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The three-phase four-wire voltage source inverter (3P4W VSI) is widely used in applications like uninterrupted power supply (UPS) and bidirectional onboard charger. The increasing power density demand requires higher switching frequency and lower switching loss. To fulfill the conflicting objectives, two-fold methodology is proposed in this paper: 1) SiC/Si hybrid switches (HyS) together with recently reported gate trigger are reported for the first time in the 3P4W VSI; 2) the natural point voltage is controlled to track a sinusoidal voltage with the frequency equal to 3 times of fundamental frequency in order to achieve higher DC-bus voltage utilization rate, and further reduce the switching loss. The traditional PI controller is very hard to achieve desired performance due to both the nonlinearity and the variant reference of the natural point voltage control system. Thereby, the super-twisting sliding mode control (ST-SMC) is proposed in this paper to achieve desired tracking performance and fast dynamic response. The effectiveness and superiority of the system are verified by both simulation and experiment comparison with the existing methods using a 5 kW prototype. • A new trigger circuit proposed recently is used for the first time in a 4 legs inverter. • The relationship of DC-bus voltage and HyS switching loss is derived and testified. • The super-twisting sliding mode control achieves high tracking accuracy in 3P4W inverter. • HyS and suitable controller comprehensively improve the performance of 3P4W inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the large-scale integration of renewable energy systems, the power inertia and voltage support of the grid are low. Using the inverter with temporary storage capabilities cope with shortages and power fluctuations. This paper presents a new sensorless control of a single-phase grid-connected PV system based on a multilevel flying capacitor inverter MFCI) able to smooth out the power produced. The designed controller involves two cascade loops, an outer loop control extracts the maximum power despite climate change, and an inner loop consists of a model predictive control based on the Lyapunov theory for power factor correction and flying capacitor voltage balancing. Furthermore, an interconnected Kalman-like high-gain observer is combined with the predictive control algorithm to estimate the flying capacitor voltages accurately based on the actual grid current. The stability study of the suggested observer in the closed loop has been described. An algorithm that generates reference signals to manage power flows is also developed. The performance of the proposed controller has been verified on the MATLAB/Simulink platform, and the simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller over different grid operating modes. • the proposed PV system is based on MFC inverter able to smooth out the grid-injected power. • The designed controller combines a Lyapunov-based model predictive control with a Kalman-like high-gain observer. • The PV conversion system optimizes energy extraction, injecting it smoothly into the grid. • The inverter, with temporary storage, copes with power fluctuations without external energy storage during grid faults. • The closed-loop stability of the controller is rigorously proved during the normal mode and grid fault conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Model predictive control (MPC) is an outstanding control method which can achieve superior dynamic response, nonlinear control and multi-objective collaborative control. However, because of unfixed switching frequency, the harmonic spectrum of the output current is dispersed, which would make it difficult to design the output filter. In this work, a double voltage vector model predictive control (DVV-MPC) algorithm for grid-connected cascade H-bridge (CHB) multilevel inverter is presented. The algorithm not only has the advantages of MPC but also produces fixed the switching frequency of the inverter. It is realized by a modulation stage with two adjacent voltage vectors in one switching cycle. And the duty cycle of the associated voltage level is obtained by minimizing an additional cost function. This method is suitable for the cascades of n cells inverter. For reducing the computation burden and eliminating the computation delay, adjacent regions prediction method and time-delay compensation method are applied to the inverter. Finally, in this paper, the proposed strategy is applied to a single-phase grid-connected 7-level CHB inverter. Simulation and experiment are executed to show the advantages of the proposed control algorithm in dynamic state and steady state. • A double voltage vector MPC strategy is proposed for n-level CHB inverters with fixed switching frequency. • The optimal vector is composed of two voltage vectors with different action times and magnitudes in one control cycle. • The proposed method is realized to facilitate the filter design and the current THD is further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The original contribution of the paper is a dq-real domain admittance transfer matrix model of PV-qZ systems. • The study presents some of the the two main origins of instability in multi-terminal AC grid-connected PV-qZ systems. • The study also illustrates the weakness of GNC related to stability assessment and grid partition points. Photovoltaic (PV) power systems are becoming one of the most popular green power systems. Power converters are used in these systems. Among them, quasi-Z-source inverters (qZSIs) are currently on the rise. However, instabilities can appear in multi-terminal AC grid-connected power electronics, such as PV power systems, due to the interaction between power electronic controls and the grid. Modeling of qZSI-based PV power systems is lacking in the literature and stability assessment of grid-connected qZSI-based PV power systems is not yet well understood. Accordingly, the present paper contributes with an s -domain dq -real admittance transfer matrix model of qZSI-based PV power systems derived from their small-signal state-space averaged model. The paper also describes a systematic procedure to study multi-terminal AC grid-connected qZSI-based PV power systems by the nodal admittance method, where the proposed qZSI-based PV power system model is incorporated into the nodal admittance matrix to study stability concerns. Thus, AC grid dynamics in the presence of qZSI-based PV power systems can be investigated using impedance-based stability criteria. The proposed model and the procedure are applied in a stability study of two applications where solutions for improving stability issues are presented. In these applications, the two main causes of instabilities in AC-grid connected PV-qZ systems are analyzed in detail. The study is validated by PSCAD/EMTDC simulation.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A mathematical model for inverters' connection transients in weak and strong grids. • An improvement of transients using a phase limiter algorithm. • A set of experiments which validates the proposal. • Analysis of virtual impedance and measurement filter dynamics. This paper derives a mathematical model suitable for analysis of connection behavior of the inverter-based grids and, using that model, it presents guidelines to control grid-forming inverters' rate of change in frequency as function of output power (virtual inertia), or in other words "measured power filters". Furthermore, in order to improve the transient response, an angle difference limiter control is proposed. An angle difference limiter is a control algorithm which is constantly checking the angle difference between the inverter and the grid in the connection point limiting power peaks during the transients. The performance of the angle difference limiter is analyzed in detail and validated with an experimental microgrid consisting of two three-phase inverters and a variable load. The paper analyzes the connection of inverters in weak and strong grids validating the performance of the proposed angle difference limiter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the observed angle of a phase-locked loop (PLL) is relatively accurate even under distorted grid conditions, the mathematical model of the voltage errors caused by the switching modulation and the dead-time effect are derived as a function of the grid voltage angle in this paper. Based on the model analysis, an adaptive compensation algorithm is proposed to suppress the grid-side current harmonics in three-phase converters. The proposed algorithm fits the unmeasurable voltage errors by a truncated Fourier series expansion, and then takes it as an equivalent disturbance in the current control loop to achieve harmonic compensation. By the feed-forward compensation, the design and tuning of the controller parameters are simplified and separated from the dynamic performance. In addition, the controller can adapt to the grid frequency variation by updating the grid voltage angle with the PLL block. To reduce the computational burden, a simplified version of the proposed method is also presented. Simulation and experiment results show that the proposed methods can suppress the current harmonics and achieve better performance in terms of total harmonic distortion, strong robustness and insensitivity to the grid frequency variations, compared with the traditional PI control or repetitive control strategy. [Display omitted] • A PI controller is designed to ensure satisfactory dynamic performance. • An adaptive method is employed to compensate the voltage errors caused by the switching modulation and the deadtime effect so as to suppress the grid current harmonics. • A simplified adaptive strategy is also presented to reduce the computational burden and the complexity to half of the original method. • The adaptive algorithm is less model-dependent and built based on the grid voltage angle with a PLL to achieve frequency adaption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The impact of distributed capacitance is eliminated due to the capacitance current can be ignored at the low frequency. • The low-frequency components only exist between the BES and the fault point, and will not flow to the opposite grid. • The least square algorithm is employed to solve the overdetermined equations, improving the accuracy of calculation. The fault current of the photovoltaic (PV)/battery energy storage (BES) hybrid power generation system contains harmonic components, which might cause the maloperation of the distance relay. The time-domain distance protection has attracted more attention recently. However, the distributed capacitance of long transmission lines negatively affects the performance of time-domain distance protection, which hinders its application. To solve this problem, this paper proposes an improved time-domain distance protection based on fault active control. By leveraging the fault active control capability of the BES inverter, a specific low-frequency characteristic voltage is modulated through the phase-locked loop (PLL). By injecting the low-frequency characteristic voltage, the influence of line distributed capacitance can be ignored. Thus, the accuracy of time-domain distance protection based on the equivalent R-L model of transmission lines is guaranteed, which is the first advantage of injecting the low-frequency characteristic voltage. The other advantage is the low-frequency components only exist between the BES and the fault point, and will not flow to the grid on the opposite side of the line. The accuracy of time-domain distance protection has been further improved. In Addition, the faulty line's derivative equations for different fault types are deduced based on fault active control. Finally, the least square algorithm is used to calculate fault distance. The proposed scheme's feasibility and effectiveness are verified through simulations in PSCAD/EMTDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the significant trend towards variable frequency in heating ventilating and air-conditioner (HVAC) loads, the inverter-based air conditioner load (IACL) clusters are poised to become the mainstay in participating in demand response (DR). During the process of DR, once the indoor temperature exceeds the comfort constraint, HVAC load must be forced to exit DR, which brings correlation to the behaviour of the preceding and following periods, making cluster optimization modelling and solution difficult. In order to solve the problems, this paper proposes an analogue ON/OFF state-switching (AOSS) control method suitable for IACL cluster participating in DR. Firstly, the critical working point corresponding to the comfort constraint is analysed for eliminating the temporal coupling for IACL. Then, an AOSS control method is proposed based on the critical point analysis. The feasibility of the proposed AOSS control is validated by the experimental results, with the Hisense KFR-75W/T08SBp-A2 inverter-based air conditioning DR experimental platform. Furthermore, by using the proposed AOSS control, a day-ahead scheduling model is constructed, and, the traditional state-queuing (SQ) model is transplanted to the IACL cluster for short-term power control. And the case studies verified the effectiveness and applicability of the day-ahead scheduling model and the transplanted SQ model. • Analysing the critical working point corresponding to the comfort constraint. • AOSS control is proposed to eliminate the temporal coupling for IACL. • Aggregation and optimal dispatching for IACL cluster in day-ahead time scale. • Ultra-short time scale IACL cluster power control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the hybrid synchronization based grid forming (HS-GFM) control and coordination strategy are proposed for the inverter and boost converter to provide frequency support. As the main contribution, the inertia power and damping power are designed with HS-GFM based coordination strategy between inverter and boost converter. The inertia power can be obtained from DC capacitor and photovoltaic system in deloading mode independently. Besides, the damping power can be realized from the PV inverter in deloading mode. After that, the small signal models of inverter and boost converter considering grid frequency coupling are constructed with simplified single input single output (SISO) model to guide the parameter selection. Further, the grid synchronization stability, synchronization bandwidth and grid strength influence on the frequency response of the PV inverter can be analyzed with SISO model. Compared with conventional DC voltage based GFM, HS-GFM can improve stability especially in strong grid with slight reduction of synchronization bandwidth while it has the risk of instability in weak grid if parameters are not proper. Compared with phase locked loop (PLL) based control, the proposed HS-GFM control achieves a fast response under frequency excursion with better stability in weak grid. Finally, realtime and offline simulations are carried out to verify the proposed strategy and analysis. • Inertia and damping power are designed with hybrid synchronization based GFM control. • The DC side thevenin equivalence of boost converter is obtained for SISO analysis. • SISO model of PV inverter is built for stability analysis and parameter selection. • Comparisons with conventional GFM and phase locked loop based control are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study of PV power plant with quasi-Z-source cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter under failure. • Control system to provide a suitable DC voltage at the input of the VSI and ensure the grid power delivery. • Control tested from simulation results under different operating conditions and HIL experimental results. • Correct response of the developed control strategy with failure in qZSI module. At the present time, quasi-Z-source cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverters (qZS-CHBMLI) have gained attention in photovoltaic (PV) applications, due to their advantages over traditional multilevel inverters. They allow single-stage power conversion of a PV power plant by independently adjusting the DC voltage in each module; thus, each PV array operates at the maximum power. This advantage permits dispensing with a DC/DC boost converter and reduces the number of modules required. This paper develops a novel control strategy for a qZS-CHBMLI connected to a single-phase system that guarantees proper operation when a fault occurs in a quasi-impedance source inverter (qZSI). The control strategy is employed in a grid-connected qZS-CHBMLI with three modules, each one with a quasi-impedance network, a 4.8 kW PV array and a voltage source inverter (VSI), with H-bridge topology. The purpose of the control system is to deliver a suitable DC voltage at the input of the VSI and ensure the grid power requirements after a fault in a module. The proposed control system is evaluated through a 40 s simulation in MATLAB/Simulink® in two cases: A) analysis of the system behaviour when there is a variation in the operation limit equation; and B) evaluation of the control strategy under dissimilar operating conditions. In addition, an experimental setup based on an OPAL RT-4510 unit and a dSPACE MicroLabBox prototyping unit is employed to validate the results. The results confirmed the correct response of the applied strategy with the failure of a single module. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A power-decoupled current source inverter (PD-CSI) is proposed for the operation in an unbalanced grid to reduce the current rating of the DC-link inductor. • A model predictive control is proposed for the PD-CSI. It achieves high performance in both stability and rapidity. • A space vector pulse width modulation is proposed for the PD-CSI. It helps to reduce the voltage rating of the ripple storage capacitor. The current source inverter (CSI) is a promising interface between the Photovoltaic (PV) panel and the three-phase AC grid. It boosts the PV panel voltage by a DC-link inductor and converts the maximum available PV power. In an unbalanced grid, double-line-frequency pulsating powers will be generated in the CSI, increasing the rating of the DC-link inductor and impeding the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) operation. To address this issue, a power decoupling (PD) circuit for a three-phase CSI is proposed in this paper. By using the DC-link inductor and active switches multiplex, the proposed PD circuit can reduce the current rating of the DC-link inductor with fewer active switches, and no detrimental power components are introduced to the utility grid. Moreover, to concurrently control multiple objectives without multiple loops, a model predictive control (MPC) method is further proposed for the PD-CSI, achieving a rapid response of PD-CSI. Besides, a space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) method is proposed for the PD-CSI to enhance the utilization of DC voltage, helping to reduce the voltage stress of the ripple storage capacitor. The priorities of the proposed topology and the corresponding control and modulation methods are finally verified by comparative experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, the system of the Linear Induction Motor (LIM) driven by direct AC–AC matrix converter is presented and its dynamic performance is briefly compared with the conventional LIM drives based on AC–DC–AC converter. Space-vector pulse-width modulation (SVM) and indirect field oriented control (IFOC) are applied to control the two employed converters. For the sake of comparison, the PI controllers are applied to control the primary (mover) speed and current considering the same parameter settings. The objective of this paper was to compare theoretically the dynamic performance of linear induction motor (single-sided LIM) drives driven by three-phase voltage source inverters and the direct AC/AC matrix converters. The study compares the dynamic performance in addition to the harmonics content and THD of the input and output voltage and current for both converters. The simulation of each system has been implemented using the MATLAB/SIMULINK platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current paper, an improved control strategy designed for synchronizing and transferring autonomous microgrids (MGs) to the grid is presented. The proposed approach is based on an MG leading inverter (MGLI) supplied by a supercapacitor energy storage system, which takes over the MG only during a transitory load and distributes it to the available MG supporting inverters (MGSIs). This paper presents the control systems for both the proposed MGLI and the associated MGSIs, the focus being on the specific issues related to MG synchronization and grid transfer. By means of the proposed solution, the operation of the MG and its transition between autonomous and grid-connected modes require merely the adaptation of the MGLI control system, while the MGSIs operation remain unchanged during all MG states. The comprehensive experimental results, which were carried out on a laboratory-scale MG, have shown that the system is kept stable and with minimum disturbance to the local MG voltage and frequency during the analysed events, namely the scheduled MG transfer to the grid, power-flow control during grid-connection operation, and disconnection from the grid, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to their run-time reconfigurability, short time-to-market, and lower prototype costs, FPGAs have become increasingly popular since their introduction. They found use in a wide variety of applications, including high-performance computing. However, when compared to ASICs, FPGAs offer lower performance, and they are power-hungry devices with low energy-efficiency. The emergence of Approximate Computing (AxC) represents a significant advancement in terms of enabling technology when applied to FPGA-based computing platforms. It has been effectively exploited in several application fields, achieving significant savings in energy and latency through a selective degradation of the output quality. Nevertheless, a generalized and systematic methodology for FPGA-based circuit design is still lacking. Indeed, most of the methods target ASIC-based systems, and, consequently, they offer minimal advantages or even an increase in resources when synthesized for FPGAs due to the architectural differences between the technologies. In this paper, we attempt to address this shortcoming by introducing our method for designing combinational logic circuits. It is based on and-inverter graph rewriting and multi-objective optimization, aiming for optimal trade-offs between quality of results and hardware overhead. Extensive experimental campaigns empirically prove that both generic logic and arithmetic circuits benefit from this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing penetration of renewable energy systems into the global energy matrix is a necessity for sustainable development. The benefits impact the well-being of humanity and the environment directly. However, these power generation systems demand reliable controllers to regulate the current injection into the electrical grid. Therefore, this paper presents a smart parametrisation for a robust adaptive proportional integral controller applied to grid-injected current control of a voltage inverter source with an LCL filter. Controller parameter optimisation and the initialisation of their gains are performed using the particle swarm optimisation algorithm. Three cost functions are assessed on controller parametrisation, considering the current tracking error minimisation and control action limitations: integral of absolute error (IAE) + integral of absolute control action (IAU), integral of square error (ISE) + IAU, and integral of the time-weighted absolute error (ITAE) + IAU. A framework for performance analysis and an in-depth discussion are presented, providing a systematic decision-support methodology for controller configuration. The function determined as the best one is implemented experimentally and compared with a designer's experience-based robust adaptive proportional integral controller using a hardware-in-the-loop test bench, where the improvements in controller performance are corroborated, contributing to the enhancement of energy quality in renewable energy systems. In addition, the controller's robustness is evaluated on a weak grid and an uttermost weak grid, where it presents high robustness and global stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel, passive-based anti-islanding method for both inverter and synchronous machine-based distributed generation (DG) units. Unfortunately, when the active/reactive power mismatches are near to zero, majority of the passive anti-islanding methods cannot detect the islanding situation, correctly. This study introduces a new islanding detection method based on exponentially damped signal estimation method. The proposed method uses adaptive identifier method for estimating of the frequency deviation of the point of common coupling (PCC) link as a target signal that can detect the islanding condition with near-zero active power imbalance. Main advantage of the adaptive identifier method over other signal estimation methods is its small sampling window. In this paper, the adaptive identifier based islanding detection method introduces a new detection index entitled decision signal by estimating of oscillation frequency of the PCC frequency and can detect islanding conditions, properly. In islanding conditions, oscillations frequency of PCC frequency reach to zero, thus threshold setting for decision signal is not a tedious job. The non-islanding transient events, which can cause a significant deviation in the PCC frequency are considered in simulations. These events include different types of faults, load changes, capacitor bank switching, and motor starting. Further, for islanding events, the capability of the proposed islanding detection method is verified by near-to-zero active power mismatches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a main driving force of electric vehicles (EVs), the losses of in-wheel permanent-magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) direct drive system can seriously affect the energy consumption of EVs. This paper proposes a loss optimization control strategy for in-wheel PMSM direct drive system of EVs which optimizes the losses of both the PMSM and the inverter. The proposed method adjusts the copper losses and iron losses by identifying the optimal flux-weakening current, which results in the PMSM achieving the lower losses in the whole operational range. Moreover there are strongly nonlinear characteristics for the power devices, this paper creates a nonlinear loss model for three-phase half-bridge inverters to obtain accurate inverter losses under space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM). Based on the inverter loss model and double Fourier integral analysis theory, the PWM frequency is optimized by the control strategy in order to maximize the inverter efficiency without affecting the operational stability of the drive. The proposed loss optimization control strategy can quickly find the optimum flux-weakening current and PWM frequency, and as a result, significantly broaden the high efficiency area of the PMSM direct drive system. The effects of the aforementioned strategy are verified by both theoretical analysis and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent past, numerous multilevel architectures came into existence. In this background, cascaded multilevel inverter (CMLI) is the promising structure. This type of multilevel inverters synthesizes a medium voltage output based on a series connection of power cells which use standard low-voltage component configurations. This characteristic allows one to achieve high-quality output voltage and current waveforms. However, when the number of levels increases switching components and the count of dc sources are also increased. This issue became a key motivation for the present paper. The present paper is devoted to investigate different types of CMLI which use less number of switching components and dc sources and finally proposed a new version of Multi-cell based CMLI. In order to verify the proposed topology, MATLAB – simulations and hardware verifications are carried out and results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper theoretical and experimental analysis of an AC–DC–AC inverter under DC link capacitor failure is presented. The failure study conducted for this paper is the open circuit of the DC link capacitor. The presented analysis incorporates the results for both single and three phase AC input. It has been observed that the higher ripple frequency provides better ride through capability for this fault. Furthermore, the effects of this fault on electrical characteristics of AC–DC–AC inverter and mechanical properties of the induction motor are also presented. Moreover, the effect of pulsating torque as a result of an open circuited DC link capacitor is also taken into consideration. Theoretical analysis is supported by computer aided simulation as well as with a real time experimental prototype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voltage unbalance is a major yet often overlooked power quality problem in low voltage residential feeders due to the random location and rating of single-phase renewable sources and uneven distribution of household loads. This paper proposes a new indicator of voltage deviation that may serve as a basis of analysis and compensation methods in this dimension of power quality. The paper proposes three main results. First of all a novel voltage norm capable of jointly indicating unbalance and under-voltage in a single value, afterwards a three phase unbalance reduction controller structure is given. As the third main result, the proposed controller structure is integrated with an optimization based control algorithm that uses asynchronous parallel pattern search as its engine. The suggested structure and the underlying three phase power grid model has been implemented in a dynamical simulation environment and tested against engineering expectations. The simulation based experiments served as a proof of concept for the proposed complex control structure. The experiments included performance and robustness analysis, both of them concluded that the proposed control and inverter structure is promising. The proposed three phase inverter structure together with the control algorithm connected with a renewable source (photovoltaic panel or wind turbine) is capable of an asymmetric power injection or rerouting the energy flow to the grid so that the voltage unbalance decrease. This is also important from the environmental point of view since the achieved power loss reduction can easily be translated to CO 2 emission reduction and carbon footprint - these indicators has also been calculated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Causes of premature delamination in the power module for new energy vehicles were systematically studied. • Over-corrosion on the copper strip surface in the pickling process was the root cause. • Overlapping skins on the copper bridge surface in the stamping process were another root cause. For the inverter in the new energy vehicle, the existence of the power module provides it have the function of converting direct current (DC) in the battery pack into three-phase alternating current (AC) driving the motor. Therefore, the reliability of the power module is significant to ensure the stable operation of vehicles. In this paper, a failure case about premature delamination between the copper bridge and epoxy molding compound (EMC) in the power module during power cycling tests was reported. To find out the causes of premature delamination, a series of characterization methods including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), ion chromatography (IC), three-dimensional stereo microscope (3D-SM), metallurgical microscope (MM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were adopted. The analysis objects contained the EMC, circulating water, copper strips in different stages, copper bridges and decapped power modules, which were all covered in the manufacturing process of power modules. By comprehensive analysis, over-corrosion on the copper strip surface and overlapping skins on the copper bridge surface were determined as the root causes of premature delamination. Based on the conclusions, corresponding countermeasures were also proposed. This paper gives a kind of pre-analysis method to the possible failure of the components, so it is meaningful for how to effectively prevent the failure of the components during assembly process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new HT-type module for both symmetrical and asymmetrical multilevel inverters (MLIs) with reduced power electric components. The proposed module comprises of two back to back T-type inverters connected with four cross-connected switches. This MLI addresses two major drawbacks associated with the conventional and other recently proposed MLIs which are the high voltage stress of switches and higher power component counts. The structure of the proposed device is designed combining the beneficial features of both T-type inverter and cross-switched inverter. The 1st feature allows the module to produce negative voltage levels deprived of any extra H-bridge circuit and thus decreasing the overall voltage stress significantly. The latter feature allows the device to utilize reduced number of switches to produce higher voltage levels. A comprehensive comparative analysis is additionally established between other MLI topologies to confirm the superiority of the HT-type MLI. From this analysis, it is found that the proposed MLI has successfully overcome the issues associated with other MLIs, it was able to produce the results following industrial standards and it outperformed other MLIs in different aspects such as power components count, cost, efficiency and dynamic performance. Selective harmonic elimination pulse width modulation (SHE-PWM) and nearest level control (NLC) algorithm is considered in this manuscript to generate the output results from the proposed HT-type module. All the details about the operating principle and modulation techniques utilized for the proposed MLI module are stated and validated by both simulation and experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) inverters have made significant advancements across multiple domains, including the booming area of research in single-stage boosting inverter (SSBI) PV scheme. This article comprehensively covers four critical components of the system, namely boosting topologies, voltage and current control methods, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) methods, and grid synchronization. It conducts thorough analysis and comparisons of various topologies in terms of their performance, cost, volume, lifetime, and grid interfacing requirements for a 200 W reference power level. Furthermore, it investigates the advantages and disadvantages of single-phase inverter control methods and synchronization methods. The MPPT techniques are evaluated based on complexity, robustness, and precision. This paper presents an outline of the series-connected Low Voltage AC (LVAC) scheme, along with several potential areas for further study. By providing insightful analysis and development ideas, this article equips researchers to design and develop optimized single-stage PV systems with increased efficiency and effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the problem of voltage control of islanded inverter-interfaced microgrids consisting of several distributed generation (DG) units with radial structure. The main objectives are to (i) design a decentralized/distributed voltage controller with minimum information exchange between DG units and their local controllers (ii) design a fixed-/low-order dynamic output feedback controller which ensures stability as well as desired performance of the microgrid system in spite of load parameter uncertainties. To this end, the problem is formulated as an optimization problem which is the minimization of the cardinality of a pattern matrix subject to an H ∞ performance constraint. Since the problem is intrinsically non-convex, a convex optimization-based design procedure for the controller synthesis is proposed in this paper. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is evaluated through simulation studies and Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) verifications. The simulation and experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an indirect rotor-flux-oriented (IRFO) control system of the self-excited induction generator (SEIG) in which excitation is achieved by means of a current-controlled voltage source inverter (CC-VSI) and a single electrolytic capacitor. In the proposed control scheme, both the iron losses and the magnetic saturation are taken into account and calculated online. The main objective is to keep the DC voltage across the capacitor constant and equal to the reference value, regardless of changes in the rotor speed and load. The study is mainly focused on the DC voltage control and, more specifically, on selection of the appropriate DC voltage controller. Besides considering widely accepted types of controllers, i.e., the classical PI controller and the fuzzy logic (FL) controller, this paper proposes an alternative solution – a new type of DC voltage controller based on hedge algebra. To our best knowledge, this is the first time that such a controller is considered for application in electrical engineering. The performance of the developed hedge algebra (HA) controller is evaluated through comparison with the optimal-tuned classical PI controller and the Sugeno-type FL controller. The simulation and experimental analysis are carried out in reasonably wide ranges of the DC voltage, load and rotor speed, including the case of a variable rotor speed. It is shown that the proposed HA controller provides superior performance in terms of tracking the reference DC voltage value as well as robustness to speed and load disturbances in the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The controller has inherent robustness against the LCL filter resonance and thus removes the need for PD, which produces losses, or AD, which increases the total cost of the system due to the need for extra sensors. • By selecting the controller parameter with a sensitivity analysis over the open-loop transfer function, the closed-loop system shows sufficiently high stability margins. First, the formulation of the open-loop and closed-loop functions is given. • The analysis of the closed-loop transfer function shows the stability of the closed-loop system against the LCL filter inductance and capacitance variations. • The control law is parameterized based on the future reference trajectory over the control and prediction horizons to deal with the steady-state offsets. The approach for the prediction of the future reference trajectory is discussed. • The optimization routine is performed offline, and the control law can easily be implemented in low-cost processors. • To control the power factor precisely, the grid-side currents are selected as the control variables. This paper presents a Generalized Model Predictive Control (GPC) in the natural reference frame for a 3-phase LCL-filter based grid-tied inverter. The proposed controller can track the sinusoidal reference without steady-state phase and amplitude offsets. This is achieved by parameterizing the control law matrices with considering the future reference trajectory. To cope with the LCL filter resonance, traditional controllers need a damping method. The proposed controller has inherent damping against the LCL filter resonance and extra sensors are avoided. The controller parameters are selected by a sensitivity analysis that guarantees the closed-loop stability. The proposed controller provides high accuracy in controlling active and reactive currents, robustness against grid inductance variations, low real-time computation, and a fixed switching frequency. The simulation and experimental results prove the performance of the controller in tracking the grid-side reference currents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A generalized control strategy (composed of finite set model predictive control with delay compensation and inverse dynamic model control) is proposed, which improves the equivalent output impedance and phase margin of inverters. • The proposed control strategy can achieve order reduction of inverter's control system, which suppresses the resonance peak of the system and further improves the stability of multi-inverter parallel system. • The high robustness against various parameters of the proposed strategy have been proven through Lyapunov stability and frequency domain analysis. • The proposed control strategy can ensure that the THD value of grid connected current is less than 5% under very weak grid condition and other situations. Under weak-grid condition, the mismatch degree between grid impedance and inverter output impedance can increase, which will lead to inverter instability. Compared with conventional power grid, the parallel resonance of multi-inverter parallel system is more likely to happen. In order to improve inverter stability and suppress multiple-inverter parallel resonance under weak-grid condition, a new generalized control mode for control layer is proposed in this paper, which is based on finite set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) and inverse dynamic model control (IDM). The FCS-MPC with delay compensation is introduced into the current inner loop of the control layer, and the IDM control is introduced into the voltage outer loop, so as to make the transfer functions of current inner loop and voltage outer loop unitized and further reduce the order of the inverter's control system. Order reduction can improve the phase margin of the inverter output impedance, in other words, enhance inverter dynamic performance. Finally, the simulation model of multi-inverter parallel system is built, and by comparing with the traditional control strategies, the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Study of microgrid with energy-stored quasi-Z-source cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter and PV system. • Development of energy management system based on model predictive control (MPC-EMS). • Results compared with proportional sharing algorithm based on SOC level (SOC-EMS). • Best results obtained from MPC-EMS. This paper presents a new energy management system (EMS) based on model predictive control (MPC) for a microgrid with solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants and a quasi-Z-source cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter that integrates an energy storage system (ES-qZS-CHBMLI). The system comprises three modules, each with a PV power plant, quasi-impedance network, battery energy storage system (BESS), and voltage source inverter (VSI). Traditional EMS methods focus on distributing the power among the BESSs to balance their state of charge (SOC), operating in charging or discharging mode. The proposed MPC-EMS carries out a multi-objective control for an ES-qZS-CHBMLI topology, which allows an optimized BESS power distribution while meeting the system operator requirements. It prioritizes the charge of the BESS with the lowest SOC and the discharge of the BESS with the highest SOC. Thus, both modes can coexist simultaneously, while ensuring decoupled power control. The MPC-EMS proposed herein is compared with a proportional sharing algorithm based on SOC (SOC-EMS) that pursues the same objectives. The simulation results show an improvement in the control of the power delivered to the grid. The Integral Time Absolute Error, ITAE, achieved with the MPC-EMS for the active and reactive power is 20 % and 4 %, respectively, lower than that obtained with the SOC-EMS. A 1,3 % higher charge for the BESS with the lowest SOC is also registered. Furthermore, an experimental setup based on an OPAL RT-4510 unit and a dSPACE MicroLabBox prototyping unit is implemented to validate the simulation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, direct torque control (DTC) algorithms for double star permanent magnet synchronous machine alimented by two inverters is described. The double star permanent magnet synchronous machine has two sets of three-phase stator windings spatially shifted up by an angle γ=300. The double star permanent magnet synchronous is used in areas of high power industrial applications such as traction and naval propulsion. Because constitute an advantageous choice compared to classical synchronous machine, because of the relatively low torque produced. This machine is controlled by tree level direct torque with speed regulator PI, replaced by the sliding mode regulator to improve the results obtained. The implementation of the DTC multi-level applied to a double star permanent magnet synchronous machine is validated with simulated results. In this paper a method for modeling and simulation of double star permanent magnet synchronous motor drive MATLAB/Simulink. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper proposes a grid-connected cascaded multi-level inverter used in centralized photovoltaic generation. Field programmable gate array (FPGA) is applied to implement the multichannel Carrier Phase Shifting Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation(CPS-SPWM) strategy for the inverter. Analysis and practical implementation of the regular sampled three-phase CPS-SPWM waveform has been presented in this paper. An ALRERA FPGA chip is employed to fulfill all the function of modules, such as divider module, triangular carrier generation module, sine wave generation module, comparing module, dead time module and so on. The simulation and experimental results show that the presentation of this grid-connected cascaded multi-level inverter used in the photovoltaic generation system is feasible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the research of a high frequency, high efficiency Solar inverter using silicon carbide power semiconductor device. Compared to silicon power devices, the silicon carbide power device is more suitable for solar power inverter due to its good electric characteristics. This paper presents the design of sic power semiconductor device based solar inverter. The experiment results of a 1kW silicon carbide JFET based inverter showed about 3% efficiency improvement by a silicon carbide JFET-based inverter over silicon IGBT based inverter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper shows the topology of grid-connected green power system and the performances of the front-end threephase power inverter by applying an advanced state feedback control. The proposed topology benefits a common DCAC inverter which injects the generated power into the grid. The control structure of the power inverter is of vector control type, in synchronous reference frame, and it uses the power balance concept. The solution presented in this paper adds supplementary benefits to the power system beside to the conventional state feedback control: the designed input filter assures zero steady state error and an adequate component is added for dynamic rejection of the load disturbance. The obtained experimental results are shown. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper combines pulse-width phase-shift power modulation with fixed-angle phase-locked-control to adjust the inverter''s output power, this method not only meets the work conditions of voltage inverter, but also realizes the large-scale of power modulation, and the main circuit is simple, the switching devices realize soft switching. This paper analyzes the relationship between the output power and phase-shift angle, the control strategy is simulated by Matlab/Simulink, and the results show that the method is feasible and meets the theoretical analysis [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Due to the scaling and zero-drift of current sensor errors, unbalanced grid voltages, tolerance of power switching devices, and asymmetry of PWM gate driving pulses, transformerless grid-connected inverters usually have certain amount of dc components injected to the ac grid. Therefore, power quality of the grid is degraded. Many efforts, such as using blocking capacitors, a dc current feedback control method, and a voltage dc component feedback control method, etc., have been introduced to minimize the dc injection. This paper proposes an intelligent control strategy of dc current injection suppression to the grid by utilizing adaptive-back-propagation (ABP) neural network PID controller. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated and compared with the traditional and existing method. Finally, the control scheme is verified on a 2-kW three-phase grid-connected inverter in the laboratory. Highlights • Analyze the sources that may lead to dc current in a grid-connected inverter. • Adaptive BP neural work based PID control is proposed to minimize the dc current. • Learning coefficients of adaptive BP-PID controller are on-line regulated. • Propose sliding window double integration method for dc current extraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • We model the system with the Semi-Markov process theory and the renewal point technique. • A efficient algorithm based on set partition method is presented. • The transient and the steady-state reliability indices are explicitly obtained. • The steady-state availability is unrelated with arbitrary initial condition is demonstrated. Abstract With the shortage of nonrenewable energy, renewable energy resources play an important role in practice. One of the most promising renewable energy is viewed as solar energy resources due to its cleanliness and the inexhaustibility. However, the quantitative assessment method on the reliability of a complicated solar energy generating system has been a considerable challenge. In this paper, we propose a Markov model to imitate a solar energy generating system with inverters in series, unreliable by-pass change-over switches, and common cause failure. Employing the renewal point technique and the Semi-Markov process theory, we build the quantitative reliability models of the system. Further, we develop a new algorithm to obtain the explicit form solution of reliability indices. An example illustrates that the proposed models and the algorithm are efficient and concise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A comprehensive survey on control strategies of DGPSs is reviewed. • Several PNS extractors have been presented to produce the signals required for RCG. • The theoretical and comparison assessment of RCG based control strategies are discussed. • Advanced control strategies are overviewed to overcome power quality problems. High energy demand, low cost requirements and higher reliability requirements increase the importance of distributed generation power systems (DGPSs). The large capacity DGPSs requires high performance control algorithms and synchronization techniques based positive-negative sequence (PNS) extractors to fulfil system reliability and power quality requirements under not only during normal operating conditions, but also under unbalanced grid conditions. The power quality problems caused by voltage unbalances, voltage sag/swell, voltage fluctuations, phase faults and harmonic distortions have critical influences on control of power converter devices interfaced DGPSs. In literature studies, novel control strategies with phase locked loops (PLLs) techniques based PNS extractors are used to overcome these problems. In this paper, a comprehensive review on various advanced control strategies and PNS extractors for interlinking three phase inverter in the DGPSs are comprehensively investigated and discussed under normal and abnormal conditions. Several PNS extractors have been overviewed to produce the sequences components required for reference current generation (RCG). The theoretical assessment of the RCG based flexible control strategies and overcurrent limitation control are also comprehensively analysed, surveyed and compared in detail to deal with power quality problems. Comparative analyses for PNS extractors, voltage/current regulation controllers and RCG based control strategies have been detailed presented and analysed. The presented detailed overview can be useful to researchers studying impact of normal and abnormal conditions on various control strategies with or without any using PLLs based PNS extractors for three-phase inverters interfaced DGPSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Recently, LCL filters have been widely used in the output of single phase inverters. Since, the grid side inductor in these filters is in series with the grid impedance at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC), it may create new resonances. This phenomena may take the control loop toward instability. In this case, in order to have a reliable operation, the current controller should be insensitive to the grid impedance variation. In order to damp these resonances, researchers have presented some methods using active or passive damping. These methods added an extra loop to the control loop, an extra passive component in the filter or extra sensor in the control process. But in most of them, the complexity and the cost of controller have been increased. Therefore, presenting a simple control method without extra sensor, passive component or extra arrangement can be a promising approach. This paper presents an MPC-based current controller, which is simple and robust against the grid impedance variation and even the variation of the LCL filter parameters. In contrast to classical multi-loop controller like Proportional-Resonant (PR) controllers, the proposed control method does not need any parameter tuning. In the proposed controller, the switching plan and duty cycles are determined by a cost function and a switching table. Therefore, at the same time with any variation in grid impedance, the proposed controller changes the next switching state and duty cycle. Operating performance like look-up table, searching in all possible switching states to find the best state for the next switching period, makes the controller adaptive and robust against the variation of LCL filter parameters. In order to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed controller, simulations and experimental results of the proposed controller are compared with a classical PR controller. Highlights • An MPC-based current controlled for single phase grid connected inverters has been proposed. • The grid impedance variation and its effect on resonance of LCL filters has been discussed. • The results of the proposed controller have been compared with a classical PR controller. • The results showed that the proposed MPC method, in contrast with the PR controller, is robust when grid impedance changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper adopts the method of modularized modeling, creating an electro-mechanic simulation model for a Microturbine Generation System (MTGS), including the micro-turbine engine, permanent magnetic synchronous generator, rectifier and inverter. In this paper, control strategy for grid-connected and islanding operations of a micro-turbine generation system is researched, the former adopts output voltage control strategy to maintain the output voltage of the load, and the latter adopts a dual closed-loop control algorithm based on PQ decoupling. A new control strategy to regulate the output power of MTGS based on the combination of decoupled control of output voltage and hysteresis current control is also introduced. Simulations have been done, and result proves the feasibility of the strategy. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents the modeling and control of a push–pull converter integrated into a two-stage photovoltaic microinverter operating in island mode without backup energy storage components (batteries). A push–pull small signal model is presented, from which they are derived all transfer functions needed to implement the controllers that regulate the output current, input voltage and output voltage interacting with the MPPT algorithm. A significant contribution of the paper is the proposal of an innovative control structure that simultaneously regulates in island mode both the ac voltage and the dc voltage of the panels, in order to place it in the best operation point. Such operation point is calculated by a specific control loop that interacts with the MPPT algorithm. To validate the proposed concept, simulations in PSIM™ were carried out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The latest researches on photovoltaic energy conversion clearly show that the next generation systems will be both smarter and efficient, with insurance of greater security and modularity. They are clearly oriented nowadays on the multi-point conversion, based on a parallel high voltage bus, with photovoltaic panels owner of their individual Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) connected to an integrated DC-DC converter managing a global Maximum Power Point. This structure allows to avoid shadowing problems. We have studied in this paper the possibility to have a small universal DC-DC converter able to work in a large input voltage range (10 - 40 volts), and producing an output voltage up to around 300 volts with a global efficiency better than 96%. In this paper we describe an original Step-Up converter architecture tested on a standard inverter i.e. including its own MPPT. We also discuss the possibility to use high voltage parallel bus to improve the electro-magnetic compatibility and electro-magnetic pulse robustness by the low surface of wirer loops, which also represents an interesting way to decrease wiring prices. The global efficiency improvement of this architecture has been estimated for+15 to 20% compared to classic ones. This structure allows the use of numerous technologies (amorphous, poly, mono.. . cells) working together on a single HVDC bus in an optimal efficiency. Finally, it is possible to migrate sequentially and progressively from an old standard technology towards this new one as described before. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes a new fuel cell Hybrid Power Source (HPS) topology having the feature to mitigate the current ripple of the fuel cell inverter system. In the operation of the inverter system that is grid connected or supplies AC motors in vehicle application, the current ripple normally appears at the DC port of the fuel cell HPS. Consequently, if mitigation measures are not applied, this ripple is back propagated to the fuel cell stack. Other features of the proposed fuel cell HPS are the Maximum Power Point (MPP) tracking, high reliability in operation under sharp power pulses and improved energy efficiency in high power applications. This topology uses an inverter system directly powered from the appropriate fuel cell stack and a controlled buck current source as low power source used for ripple mitigation. The low frequency ripple mitigation is based on active control. The anti-ripple current is injected in HPS output node and this has the LF power spectrum almost the same with the inverter ripple. Consequently, the fuel cell current ripple is mitigated by the designed active control. The ripple mitigation performances are evaluated by indicators that are defined to measure the mitigation ratio of the low frequency harmonics. In this paper it is shown that good performances are obtained by using the hysteretic current control, but better if a dedicated nonlinear controller is used. Two ways to design the nonlinear control law are proposed. First is based on simulation trials that help to draw the characteristic of ripple mitigation ratio vs. fuel cell current ripple. The second is based on Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC). The ripple factor is up to 1% in both cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract LCL filter is an important component in the grid-connected inverters. The parameters of LCL filter have a strong influence on the output current distortion of inverters. For three-level inverter system, a parameters design method is proposed in this paper based on genetic algorithm optimization of output current total harmonic distortion (THD). By deducing the transfer function of the filter, output current THD is calculated through double Fourier analysis. Then an adaptive immune genetic algorithm is designed to solve the objective parameters optimization issue under constraint condition. With harmonics attenuation in both fundamental band and carrier band taken into account, the filter parameters are optimized scientifically by the global search algorithm, which contains punishment mechanism, adaptive parameters and the mechanism of immune algorithm. The feasibility of the proposed method is verified by conducting simulation and experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, New asymmetric cascaded half H bridge multilevel inverter MLI is proposed. It is driven from the conventional asymmetric cascaded half H Bridge multilevel inverter. Thus, the proposed topology inherits its simplicity, flexibility and modularity in both construction and control. By proper choice of the input DC sources values and interconnection, proposed topology can eliminate the need for polarity generation circuit which normally associated with the cascaded half H-bridge. Therefore, reduces number of switches that require high blocking voltage. The selective harmonic elimination SHE method is applied to generate switching pattern to eliminate harmonics inherently associated with MLI. The proposed topology switching pattern naturally reduces component's voltage stress, switching losses and finally decrees MLI size and cost. Mathematical expressions and analysis have been driven as well as comparison with other topologies. The validity of the proposed topology is verified with Matlab/Simulink model and then a prototype is built and experimental results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The paper presents an alternative scheme using fuzzy logic methodology to control a grid-connected photovoltaic system through ZSI using MCBC method. The system model and control are implemented using MATLAB-SIMULINK simulation toolbox. In view of control, Fuzzy Logic Controllers (FLCs) are designed to enhance the system stability. To ensure a unity power factor operation, the inverter modulation index is controlled to manage the phase current of the grid. Also, the control in the shoot-through ratio controls the output voltage of the PV array, so the maximum power (MP) is extracted. The simulation results using FLCs are compared with others obtained using Proportional Integral (PI) controllers. This is under the same normal operating and transient conditions which are irradiation variation, three-phase short circuit fault at point of connection and voltage variation of the grid. The simulation results of FLCs achieve supplementary enhancement of the system stability over various operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphical abstract Highlights • Coordinated control of three- and arbitrarily connected single-phase energy sources. • Accurate power flow regulation at the microgrid's point-of-common-coupling. • Unbalance compensation by single- and three-phase inverter-interfaced resources. • Active and reactive power sharing proportional to local power availabilities. • Compliance with constraints and limits of distributed energy resources. Abstract This paper proposes the third generation of the Power-Based Control, that is, an approach to effectively coordinate the operation of single- and three-phase inverter-interfaced distributed energy resources that can be arbitrarily connected among the phases of three-phase four-wire low-voltage microgrids. The aim of the approach is to precisely regulate the power exchanged with the main grid by fairly exploiting the available distributed resources while respecting their own local constraints. This allows to achieve demand-response, unbalance compensation, and improved voltage profiles, which is valuable for limiting stress conditions to the distribution infrastructure. The technique is based on a master/slave microgrid architecture where the distributed inverters act as slave units driven by a centralized master controller. This latter employs the Power-Based Control in order to steer the contribution of the inverters on the basis of the microgrid power status. In particular, active, reactive, and unbalance power terms are processed by the master controller and the corresponding microgrid's power needs shared among the distributed energy resources, to achieve the compensation target at the point-of-common-coupling with the main grid. The strategy proposed herein drives the three-phase inverters to operate balanced, which avoids unwanted voltage fluctuations at the DC-side of the inverters; instead, single-phase inverters, which can be connected arbitrarily among the phases of the distribution grid, are exploited to compensate any residual unbalances (i.e., negative- and zero-components). The control technique is analyzed and demonstrated by computer simulations considering a real urban meshed distribution network. Steady-state and dynamic results and performances are reported and discussed considering typical demand and generation profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract In this paper, a robust/adaptive perturbation observer based fractional-order sliding-mode controller (POFO-SMC) is designed for a photovoltaic (PV) inverter connected to the power grid, in which a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) based on variable step size incremental conductance (INC) technique is achieved to harvest the available maximum solar energy from the PV arrays in the presence of various atmospheric conditions. A nonlinear extended state observer (ESO), called sliding-mode state and perturbation observer (SMSPO), is used to efficiently estimate the aggregated effect of PV inverter nonlinearities and parameter uncertainties, unmodelled dynamics, stochastic fluctuation of atmospheric conditions, and external disturbances. Then, a fractional-order sliding-mode controller (FOSMC) is designed to considerably enhance the system robustness via real-time perturbation compensation and to noticeably accelerate the tracking rate compared to the traditional integer-order sliding-mode control (SMC) through employing a fractional-order proportional–derivative (FOPD) sliding surface. In addition, more reasonable control efforts could be realized since the upper bound of perturbation is replaced by its real-time estimate, such that the inherent over-conservativeness of conventional SMC can be effectively reduced. Four case studies are carried out under Matlab/Simulink environment. Simulation results verify the effectiveness and superiority of POFO-SMC compared to that of proportional–integral (PI) control, feedback linearization control (FLC), SMC, robust SMC (RSMC), and FOSMC. Finally, a dSpace based hardware-in-loop (HIL) experiment is undertaken for the purpose of implementation feasibility validation. Highlights • A perturbation observer based fractional-order sliding-mode controller is proposed. • A satisfactory MPPT of the PV system is achieved by the proposed approach. • Considerable robustness is provided against to various modelling uncertainties. • dSpace based HIL experiment validates the implementation feasibility of POFO-SMC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper introduces a simple and yet accurate closed-form expression to estimate the switching power dissipation of static CMOS gates. The developed model depends on normalizing a gate switching power to that of the unit standard inverter and it accounts for the effect of internodal capacitances. For different loads, gates, sizes and processes, the developed model shows a good agreement with Hspice simulations using BSIM3v3 and BSIM4 models for UMC 0.13μm and Predictive high-k 45nm processes, respectively. The average error introduced by the model for the considered scenarios is about 3.1%. Depending on the normalized switching power model, two power optimization techniques have been proposed in this paper. The first deals with transistor sizing problem and presents a scheme to size transistors according to a specific design goal. The second technique relies on the joint transistor sizing and supply voltage scaling for reducing the switching power dissipation under specific delay requirements. This technique exhibits superiority over the first for the considered technology processes: UMC 0.13μm and the Predictive high-k 45nm. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents the design of a discrete-time control scheme for the current injected into the grid by a single-phase voltage source inverter (VSI). The VSI is connected to the grid by means of an LCL filter that attenuates the switching harmonics present in the output waveform of the inverter. The current control is based on a resonant regulator implemented in a Two-Degrees-Of-Freedom (2DOF) scheme that allows the location of all the poles to be defined in the closed loop of the system without the need for observers and measuring only the current injected into the grid. This control scheme, therefore, allows the attenuation of the resonance frequency of the LCL filter and requires no additional damping methods with which to mitigate the resonance phenomenon. The design parameters can be obtained using a fairly straightforward mathematical approach that involves only operations with real numbers. The simulation and experimental results obtained show that the control scheme performs correctly even considering changes in the grid inductance. • The current control for a single-phase inverter with an LCL filter is addressed. • A fast response and zero-tracking error is achieved. • The design methodology permits the complete definition of the closed-loop poles. • Only the grid-side current is needed for control and damping purposes. • The control stability against changes in the grid inductance is addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work it is established for the first time that the internal parameters of the electrical equivalent circuit of vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) are variable not only with flow rate and stack current but also the state of charge (SOC) and operational cycle number. The dynamic internal circuit parameters are extracted by using the charge-discharge characteristics of a practical 1 kW 6 h VRFB system as input to the proposed model. The role of temperature on the VRFB internal parameters is also discussed. It is further demonstrated that the average error in estimation of VRFB stack voltage using dynamic parameters reduces by 28% (charging) and 14% (discharging) compared to that of using static internal parameters. The proposed model exhibits robustness and validity for large scale applications as evidenced by further extracting the internal parameters of a 125 kW 2 h VRFB system. Another significant contribution of this paper is the optimization of flow rate by considering both the stack internal power loss and pump power loss simultaneously to achieve optimal performance of the VRFB system. The proposed model involving dynamic parameter extraction and loss optimization is very useful for designing suitable battery management system (BMS) for interfacing VRFB with renewable energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Parallel connected electrical machines drive systems have received significant attention due to their use in special purpose applications. Recently, control of such systems using a single inverter has been considered for improving stability during uneven load conditions on machines. In this paper, a synchronized control strategy for stable operation of dual parallel brushless direct current motors using a single three-phase inverter is proposed. Control of parallel connected brushless direct current motors suffers from instability under different load torques. To obtain the stability, an effective control method based on master-slave strategy is presented. To analysis the stability, the detail model of the proposed system is developed for an electric vehicle propulsion system. Therein, the motor with the highest load or with lagging rotor position is selected as the master and is directly controlled. The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated by a series of case studies in different operation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]