3,809 research outputs found
Analysis of an On-Line Stability Monitoring Approach for DC Microgrid Power Converters
An online approach to evaluate and monitor the stability margins of dc microgrid power converters is presented in this paper. The discussed online stability monitoring technique is based on the Middlebrook's loop-gain measurement technique, adapted to the digitally controlled power converters. In this approach, a perturbation is injected into a specific digital control loop of the converter and after measuring the loop gain, its crossover frequency and phase margin are continuously evaluated and monitored. The complete analytical derivation of the model, as well as detailed design aspects, are reported. In addition, the presence of multiple power converters connected to the same dc bus, all having the stability monitoring unit, is also investigated. An experimental microgrid prototype is implemented and considered to validate the theoretical analysis and simulation results, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the digital implementation of the technique for different control loops. The obtained results confirm the expected performance of the stability monitoring tool in steady-state and transient operating conditions. The proposed method can be extended to generic control loops in power converters operating in dc microgrids
Suppression of Second-Order Harmonic Current for Droop-Controlled Distributed Energy Resource Converters in DC Microgrids
Droop-controlled distributed energy resource converters in dc microgrids usually show low output impedances. When coupled with ac systems, second-order harmonics typically appear on the dc-bus voltage, causing significant harmonic currents at the converters resource side. This paper shows how to reduce such undesired currents by means of notch filters and resonant regulators included in the converters control loops. The main characteristics of these techniques in terms of harmonic attenuation and stability are systematically investigated. In particular, it is shown that the voltage control-loop bandwidth is limited to be below twice the line frequency to avoid instability. Then, a modified notch filter and a modified resonant regulator are proposed, allowing to remove the constraint on the voltage loop bandwidth. The resulting methods (i.e., the notch filter, the resonant regulator, and their corresponding modified versions) are evaluated in terms of output impedance and stability. Experimental results from a dc microgrid prototype composed of three dc-dc converters and one dc-ac converter, all with a rated power of 5kW, are reported
A power consensus algorithm for DC microgrids
A novel power consensus algorithm for DC microgrids is proposed and analyzed.
DC microgrids are networks composed of DC sources, loads, and interconnecting
lines. They are represented by differential-algebraic equations connected over
an undirected weighted graph that models the electrical circuit. A second graph
represents the communication network over which the source nodes exchange
information about the instantaneous powers, which is used to adjust the
injected current accordingly. This give rise to a nonlinear consensus-like
system of differential-algebraic equations that is analyzed via Lyapunov
functions inspired by the physics of the system. We establish convergence to
the set of equilibria consisting of weighted consensus power vectors as well as
preservation of the weighted geometric mean of the source voltages. The results
apply to networks with constant impedance, constant current and constant power
loads.Comment: Abridged version submitted to the 20th IFAC World Congress, Toulouse,
Franc
Secondary Frequency and Voltage Control of Islanded Microgrids via Distributed Averaging
In this work we present new distributed controllers for secondary frequency
and voltage control in islanded microgrids. Inspired by techniques from
cooperative control, the proposed controllers use localized information and
nearest-neighbor communication to collectively perform secondary control
actions. The frequency controller rapidly regulates the microgrid frequency to
its nominal value while maintaining active power sharing among the distributed
generators. Tuning of the voltage controller provides a simple and intuitive
trade-off between the conflicting goals of voltage regulation and reactive
power sharing. Our designs require no knowledge of the microgrid topology,
impedances or loads. The distributed architecture allows for flexibility and
redundancy, and eliminates the need for a central microgrid controller. We
provide a voltage stability analysis and present extensive experimental results
validating our designs, verifying robust performance under communication
failure and during plug-and-play operation.Comment: Accepted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Electronic
Plug-and-play and coordinated control for bus-connected AC islanded microgrids
This paper presents a distributed control architecture for voltage and
frequency stabilization in AC islanded microgrids. In the primary control
layer, each generation unit is equipped with a local controller acting on the
corresponding voltage-source converter. Following the plug-and-play design
approach previously proposed by some of the authors, whenever the
addition/removal of a distributed generation unit is required, feasibility of
the operation is automatically checked by designing local controllers through
convex optimization. The update of the voltage-control layer, when units plug
-in/-out, is therefore automatized and stability of the microgrid is always
preserved. Moreover, local control design is based only on the knowledge of
parameters of power lines and it does not require to store a global microgrid
model. In this work, we focus on bus-connected microgrid topologies and enhance
the primary plug-and-play layer with local virtual impedance loops and
secondary coordinated controllers ensuring bus voltage tracking and reactive
power sharing. In particular, the secondary control architecture is
distributed, hence mirroring the modularity of the primary control layer. We
validate primary and secondary controllers by performing experiments with
balanced, unbalanced and nonlinear loads, on a setup composed of three
bus-connected distributed generation units. Most importantly, the stability of
the microgrid after the addition/removal of distributed generation units is
assessed. Overall, the experimental results show the feasibility of the
proposed modular control design framework, where generation units can be
added/removed on the fly, thus enabling the deployment of virtual power plants
that can be resized over time
A survey on modeling of microgrids - from fundamental physics to phasors and voltage sources
Microgrids have been identified as key components of modern electrical
systems to facilitate the integration of renewable distributed generation
units. Their analysis and controller design requires the development of
advanced (typically model-based) techniques naturally posing an interesting
challenge to the control community. Although there are widely accepted reduced
order models to describe the dynamic behavior of microgrids, they are typically
presented without details about the reduction procedure---hampering the
understanding of the physical phenomena behind them. Preceded by an
introduction to basic notions and definitions in power systems, the present
survey reviews key characteristics and main components of a microgrid. We
introduce the reader to the basic functionality of DC/AC inverters, as well as
to standard operating modes and control schemes of inverter-interfaced power
sources in microgrid applications. Based on this exposition and starting from
fundamental physics, we present detailed dynamical models of the main microgrid
components. Furthermore, we clearly state the underlying assumptions which lead
to the standard reduced model with inverters represented by controllable
voltage sources, as well as static network and load representations, hence,
providing a complete modular model derivation of a three-phase inverter-based
microgrid
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