Experimental assessment of the waveform distortion in grid-connected photovoltaic installations

This paper provides a multi-faceted view on the characterization of the waveform distortion in grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) plants from experimental results. The focus is set on the characterization of the waveform distortion occurring under different operating conditions in field measurements and laboratory tests. The assessment is carried out by considering the system-based point of view, on the basis of the measurements gathered at the interface between the PV plant and the grid or the supply point in the laboratory. New methodological hints on the formulation of the experimental tests are provided. The results of the waveform distortion analysis for harmonic currents and voltages are compared to the requirements of present power quality standards, indicating that in practical cases the current distortion can be significantly higher than in normal test conditions. Furthermore, the key aspect concerning harmonic and interharmonic modelling of multiple grid-connected PV inverters is addressed. Experimental results on plant configurations with multiple PV inverters show that low-order harmonics sum up almost arithmetically, whereas the higher-order harmonics and the interharmonics sum up in an almost Euclidean way.     

Advanced control of grid-connected inverters for proton exchange membrane fuel cell system

Voltage support is one of the most important issues for operating grid-connected inverters under grid faults. Many control strategies have been addressed in literature, but most of them focus on the voltage support control without considering issues of power quality due to voltage harmonics. In order to sort out the drawback, a novel advanced control strategy is presented in this paper. It is able to provide the voltage support function. Meanwhile, the power quality is improved by regulating the control coefficients. The time-domain simulation and experimental results are provided to evaluate the conventional and proposed control strategies. The results show that the total harmonic distortion of PCC voltage can be reduced from 9.35% to 2.88% with the proposed solution. Meanwhile, the voltage support is also achieved, which verify the effectiveness of the proposed solution.     

Grid-connected photovoltaic power systems: Technical and potential problems—A review

Traditional electric power systems are designed in large part to utilize large baseload power plants, with limited ability to rapidly ramp output or reduce output below a certain level. The increase in demand variability created by intermittent sources such as photovoltaic (PV) presents new challenges to increase system flexibility. This paper aims to investigate and emphasize the importance of the grid-connected PV system regarding the intermittent nature of renewable generation, and the characterization of PV generation with regard to grid code compliance. The investigation was conducted to critically review the literature on expected potential problems associated with high penetration levels and islanding prevention methods of grid tied PV. According to the survey, PV grid connection inverters have fairly good performance. They have high conversion efficiency and power factor exceeding 90% for wide operating range, while maintaining current harmonics THD less than 5%. Numerous large-scale projects are currently being commissioned, with more planned for the near future. Prices of both PV and balance of system components (BOS) are decreasing which will lead to further increase in use. The technical requirements from the utility power system side need to be satisfied to ensure the safety of the PV installer and the reliability of the utility grid. Identifying the technical requirements for grid interconnection and solving the interconnect problems such as islanding detection, harmonic distortion requirements and electromagnetic interference are therefore very important issues for widespread application of PV systems. The control circuit also provides sufficient control and protection functions like maximum power tracking, inverter current control and power factor control. Reliability, life span and maintenance needs should be certified through the long-term operation of PV system. Further reduction of cost, size and weight is required for more utilization of PV systems. Using PV inverters with a variable power factor at high penetration levels may increase the number of balanced conditions and subsequently increase the probability of islanding. It is strongly recommended that PV inverters should be operated at unity power factor.     

Interline fuel cell (I-FC) system with dual-functional control capability

In this paper, a new system concept is presented for the grid connection of fuel cells. In conventional grid-connected systems, fuel cells ensure the generated power into a single electrical feeder and control the electrical-line through interfacing elements. In the proposed system, interline fuel cell (I-FC) system shares a common dc-dc converter tied fuel cell at the base of inverters and eliminates the additional fuel cell & dc-dc converter in a multi-feeder system. For this purpose, a fuel cell system is connected to multi-feeders through separate inverters, thereby sharing electrical power into the feeders and attenuating the harmonics at grid-side currents. In this direction, the proposed system presents an economical way for the mitigation of electrical problems for multi-feeders. In order to achieve the functional capabilities of I-FC system, dual-functional control is separately applied in the grid inverters. In the testing stage of I-FC, nonlinear loads in feeder I & feeder II create 31.29% and 27.61% total harmonic distortion (THD) at grid-side currents, respectively. With I-FC, the THD values are reduced to approximately 3% values in both feeders after the harmonic elimination capability. Also, I-FC allocates the active power to both feeders, and reduces the electrical power demand from the utility-grids. The evaluation results verify that I-FC system accomplishes the good performance to control power-sharing and attenuate the current harmonics at grid-side.     

High-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic module integrated converter system with high-speed communication interfaces for small-scale distribution power generation

This paper presents a high-efficiency grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) module integrated converter (MIC) system with reduced PV current variation. The proposed PV MIC system consists of a high-efficiency step-up DC-DC converter and a single-phase full-bridge DC-AC inverter. An active-clamping flyback converter with a voltage-doubler rectifier is proposed for the step-up DC-DC converter. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter reduces the switching losses by eliminating the reverse-recovery current of the output rectifying diodes. To reduce the PV current variation introduced by the grid-connected inverter, a PV current variation reduction method is also suggested. The suggested PV current variation reduction method reduces the PV current variation without any additional components. Moreover, for centralized power control of distributed PV MIC systems, a PV power control scheme with both a central control level and a local control level is presented. The central PV power control level controls the whole power production by sending out reference power signals to each individual PV MIC system. The proposed step-up DC-DC converter achieves a high-efficiency of 97.5% at 260 W output power to generate the DC-link voltage of 350 V from the PV voltage of 36.1 V. The PV MIC system including the DC-DC converter and the DC-AC inverter achieves a high-efficiency of 95% with the PV current ripple less than 3% variation of the rated PV current.     

基于PIR的并网逆变器低频次谐波抑制策略研究

针对电网电压畸变造成并网电流低频次谐波含量较高的问题,提出一种基于比例积分-准谐振（PIR）与电流谐波检测环相结合和控制策略抑制电流谐波。首先分析并网逆变器原理,建立电流内环数学模型。基于内模原理,引入电网电压全前馈消除电网电压对网侧电流和影响,其次分析电流谐波检测与抑制原理,采用电流特定次谐波检测环对逆变器侧电流提取谐波分量,并采用闭环控制抑制电流谐波,利用伯德图对准谐振控制器参数进行设定。最后建立Matlab/Simulink仿真模型并搭建dSPACE-DS1104半实物仿真平台,分析仿真与实验结果来验证所提控制策略和有效性与可行性。     

考虑传输线分布电容影响的光伏并网系统谐波谐振抑制策略

以传输线联网的光伏逆变器为研究对象,当传输线中分布电容较大不能忽略时,考虑传输线分布电容的影响下,分析系统的谐振特性以及电网背景谐波在传输线中的传播特性。针对系统的谐波谐振情况,提出基于电容电压的有源阻尼策略有效抑制系统出现的多个谐振尖峰,同时抑制电网中5次背景谐波的传播放大。为更好地抑制7次背景谐波,在上述控制算法的基础上于电容电压反馈通道中引入7次谐振控制器重塑逆变器输出的7次谐波阻抗。最后,在所提方案下,对逆变器输出5次谐波阻抗进行约束来优化控制参数,有效减小背景谐波导致的入网电流畸变。仿真验证所提方案的正确性和有效性。     

Steady-state performance of synchronous generators with AC and DCstator connections considering saturation

Synchronous generators with AC and DC stator connections are widely used in systems where simultaneous AC and DC power supplies are needed. For these systems the voltage harmonic distortion of AC voltage, DC voltage ripple and DC voltage varying range are of special interest. Because of the commutation of rectifier and the saturation of magnetic circuit, the accurate calculation of voltage harmonic distortion and DC voltage varying range is comparatively difficult. This paper describes a mathematical model on the basis of multiloop method and FEM, which aims at calculating the steady-state characteristics and the voltage waveforms of AC winding accurately. With this method, the full synergic effects of space harmonics resulting from the magnetic circuit geometry, saliency, saturation, winding layouts, and slotting are included. The calculated results are compared with those of experiments     

Harmonic control using matrix converter of unbalanced input voltage supplied from solar power system

Most of the renewable energy sources are not distributed directly to consumer. It gone through several section to get optimum output voltage and current with the almost zero distortion. Direct Matrix converters are well known of its better power quality and low power distortion to the reactive loads. Conversely, multilevel H bridge inverters are broadly used to attain a sinusoidal output voltage in solar photovoltaic application. Reactive power is subject to high importance for the operation of alternating current (AC) power systems. Moreover there is always a challenge to obtain the balance current control from an unbalanced supply voltage with minimum harmonic distortion for reactive load application from solar power system. The main objective of the proposed system is to maximize the power usage by maintaining the current and power factor nearby unity. There are many different optimization techniques are used so far in matrix converter, a novel method of optimization BAT algorithm is proposed for the power quality to get the best result. This work mainly deals with the compensation of reactive power used in Solar Photovoltaic Power System. Bidirectional energy flow is possible with matrix converter for battery charging. Simulation results are presented to confirm the appropriate operation of the system under different of operating conditions. Also, in the proposed method the percentage of the higher order harmonics can reduced less than 9% of matrix converter for solar photovoltaic application.     

Commentary on various formulations of distortion power D

In a circuit where the load is nonlinear or the source has nonsinusoidal wave forms the apparent power is defined as S=√(P ²+Q²+D²), where various formulations of distortion power D are reviewed. It is well known that the distortion power D is generated by the cross products of voltage and current harmonics of different frequencies. Accurate experiments are performed to measure the distortion power for a great variety of nonlinear load conditions of a 25 kVA transformer for a range of total harmonic current (THD_i) and total harmonic voltage (THD_v) distortions. The computed distortion power D as a function of voltage and current harmonics of unlike frequencies is validated by measurements: one concludes that a proper interpretation of Budeanu's definition is correct and agrees with measured results     

Voltage control of current source inverters

The current source inverters may become direct competitors of the voltage source inverters thanks to the voltage control techniques. The paper proposes an improved voltage control technique for current source inverters, that chooses the current vectors relying on bang-bang controllers. This technique is compared to a well-established one using current space vector modulation and synchronous-frame proportional and integral controllers. The presented controller is explained and validated by means of off-line as well as real time simulations and experimental tests. The numerical results prove that the proposed control technique produces less distorted voltage waveforms in terms of total harmonic distortion and spectrum. According to the real-time simulations performed the proposed control technique is computationally less expensive than the benchmark. Finally, the experimental results obtained confirm the feasibility of the proposal.     

A new approach for the prediction and identification of generatedharmonics by induction generators in transient state

For the planning of future connection of wind generators to the public power system there is a need to specify the conditions when they can become sources of harmonic distortion. Induction generators have applications in wind power systems. Generators connected to the infinite bus are not sources for voltage harmonics. Autonomous generators are variable frequency variable voltage systems and their steady state voltage is distorted. In transient state the transient frequencies are superposed on the steady state waveform increasing the harmonic distortion. In this paper the transient model of the induction generator is extended and adapted for the prediction of the higher order transient harmonics in the generated voltage. Then, using experimental equipment a new numerical technique for their identification is implemented. A data acquisition system records the generated stator voltage during transients from various types of disturbances and the spectral analysis identifies the transient frequencies produced by the steady state fundamental and by its fractional and subfractional order harmonics. The identification of harmonics validates the predicted values by the analytical method     

Power quality improvement using fuzzy logic controller for five-level shunt active power filter under distorted voltage conditions

In this paper, a five-level inverter is used as a shunt active power filter (APF), taking advantages of the multilevel inverter such as low harmonic distortion and reduced switching losses. It is used to compensate reactive power and eliminate harmonics drawn from a thyristor rectifier feeding an inductive load (RL) under distorted voltage conditions. The APF control strategy is based on the use of self-tuning filters (STF) for reference current generation and a fuzzy logic current controller. The use of STF instead of classical extraction filters allows extracting directly the voltage and current fundamental components in the α-β axis without phase locked loop (PLL). The MATLAB fuzzy logic toolbox is used for implementing the fuzzy logic control algorithm. The obtained results show that the proposed shunt APF controller has produced a sinusoidal supply current with low harmonic distortion and in phase with the line voltage.     

基于双重约束的光伏逆变器直接前馈阻尼控制研究

针对高比例光伏发电系统网侧变弱潜在的高频谐振问题,提出一种基于输出电流直接前馈的新型阻尼控制方案,并对环路谐振抑制参数整定的全局-局部运行双重约束进行研究。首先,建立光伏多机并网系统数学模型,利用阻抗比判断潜在的高频谐振。其次,对逆变器串电阻环路变换构建等效的输出电流直接前馈控制环路,通过分析不同谐振抑制参数下系统全局高频谐振治理效果及单台逆变器局部运行状态,以全局-局部稳定为双重约束确定了谐振抑制参数可行域,并分析电气参数随运行状态变化下所提方案的抗扰能力。最后,搭建光伏多机并网系统的仿真实验平台验证上述研究的有效性。     

Power quality improvement of solar photovoltaic transformer-less grid-connected system with maximum power point tracking control

This paper presents a transformer-less single-stage grid-connected solar photovoltaic (PV) system with active reactive power control. In the absence of active input power, grid-tied voltage source converter (VSC) is operated in the reactive power generation mode, which powers control circuitry and maintains regulated DC voltage. Control scheme has been implemented so that the grid-connected converter continuously serves local load. A data-based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) has been implemented at maximum power which performs power quality control by reducing total harmonic distortion (THD) in grid-injected current under varying environmental conditions. Standards (IEEE-519/1547) stipulates that current with THD greater than 5% cannot be injected into the grid by any distributed generation (DG) source. MPPT tracks actual variable DC link voltage while deriving maximum power from PV array and maintains DC link voltage constant by changing the converter modulation index. Simulation results with the PV model and MPPT technique validations demonstrate effectiveness of the proposed system.     

基于双序前馈解耦的光伏逆变器并网控制策略

为了消除三相不平衡LCL型光伏并网逆变器在同步旋转坐标下耦合项对电流控制性能的影响,该文提出适用于逆变侧电流反馈的双序前馈解耦的方法。通过双旋转剔除耦合项中负序直流量,使用正序直流量进行前馈解耦,实现电网电压和变换耦合项对控制环路的零干扰。在PI控制的基础上加入重复控制,抑制死区效应,降低并网电流谐波含量。通过仿真和实验,验证所提控制策略的有效性。     

不平衡电网电压下T型三电平光伏并网逆变器的有限集模型预测控制

为实现电网电压不平衡时对T型三电平光伏并网系统输出功率和电流质量的控制,以达到入网功率平稳或电流正弦为控制目标,结合光伏阵列输出功率前馈,在两相静止坐标系下提出一种直流母线电压外环PI控制、并网电流内环有限集模型预测控制的控制策略,并在电压外环中引入2倍频陷波器以获得平滑的入网功率参考值。仿真结果表明:当电网电压不对称时,采用所提控制策略能够实现对入网有功、无功功率2倍频脉动及负序电流的分别抑制或协调控制,且并网电流谐波畸变小、入网电能质量高,同时实现T型三电平逆变器的中点电位平衡。     

Analysis of the current total harmonic distortion for different single-phase inverters for grid-connected pv-systems

A method to characterise the current total harmonic distortion for single-phase inverters is proposed. This method is based on the performance of the inverters along two different types of days: clear sky and partially cloudy sky days. An expression to estimate the average value of the current total harmonic distortion for each type of day is proposed. The values obtained from these expressions pick up the behaviour of the inverters for the two most usual climatic conditions. Moreover, the values obtained can be used to compare the electricity supply quality of different inverters.     

Power conditioning system for grid-connected photovoltaic system

This study develops a new control strategy for an expandable grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system. The proposed system performs dual functions of a PV generation and an active power filter, or either one. To this end, the grid current, instead of output current of the converter, is shaped to be a sinusoidal current in phase (or opposite phase) with the grid voltage. Furthermore, its reference current is generated in multiplying the voltage loop controller output by the grid voltage waveform, and therefore non-active components analysis for harmonics elimination and reactive power compensation in the conventional design is not necessary. As a result, the algorithm is simple and easy to implement, and only one sensor for current detection plus two voltage sensors are required. Experimental results verified the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

一种应用于谐波检测的三相锁相环

为准确检测负载谐波电流,针对瞬时无功功率理论检测方法（iP-iQ）在电网电压不平衡、畸变等条件下谐波检测的不足,提出了一种新的基于双同步旋转坐标变换及交叉解耦的三相锁相环消除二倍频分量,实现更高的锁相精度、有效消除纹波。通过与传统锁相环(SRF-PLL)运用于（iP-iQ）法进行谐波检测的仿真对比,结果表明在电网电压不平衡和畸变条件下,新的三相锁相环(IDDSRF PLL)提取到的基波畸变率分别降低了1.18%和1.42%,从而提高了（iP-iQ）法的谐波检测性能。