have the same shifting direction as the load admittance angle during the variation of the frequency. According to the formula and multi-DR operation, the scenarios in which the classic frequency shift methods are applied to energy storage converters are analyzed. The results indicate that the setting of the angle by which the energy storage converter current leads the PCC voltage may need to be modified when running state changes. It results in the problems that the classic methods are not applicable for non-unity power factor (non-UPF) control and have to distinguish between generation mode and consumption mode for UPF control. On account of the problems, a coping strategy, i.e., an improved method, is proposed. The analyses indicate that the improved method is applicable in every state. The last simulations and experiments confirm the preceding conclusions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sequence-domain impedance using harmonic linearization technique can well describe the harmonic behavior of the interconnected system consisting of the grid and converter. However, fast phase-locked loop (PLL) design, unbalanced current controller structure will cause the unneglectable off-diagonal components in impedance matrix of converter. Due to the frequency coupling and sequence coupling effect in the sequence domain, the traditional single input single output transfer function lacks the capability to accurately express this frequency shift relationship. Therefore, in this paper, the harmonic transfer matrix (HTM) is used to model the frequency shift existing in the sequence-domain impedance model. By unifying positive sequence and negative sequence components, the complexity of impedance model derivation can be reduced. The linear time-periodic system is transformed to a linear time-invariant system in harmonic domain. And then, Nyquist criteria is applied to analyze the stability of the interconnected system. Finally, simulation results verify the proposed HTM-based sequence-domain impedance modeling method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The model of a grid-connected inverter used for the corresponding controller design depends on the equivalent resistance and inductance between the inverter and the grid. These parameters are not fixed and change with operating conditions, temperature, and age. This paper analyses the effectiveness of the application of the model reference adaptive control (MRAC) approach in obtaining an accurate model of a grid-connected inverter system. Active and reactive power based MRAC approaches are used to estimate the equivalent resistance and reactance between the inverter and the grid. Detailed stability analysis of the MRAC approach is presented. The system models for the MRAC controller design are derived and guidelines on the controller parameters selection are proposed. Experimental results validate the feasibility of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As penetration of distributed generation increases, the electrical distribution networks may encounter several challenges mainly related to voltage control. The situation may deteriorate in case of a weak grid connected to an intermittent source such as photovoltaic (PV) generation. Fast varying solar irradiance can cause unacceptable voltage variations that may not be easily compensated by slow-responding utility equipment. The PV inverter can be used to control the grid voltage by injecting/absorbing reactive power. A small-signal model is derived in order to study the stability of a PV inverter exchanging reactive power with the grid. This paper also proposes a method that utilizes the available capacity of the PV inverter to support the grid voltage without violating the rating of the inverter and the maximum voltage that the inverter's switching device can withstand. The method proposed in this paper is validated using PSCAD/EMTDC simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contributes to giving physical insights into stability of DC-link voltage control in multi-wind turbines integrated to weak grid. Wind farm stability operation will suffer from integrating to weak AC grid, due to strong coupling between the wind turbines control and grid dynamics. Multi-VSCs model is presented for DC-link voltage control stability analysis with effect of coupling among VSCs and grid strength. Based on the model, self-impact components and interaction-impact components are presented to study interactions among VSCs. Impacts of VSCs interactions on stability of DC-link voltage control are studied by investigating self-impact and interaction-impact components variations with considering grid strength, operating point and control loop bandwidth. It is found that interactions between VSC1 and VSC2 become more serious with decline of grid strength, decaying stability of VSCs. Theoretical analysis is verified with simulation of two parallel wind turbines connected to weak grid. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article describes an indirect torque control algorithm for a cascaded brushless doubly-fed generator (CBDFIG). The control algorithm presented in the article provides a possibility for CBDFIG to work with an unbalanced power grid applying different strategies: electromagnetic torque oscillations reduction, generated active power oscillation reduction, generated phase currents balancing, sinusoidal control currents under grid imbalance. The proposed control method is based on a cascaded brushless doubly-fed induction generator equivalent model and requires fewer tuning-demanding elements in comparison to classic control methods. The control algorithm presented in the paper was implemented and tested on a CBDFIG machine model in a simulation environment PSIM and on a real physical stand with a cascaded brushless doubly-fed generator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cold weather is an important matter for electric and hybrid-electric vehicles (EV/HEVs), because the electro-chemical process is slowed at low temperatures, hence inducing a loss of power and energy. To prevent it from happening, battery packs are heated via a battery thermal management system (BTMS). However, in some cases, HEVs/EVs are not connected to the grid, so the BTMS uses energy from the battery pack, thus impacting total autonomy. Strategies exist, but must be optimized. Therefore, this paper proposes the design of a HEV strategy that is parked outside and unplugged from the electrical grid. Its objective is to find a compromise between the cost in energy contained in the battery and the aging of the cells. The optimization is based on dynamic programming and utilizes an electro-thermal battery model including aging. Simulation results are then compared with other strategies, underlining that parking outside at work or overnight without plugging in are issues with the actual strategies of common EVs/HEVs, mainly because aging as a result of cold temperatures is not considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Variable frequency transformer (VFT) combines the principles of rotary transformer and phase shifting transformer to control active power transfer between two electric grids. The active power transfer control concepts, design, and transient performance of the VFT have been studied in detail and are reported in the literature. However, reactive power flow through the VFT has not been studied so far. In the existing installations, in order to meet the VFT internal reactive current requirements (magnetizing), switched capacitor banks are being used on the two sides of the VFT. These switched capacitor banks are oversized to deal with uncontrolled reactive power exchange that can happen between the two networks through the VFT. This may achieve desired power factor operation, but cannot prevent the undesired reactive power exchange. This paper presents the detailed study on reactive flow through the VFT. The paper also proposes a new VFT configuration (with integrated partially-rated series voltage compensation scheme and corresponding control) to achieve a full control over reactive power flow. Thereby, the proposed configuration can achieve the bidirectional and decoupled active and reactive power flow through VFT. The proposed VFT configuration and control are validated using real-time hardware in-loop evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, an enhanced hierarchical control structure with multiple current loop damping schemes for voltage unbalance and harmonics compensation (UHC) in ac islanded microgrid is proposed to address unequal power sharing problems. The distributed generation (DG) is properly controlled to autonomously compensate voltage unbalance and harmonics while sharing the compensation effort for the real power, reactive power, and unbalance and harmonic powers. The proposed control system of the microgrid mainly consists of the positive sequence real and reactive power droop controllers, voltage and current controllers, the selective virtual impedance loop, the unbalance and harmonics compensators, the secondary control for voltage amplitude and frequency restoration, and the auxiliary control to achieve a high-voltage quality at the point of common coupling. By using the proposed unbalance and harmonics compensation, the auxiliary control, and the virtual positive/negative-sequence impedance loops at fundamental frequency, and the virtual variable harmonic impedance loop at harmonic frequencies, an accurate power sharing is achieved. Moreover, the low bandwidth communication (LBC) technique is adopted to send the compensation command of the secondary control and auxiliary control from the microgrid control center to the local controllers of DG unit. Finally, the hardware-in-the-loop results using dSPACE 1006 platform are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper develops a novel method for optimal design of fractional slot with concentrated windings. The basis of this method is a generalized analytical model of the winding magnetomotive force (MMF) combined with a multiobjective genetic algorithm, which searches the optimal winding parameters that maximize the winding factor and minimize the MMF harmonic content. This technique is applied to optimize the winding layout of the permanent magnet synchronous machine with 12 × n slots/10 × n poles combination ( n is an integer number). The electromagnetic performances of the optimized winding are investigated and compared with conventional winding topology. It is found that the proposed approach allows the emergence of new windings with higher performances. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a variable coefficient combined virtual inertia and primary frequency control strategy for doubly fed induction generators (DFIG) in coordination with diesel generator to participate in wind/photovoltaic/diesel microgrid frequency regulation. The frequency response characteristic is analyzed under different wind speeds with corresponding inertia control parameters different. A 10% wind power margin is preserved through overspeed control and pitch angle control to offset the decrease of wind output power after temporary extra power surge, and provide a permanent frequency support for microgrids. The influence of droop control gain setting is also illustrated under different wind velocities. By continuously adjusting the control parameters according to wind speed variation, a variable coefficient method is realized. The method can guarantee an efficient implementation of this strategy in time-varying conditions. Finally, this coordinated control strategy is tested in a storage-independent microgrid with solar, wind, and diesel generators. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a dynamic droop load sharing scheme based on the available generation capacity of the distributed generation (DG) units. Since conventional droop schemes share loads proportional to units’ ratings, they suffer from the inability to maintain an efficient operating point when their input renewable power varies, without imposing their new operating point on other connected DGs in the microgrid. This problem is mainly due to the insensitivity of the droop scheme to the varying nature of the renewable resources used, including wind and solar photovoltaic (PV). A control method is proposed for PV systems; however, it is applicable for all types of droop-controlled renewable DG. A stability analysis of the proposed scheme on DG units is also presented to identify theoretical and practical limits. The proposed scheme identifies the dc operating zone of the inverter-based source as irradiance level changes and conditions the droop parameters appropriately for an efficient load sharing based on available generation, while the rating of each unit is also taken into account. The proposed scheme provides energy saving, since energy demand from a local auxiliary generator is reduced. The proposed method is validated using MATLAB/SIMULINK simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Current-source converters (CSCs) have a promising potential to interface the large-scale photovoltaic (PV) generators to electric grids. In order to overcome several drawbacks associated with the conventional vector-controlled CSC-based PV systems, this paper presents for the first time, the power synchronization control (PSC) scheme for the single-stage grid-connected CSC-based PV generator. A detailed small-signal model for the complete CSC-based PV system with the PSC strategy is developed to investigate the system stability, characterize the converter interactions with the electric grid, and design the controller parameters. The PSC of the CSC-based PV system reflects a stable performance under different operating conditions and following sudden variations in the insolation level. Due to the inherent synchronizing feature of the PSC, the phase-locked loop is eliminated and, hence, the integration to the very weak grids is seamlessly achieved. Although there is no direct control on the injected ac current to the grid, the inherent self-current-limiting feature of the CSC through the modulation of the regulated dc-choke current offers an overcurrent protection. Detailed nonlinear time-domain simulations results validate the theoretical analysis and show the effectiveness of the PSC strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the design of a dc grid-based wind power generation system in a poultry farm. The proposed system allows flexible operation of multiple parallel-connected wind generators by eliminating the need for voltage and frequency synchronization. A model predictive control algorithm that offers better transient response with respect to the changes in the operating conditions is proposed for the control of the inverters. The design concept is verified through various test scenarios to demonstrate the operational capability of the proposed microgrid when it operates connected to and islanded from the distribution grid, and the results obtained are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Multiple-voltage-region control, in which the bus-voltage range is divided into several regions, is usually implemented for dc microgrid operation in distributed manner. Voltage/power droop relationships are imposed for active power sharing among slack terminals. Conventionally, threshold voltages for voltage region partition are determined with fixed percentage of variation around the nominal value, which may result in unevenness of droop coefficients in different regions. If system droop coefficient is too high, significant bus-voltage step change due to load variation will occur. On the other hand, significant power sharing error among slack terminals will be induced if the droop coefficient is too low. In this paper, a compromised solution with power-capacity-based bus-voltage region partition is proposed to equalize the droop coefficients in different regions. However, the droop coefficients are determined based on the rated power capacity of system units. Bus-voltage discontinuity appears when the power capacity reduces in actual implementation. To eliminate the voltage discontinuity, online droop coefficient tuning according to the real-time power capacity is implemented. Algorithms for local power capacity estimation of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage have been proposed. A lab-scale dc microgrid has been developed for verification of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a new four-phase flux-reversal dc-field (FRDC) machine for the wind power generation applications. The key distinction of the proposed generator is to artfully design its stator pole and winding arrangement in a way imitating the permanent-magnet (PM) configurations, which the profound FRPM machine has. Hence, the proposed FRDC generator can provide the bipolar flux-linkage patterns and achieve performances similar to that of the high-quality FRPM generators. The proposed generator can regulate its controllable dc-field winding to vary its flux density effectively. Thus, it can achieve the constant-output-voltage characteristics at different situations in order to extend the battery life and to protect the power grid system. Without installation of any high-cost PM materials, the proposed magnetless FRDC generator can achieve better cost-effectiveness than its PM counterparts. The key performances of the proposed wind power generator are thoughtfully analyzed by the finite-element method, while the experimental prototype is also setup for verifications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast transient and smooth steady-state performance of wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) is essential for sustained power conversion and grid code fulfilment including low voltage ride through capability. In this paper, an analysis of permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)-based WECSs under vector control and direct torque control provides the basis for combining salient features of the two control methods into a reliable and effective control system to provide enhanced machine performance. The system includes two hysteresis current controllers in connection with an inverter-switching table. The proposed control provides fast transient and smooth steady-state performance for machine side converter of PMSGs, which controls dc-link voltage under grid fault conditions. Extensive simulation results on a 2-MW PMSG-based WECS demonstrate the desired performance of the proposed control system under both grid-normal and -fault conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gas turbines are raising nowadays growing interest in the power generation industry. Being able to regulate their power production faster than any other form of conventional source, they are extremely valuable in compensating stochastic power fluctuations deriving from renewable energy sources in large-scale electrical grids, preserving grid stability, etc. In this context, gas turbines’ dynamic performance plays a key role and it needs to be enhanced (however preserving the machine lifetime at the same time). Nonlinear model based control systems can effectively deal with this problem, exploiting the system structure to obtain optimal dynamic performance. Therefore, this paper aims at developing a sliding mode model based control for gas turbines. The results obtained from its application on a heavy duty Ansaldo gas turbine model (AE94.3A4) are compared to the ones obtained to the traditional control employed in these applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformer-less grid-connected PV inverters are an attractive technology choice due to their high-efficiency performance and relatively small volume. However, in the absence of galvanic isolation, dc current can potentially flow into the grid and adversely affect the grid performance. In addition, as the sinusoidal ac output is significantly larger than the dc injection component, accurate dc current sensing at the inverter output remains a technical challenge. As a result, this paper proposes a two-stage dc voltage detection technique that employs an isolated RC attenuation circuit and a software dc-component filtering algorithm. The principle of the proposed technique can be applied in many switch-mode power converter topologies. The simple and cost-effective combination facilitates dc component extraction within the accuracy of 1 mV; moreover, this can be further used as digital dc feedback for active current control purposes. Experimental results from a laboratory prototype demonstrate the high performance of the proposed dc extraction and suppression approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a version of the synthetic loading method, suitable for the testing of multiphase machines with multiple three-phase distributed windings. The method is at first discussed in general terms for a structure with k three-phase stator windings (i.e., total number of phases is n = 3k). Subsequent detailed development is described for a dual three-phase (six-phase) stator winding configuration. With a control architecture that allows the use of half of the three-phase windings as a motor and the other half as a generator, the machine (and/or the converter) can be tested under full rated power without the need for any mechanical load. Moreover, the power consumed from the grid is in essence equal only to the total losses of the system. Modeling, based on the double d-q approach, and the control layout that includes full cross-coupling decoupling are described for a permanent magnet (PM) synchronous machine. An experimental test rig with a double three-phase PM machine of 150 kW rating is detailed and the samples of experimental results are provided to verity the theoretical considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power system operates close to its operational limit to achieve a higher level of utilization of the grid infrastructure. As a result, its transient behavior is of great importance to prevent violation of the operation limits. This paper proposes an internal model control (IMC)-based approach for voltage-sourced converters (VSC) to improve their dynamic behavior. This IMC controller is designed based on a detailed model of the VSC. The proposed control approach has superior performance, i.e., faster step response and less overshoot, and higher axes decoupling than the conventional dq-current control method. The proposed IMC-based controller has a straightforward design procedure, and can be implemented using simple PI and PID controllers. Several case studies are presented to evaluate and compare the transient performance of the IMC-based controller with conventional dq current control subsequent to step changes in the set points of direct and quadrature axes current, single-phase fault, and three-phase fault. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computationally efficient and scalable models that describe droop-controlled inverter dynamics are key to modeling, analysis, and control in islanded microgrids. Typical models developed from first principles in this domain describe detailed dynamics of the power electronics inverters, as well as the network interactions. Consequently, these models are very involved; they offer limited analytical insights and are computationally expensive when applied to investigate the dynamics of large microgrids with many inverters. This calls for the development of reduced-order models that capture the relevant dynamics of higher order models with a lower dimensional state space while not compromising modeling fidelity. To this end, this paper proposes model-reduction methods based on singular perturbation and Kron reduction to reduce large-signal dynamic models of inverter-based islanded microgrids in temporal and spatial aspects, respectively. The reduced-order models are tested in a modified IEEE 37-bus system and verified to accurately describe the original dynamics with lower computational burden. In addition, we demonstrate that Kron reduction isolates the mutual inverter interactions and the equivalent loads that the inverters have to support in the microgrid—this aspect is leveraged in the systematic selection of droop coefficients to minimize power losses and voltage deviations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multibus islanded microgrids, the power quality requirements for different areas and buses can be different. This paper proposes a hierarchical control to realize optimal unbalance compensation for satisfying the power quality requirements in different areas. Primary and secondary controllers are applied to realize unbalance compensation for critical bus, and at the same time, to make distributed generators (DGs) equally share the compensation efforts. Tertiary control, which inherently is an optimization method, is implemented to adjust the compensating effort of each DG considering the voltage unbalance limits in local buses and DG terminals. This method realizes multipower-quality-level control in a multibus islanded system by optimally utilizing DGs as distributed compensators and saves the investment for additional compensation equipment. Hardware-in-the-loop results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores control strategies for active power distribution nodes (APDNs) using a hierarchical approach. The proposed APDN consists of multiple bidirectional interface modules and an embedded energy storage that is commonly connected to these modules. Such configuration properties make the APDN attractive as a major interface unit for active power flow control in microgrids and power distribution networks. A two-level hierarchy is considered so that the primary level performs load sharing using droop control, and the secondary level performs embedded energy storage management. The stability of the proposed control framework is studied and the proposed design is verified by an experimental setup. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an innovative control scheme for the management of energy consumption in commercial buildings with local energy production, such as photovoltaic panels or wind turbine and an energy storage unit. The presented scheme is based on distributed model predictive controllers, which manage the storage system and the building space heating and cooling. The proposed approach is implemented and tested in SYSLAB, the experimental facility for distributed energy systems at the Technical University of Denmark, Risø Campus. The experimental setup consists of wind and solar renewable sources, a vanadium redox battery system, resistive load, and a point of common coupling to the national grid. Several experiments are carried to assess the performance of the control scheme in managing local energy production and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing installation of distributed energy resources during the last years has lead to a fundamental change of the power system structure. As a consequence, utility operators are faced with new challenges in grid planning and operation. New and intelligent approaches—like smart grids—show promising results in increasing the hosting capacity for distributed and renewable resources. Standardized automation, control, and communication systems are important keys to realize such intelligent methods. In this paper, a standard-based control approach for distributed energy resources is introduced and implemented. It uses the IEC 61850 interoperability approach as well as the IEC 61499 reference model for distributed automation. Elementary implementation guidelines are provided to handle the hierarchical architecture of distributed control applications. In order to show the advantages of the proposed approach, a simulation example and a laboratory test are demonstrated using a prototypical open-source-based implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DC microgrids (DC-MGs) are becoming popular as an effective means to integrate various renewable energy resources. Conventionally, the droop control is adopted as a decentralized control strategy for proper power sharing without using any communication link. However, the conventional droop control often deteriorates due to the effects of unequal line resistances. In this paper, a control strategy is proposed for a DC-MG to achieve perfect power sharing considering the effects of line resistances. The DC-MG under study consists of a photovoltaic system, two energy storage systems, a grid-connected converter system, and dc loads. The control strategy of the converters is addressed under various operation modes. To obtain prolonged and reliable operation of the DC-MG, the state of charge of the batteries is also considered in the power sharing strategy. Simulation and experimental results are provided to verify the effectiveness and validity of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fault ride-through (FRT) is a common requirement to abide by grid code all over the world. In this paper, to enhance the FRT capability of fixed speed wind generator system, a modified configuration of bridge-type fault current limiter (BFCL) is proposed. To check the effectiveness of the proposed BFCL, its performance is compared with that of the series dynamic braking resistor (SDBR). A harmonic performance improvement by the proposed method is also analyzed. A three-phase-to-ground (3LG) fault was applied to one of the double circuit transmission lines connected to the wind generator system. Simulation was carried out by using MATLAB/Simulink software. Simulation results show that the proposed BFCL is a very effective device to achieve the FRT and suppress fault current that eliminates the need for circuit breaker replacement. Also, the BFCL improves the harmonic performance and helps follow harmonic grid code. Moreover, it was found that the BFCL works better than the SDBR and has some distinct advantages over the SDBR. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

DC collection grid and high-voltage direct-current (HVDC) transmission lines provide promising solutions for an offshore wind farm (OWF). However, due to the decoupling effect of the dc collection grid and an HVDC link, an HVDC-connected dc-grid OWF cannot directly participate in the frequency regulation of the onshore ac grid. To address this issue, this paper presents a communication-free control scheme, which allows an HVDC-connected all-dc OWF to contribute to the onshore ac grid frequency regulation. This scheme consists of making the offshore dc collection grid voltage and onshore frequency deviations proportional. It relies on the HVDC voltage control at the onshore converter, together with the dc collection grid voltage control at the offshore converter. Furthermore, by continuously adjusting the droop of each wind generator in response to its local wind speed, this scheme takes into account the wind speed difference among wind generators, thereby improving the frequency nadir/peak and guaranteeing the wind generator stability. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]