Distributed energy storage system‐based control strategy for hybrid DC/AC microgrids in grid‐connected mode

This paper concentrates on the issues with the aim of providing a constant dc‐link voltage and desired power sharing for a distributed energy storage system (DESS)‐based hybrid microgrid under load variations. The hybrid microgrid which is consisted of PV system, lithium battery‐based storage system and a grid‐connected dc/ac converter are controlled by designing a controller based on the zero dynamics‐based mathematical equations of all used converters. Two buck and bidirectional buck‐boost dc/dc converters employed in PV and DESS systems, respectively, are responsible for damping the dc‐link voltage fluctuations, and also the grid‐connected converter is set to enhance the grid power quality and supply continuously the grid‐connected loads. The main contributions of the proposed control technique are simplicity and providing the simultaneous stable performance for both DC and AC sides under both DC and grid‐connected loads variations. Moreover, another contribution of the proposed control technique is providing accurate coordination in both steady‐state and dynamic conditions. To analyze the proposed controller, the dynamic operations of the converters in various operating conditions are evaluated. In this evaluation, several curves based on their zero dynamics are achieved, and their desired operations are completely investigated in different operating conditions. Simulation results in MATLAB/SIMULINK verify the proposed controller ability at reaching the desired zero dynamics and the stable performance of the proposed hybrid microgrid.     

Voltage and Frequency Controller for a Three-Phase Four-Wire Autonomous Wind Energy Conversion System

This paper deals with control of voltage and frequency of an autonomous wind energy conversion system (AWECS) based on capacitor-excited asynchronous generator and feeding three-phase four-wire loads. The proposed controller consists of three single-phase insulated gate bipolar junction transistor (IGBT)-based voltage source converters (VSCs) and a battery at dc link. These three single-phase VSCs are connected to each phase of the generator through three single-phase transformers. The proposed controller is having bidirectional flow capability of active and reactive powers by which it controls the system voltage and frequency with variation of consumer loads and the speed of the wind. VSCs along with transformer function as a voltage regulator, a harmonic eliminator, a load balancer, and a neutral current compensator while the battery is used to control the active power flow which, in turn, maintains the constant system frequency. The complete electromechanical system is modeled and simulated in the MATLAB using the Simulink and the power system blockset (PSB) toolboxes. The simulated results are presented to demonstrate the capability of the proposed controller as a voltage and frequency regulator, harmonic eliminator, load balancer, and neutral current compensator for different electrical (varying consumer loads) and mechanical (varying wind speed) dynamic conditions in an autonomous wind energy conversion system.     

Study on synchronization phenomena of fixed speed wind turbines with an induction generator in a wind farm

Synchronization of rotor angles of fixed speed wind energy converters with an induction generator has been reported in several wind farms. In terms of impacts on a power system, the synchronization could worsen the voltage flicker problems. Although many articles have examined this synchronization, there remains considerable room in the physical interpretation of the phenomena. This article discusses the physical context of the synchronization phenomena of wind turbines in a wind farm. After analysing interaction among electric power output, voltage, generator slip and rotor angle, differential equations describing the phenomena are presented. The synchronization phenomena are examined through a study on equilibria of the equations and their stability. Fundamental characteristics of the phenomena such as pull‐in force, speed of synchronization and the impact of discrepancies among generator characteristics are discussed for two‐ and three‐machine systems. The results show that synchronization tends to occur in wind energy converters with large 3p components and a low power factor, which are interconnected into a grid with large short‐circuit impedance of high X/R ratio. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of reactive power strategies in HVDC‐connected wind power plant clusters

Offshore wind power plants (WPPs) built near each other but far from shore usually connect to the main grid by a common high‐voltage DC (HVDC) transmission system. In the resulting decoupled offshore grid, the wind turbine converters and the high‐voltage DC voltage‐source converter share the ability to inject or absorb reactive power. The overall reactive power control dispatch influences the power flows in the grid and hence the associated power losses. This paper evaluates the respective power losses in HVDC‐connected WPP clusters when applying 5 different reactive power control strategies. The case study is made for a 1.2‐GW–rated cluster comprising 3 WPP and is implemented in a combined load flow and converter loss model. A large set of feasible operating points for the system is analyzed for each strategy. The results show that a selection of simulations with equal wind speeds is sufficient for the annual energy production comparison. It is found that the continuous operation of the WPPs with unity power factor has a superior performance with low communication requirements compared with the other conventional strategies. The optimization‐based strategy, which is developed in this article, allows a further reduction of losses mainly because of the higher offshore grid voltage level imposed by the high‐voltage DC voltage‐source converter. Reactive power control in HVDC‐connected WPP clusters change significantly the overall power losses of the system, which depend rather on the total sum of the injected active power than on the variance of wind speeds inside the cluster.     

Multilevel converters for single-phase grid connected photovoltaic systems: an overview

Multilevel voltage source inverters offer several advantages compared to their conventional counterparts. By synthesising the AC output terminal voltage from several levels of DC voltages, staircase waveforms can be produced, which approach the sinusoidal waveform with low harmonic distortion, thus reducing filter requirements. The need of several sources on the DC side of the converter makes multilevel technology attractive for photovoltaic applications. This paper provides an overview on different multilevel topologies and investigates their suitability for single-phase grid connected photovoltaic systems. Several transformerless photovoltaic systems incorporating multilevel converters are compared regarding issues such as component count and stress, system power rating and the influence of the photovoltaic array earth capacitance.     

Grid connected fuel cell and PV hybrid power generating system design with Matlab Simulink

Renewable energy sources have been taken the place of the traditional energy sources and especially rapidly developments of photovoltaic (PV) technology and fuel cell (FC) technology have been put forward these renewable energy sources (RES) in all other RES. PV systems have been started to be used widely in domestic applications connected to electrical grid and grid connected PV power generating systems have become widespread all around the world. On the other hand, fuel cell power generating systems have been used to support the PV generating so hybrid generation systems consist of PV and fuel cell technology are investigated for power generating. In this study, a grid connected fuel cell and PV hybrid power generating system was developed with Matlab Simulink. 160 Wp solar module was developed based on solar module temperature and solar irradiation by using real data sheet of a commercial PV module and then by using these modules 800 Wp PV generator was obtained. Output current and voltage of PV system was used for input of DC/DC boost converter and its output was used for the input of the inverter. PV system was connected to the grid and designed 5 kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system was used for supporting the DC bus of the hybrid power generating system. All results obtained from the simulated hybrid power system were explained in the paper. Proposed model was designed as modular so designing and simulating grid connected SOFC and PV systems can be developed easily thanks to flexible design.     

Comparative study of power converter topologies and control strategies for the harmonic performance of variable-speed wind turbine generator systems

Power converters play a vital role in the integration of wind power into the electrical grid. Variable-speed wind turbine generator systems have a considerable interest of application for grid connection at constant frequency. In this paper, comprehensive simulation studies are carried out with three power converter topologies: matrix, two-level and multilevel. A fractional-order control strategy is studied for the variable-speed operation of wind turbine generator systems. The studies are in order to compare power converter topologies and control strategies. The studies reveal that the multilevel converter and the proposed fractional-order control strategy enable an improvement in the power quality, in comparison with the other power converters using a classical integer-order control strategy.     

Direct power control of grid connected PV systems with three level NPC inverter

This paper presents the control of a three-level Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) voltage source inverter for grid connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. The control method used is the Extended Direct Power Control (EDPC), which is a generic approach for Direct Power Control (DPC) of multilevel inverters based on geometrical considerations. Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms, that allow maximal power conversion into the grid, have been included. These methods are capable of extracting maximum power from each of the independent PV arrays connected to each DC link voltage level. The first one is a conventional MPPT which outputs DC link voltage references to EDPC. The second one is based on DPC concept. This new MPPT outputs power increment references to EDPC, thus avoiding the use of a DC link voltage regulator. The whole control system has been tested on a three-level NPC voltage source inverter connected to the grid and results confirm the validity of the method.     

Control strategies for a photovoltaic--Energy storage hybrid system

受光照,温度等自然条件影响,光伏电源输出有功功率具有较大的波动性.因此,本身既非恒压源又非恒流源的光伏电源并网运行时会产生一系列问题,如对电网冲击性大,需增加旋转备用容量,难以参与电网调度等.利用电池储能系统来控制有功功率输出,可以使平滑光伏电源功率波动成为可能.研究了光储联合发电系统的运行模式,提出了适用于光储联合发电系统的拓扑结构和控制策略,并对储能用功率转换系统(PCS)进行了分析和设计,最后基于某光伏电站的实际历史运行数据,对所提出的方案进行仿真研究,仿真结果验证了光储联合发电系统控制策略的有效性和可行性,为光储联合运行示范工程提供了一定的理论依据和有力借鉴.     

Maximum power point tracker of wind energy conversion system

In this paper, a simple control strategy for an optimal extraction of output power from grid connected variable speed wind energy conversion system (WECS) is presented. The system consists of a variable speed wind turbine coupled to a permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) through a gear box, a diode bridge rectifier, a dc-to-dc boost converter and a current controlled voltage source inverter. The maximum power point tracker (MPPT) extracts maximum power from the wind turbine from cut-in to rated wind velocity by sensing only dc link power. The MPPT step and search algorithm in addition to the DC–DC and DC–AC converters PWM controllers are simulated using MATLAB-SIMULINK software. The obtained simulation results show that the objectives of extracting maximum power from the wind and delivering it correctly to the grid are reached.     

Compensation of network voltage unbalance using doubly fed induction generator-based wind farms

A control strategy for compensating AC network voltage unbalance using doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind farms is presented. A complete DFIG dynamic model containing both the rotor and grid side converters is used to accurately describe the average and ripple components of active/reactive power, electromagnetic torque and DC bus voltage, under unbalanced conditions. The principle of using DFIG systems to compensate grid voltage unbalance by injecting negative sequence current into the AC system is described. The injected negative sequence current can be provided by either the grid side or the rotor side converters. Various methods for coordinating these two converters are discussed and their respective impacts on power and torque oscillations are described. The validity of the proposed control strategy is demonstrated by simulations on a 30 MW DFIG-based wind farm using Matlab/Simulink during 2 and 4% voltage unbalances. The proposed compensation strategy can not only ensure reliable operation of the wind generators by restricting torque, DC link voltage and power oscillations, but also enable DFIG-based wind farms to contribute to rebalancing the connected network.     

Modelling of wind energy‐based microgrid system implementing MMC

Nowadays, renewable energy systems have come up with more potential in power generation so as to meet the power demand. Among all the renewable systems, the wind energy generating system is believed to be at the peak. However, the wind energy‐based microgrid system is associated with many problems such as fluctuations in output voltage due to the fluctuated wind speeds and harmonics generations in the system. To address these issues, this article proposes a new method in order to achieve harmonic mitigation across its output by maintaining constant voltage. Nevertheless, particular attention has been given to the form and function of modular multilevel converter with multi‐winding transformer connected to the grid. Modular multilevel converter has been implemented with an advanced voltage controller tuned to control the voltage at its output. Also, a new system topology has been introduced with two wind turbines that are interconnected to multi‐winding transformer through asynchronous generators. The proposed system has been implemented with constant and variable wind speeds, and their respective results have also been analysed. The proposed scheme shows its effectiveness by theoretical calculations, verified by simulation and experimental results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Control of a wind farm with an internal direct current collection grid

For a high‐voltage, direct current connected wind farm, an internal direct current (DC) collection grid is a possible further development that can reduce the weight of the transformers significantly, with average losses for the DC system of 3%. For the internal DC grid, the DC/DC converters control the power flow and thereby also the voltages. In this paper, the control of the DC/DC converters in the wind farm is investigated in detail. The control strategy is presented, and suitable time constants are chosen depending on the switching frequency of the converters. Also, the required capacitor size to keep the voltage variations within 5% of the rated value in the case without communication within the wind farm is derived. It is shown that the control is stable and can handle faults on the external grid without any communication within the wind farm. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frequency control by the PV station in electric power systems with hydrogen energy storage

The rapid growth of renewable energy capacity, in particular photovoltaic systems, is creating challenges associated with changing the rate of transient processes in the power system. This is due to the approach PV systems are connected to the grid using power converters and the absence of a rotating mass in the PV power plant. One of the most pressing challenge is the participation of PV stations in the process of frequency control in power systems, including in emergency modes. Simultaneously with PV power plants, it is efficient to use energy storage systems, including hydrogen ones. This is due to the fact that it is possible to obtain hydrogen for such energy storage systems using excess energy from PV power plants. The article proposes to solve the problem of frequency regulation in the power system by using an algorithm that allows to control the frequency in the power system using a synthetic inertia block of PV station, including at different levels of insolation and temperature of PV panels. The robustness of the proposed algorithm allows it to be used at different levels of power generated by the PV station, as well as in emergency modes.     

Nighttime Application of PV Solar Farm as STATCOM to Regulate Grid Voltage

This letter presents a novel concept of utilizing photovoltaic (PV) solar farm (SF) as a flexible ac transmission systems controller—static synchronous compensator, to regulate the point of common coupling voltage during nighttime when the SF is not producing any active power. This concept, although general, is presented for the scenario of a distribution feeder, which has both PV solar and wind farms connected to it. The proposed control will enable increased connections of renewable energy sources in the grid. A MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation study is presented under variable wind power generation and fault condition to validate the proposed concept.      

Integrating photovoltaic and power converter characteristics for energy extraction study of solar PV systems

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy is becoming an increasingly important part of the world’s renewable energy. A grid-connected solar PV system consists of solar cells for energy extraction from the sun and power converters for grid interface. In order for effective integration of the solar PV systems with the electric power grid, this paper presents solar PV energy extraction and conversion study by combining the two characteristics together to examine various factors that may affect the design of solar PV systems. The energy extraction characteristics of solar PV cells are examined by considering several practical issues such as series and parallel connections, change of temperatures and irradiance levels, shading of sunlight, and bypassing and blocking diodes. The electrical characteristics of power converters are studied by considering physical system constraints such as rated current and converter linear modulation limits. Then, the two characteristics are analyzed in a joint environment. An open-loop transient simulation using SimPowerSystem is developed to validate the effectiveness of the characteristic study and to further inspect the solar PV system behavior in a transient environment. Extensive simulation study is conducted to investigate performance of solar PV arrays under different conditions.     

Control strategies for single-phase grid integration of small-scale renewable energy sources: A review

Small-scale renewable energy sources, such as small hydro turbines, roof-mounted photovoltaic and wind generation systems, and commercially available fuel cells are usually connected to the single-phase distribution grid through a voltage source converter. To regulate the power exchange with the single-phase grid, and at the same time, reduce the harmonic distortions in the ac current, different current control structures have already been proposed, among which the current hysteresis control, the voltage oriented control, and the proportional-resonant based control have found more attentions. This paper provides an overview of the main characteristics of these control strategies. Also, some implementation aspects such as the fictitious signal generation and the single-phase grid synchronization techniques are discussed. Finally, through extensive simulations a comparative study of the presented control strategies is presented. The simulations are supported by experiments.     

Wind farms connected to weak grids in India

This article describes the mutual influence between the wind turbines and the power quality in the Indian power systems. The Indian power systems are weak in general and the wind energy development has been very fast and concentrated in a few rural areas where the existing transmission and distribution grids are very weak. Therefore the mutual influence between wind turbines and power quality is particularly strong in India. The wind farms influence power quality aspects such as steady state voltage, power factor, flicker and harmonic and interharmonic distortion. The power quality of the grid influences the power performance and safety of the wind turbines and the lifetime of mechanical and electrical components. The findings presented are general for wind farms connected to weak grids, but the Indian case is pronounced concerning weakness of grid as well as wind energy penetration level. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of DCX converters for off-grid photovoltaic-based green hydrogen production

Photovoltaic (PV) to electrolyzer power systems are an attractive research topic since the PV produced power can be optimized by skipping power conversion into AC and producing a direct DC-DC interface. Existing DC-DC power conversion systems to directly interface the PV generation and Hydrogen (H₂) electrolyzer are mainly based in interleaved structures or multi-resonant converters. Soft-switching characteristics are also suitable for these conversion topologies and DCX converters are then serious candidates to be used. DCX provides an isolated high efficiency solution but the DCX-based two-stage converter topology must be optimized in order to obtain better efficiency and energy yield. In this work a detailed comparison of DCX topologies is given for a PV to H₂ application. The proposed optimized system is validated through simulation in a multi-string electrolysis system, showing the relevance of the solution for this application. The proposed approach reaches a global maximum efficiency of 98.2%.     

Analysis and comparative study of pulsating current of fuel cells by inverter load with different power converter topologies

Fuel cells are being increasingly used for stand alone and grid connected systems in wide range of applications due to their high efficiency and low emissions. Because of unregulated nature of fuel cell voltage a power conditioning unit, consisting of DC-DC converter and an inverter, is invariably used as an interface between the fuel cell and the load in a typical fuel cell system for ac applications. Major issues with the use of fuel cells for ac applications are the low frequency pulsating current propagation on to the fuel cell side and dynamic response to various loads during transient conditions. Low frequency pulsating currents are reported to affect reactant utilization, degrade the performance and life of fuel cells. These current ripples can be reduced by filters with passive elements having bulky inductor and capacitor in the dc-link between the fuel cell and the inverter but, it will add to the weight and cost. DC-DC converters of different configurations are being used in the power conditioning unit of fuel cell systems. These converters are operated at high frequencies and the filtering units of these converters have minimal effect on low frequency ripple. But, it is observed that different configurations of power conditioner with same filtering components perform differently for the low frequency current ripple of the inverter load by mitigating the power mismatch between load and source at the DC link. This paper investigates and compares the low frequency current ripple mitigation by cascaded converters with conventional push-pull and also with series connected converters in the power conditioning stage of fuel cell system for ac applications. Parameters such as peak switching currents, the percentage of peak to DC level of low frequency current ripple are analyzed using these conversion topologies in power conditioning unit. The analytical and simulation results related to the study are presented. Key results are verified with experimental work.