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Controlling a Power Converter as a Photovoltaic

Power Source and Compensator in Smart-Grids



V. Ferno Pires
1,4
, J. F. Martins
2
and Chen Hao
3

1
Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politcnico Setbal, Setbal,Portugal
2
CTS/UNINOVA and FCT/UNL, Lisbon, Portugal
3
University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
4
Center for Innovation in Electrical and Energy Engineering (CIEEE), Lisbon, Portugal
vitor.pires@estsetubal.ips.pt, jf.martins@fct.unl.pt, chenhaocumt@tom.com


AbstractIn this paper it is presented a system controller
for a power converter connoted to a photovoltaic system and
in a smart grid. This system controller has been developed
in order to transmit all the produced active power of the
photovoltaic system to the grid. However, it was also
developed to use the power converter as reactive power
compensator. Most of the time the photovoltaic system it is
not producing its rated value. In this way, the power
converter can also be used as a reactive power compensator
in order to exploit the apparent power of the power
converter. A single-stage three-phase power converter is
used. To control this converter a sliding mode approach is
used. This allows obtaining a fast and robust controller. A
maximum power point tracking algorithm associated to the
sliding mode controller is used. Several numerical
simulations are presented in order to confirm the
effectiveness of the proposed system.
I. INTRODUCTION
During the last years there has been an increasing
interest in the integration of Distributed Generation (DG)
systems based on renewable energy resources to the
distribution grid. This interest is due to the importance of
using renewable energies and recent technological
advances in small generators, power electronics, and
energy storage devices. This has provided a new
opportunity for distributed energy resources at the
distribution level [1].
Among the several renewable energy sources,
photovoltaic systems have become increasingly popular
and are ideally suited for distributed systems [2-6]. These
systems generate energy with minimal environmental
impact. However, the major drawback is when a simple
PV system without storage provides power only when the
sun shines. In this way, it does not produce power in the
evening or due to cloud passages.
Loads such as electric motors, pool pumps, and the
power supplies in modern electronics put additional strain
on the grid, as the reactive portion of these loads does not
contribute anything to doing work, but it does cause
conductors to heat up and it takes up a certain amount of
space in the wires. So, the opportunities for cost savings
from improving volt/VAR control for both utilities and
consumers are enormous. Reactive power compensation
systems consisting of inverter-based dynamic
compensators provide an economical mean of meeting
typical grid code requirements for power factor and
voltage control.
Under this context, a control system for a power
converter which connects a distributed generator (solar
panels) is presented. When the power converter is not
producing its rated value, the control system will control
the inverter in a way that can also be working as a reactive
power compensator. The controller limits the injected
reactive power of the maximum power converter rated
power. So, less power is injected by the solar panel, more
reactive power is available. The required reactive power to
provide voltage support to the grid is done via a secure
communication infrastructure. The presence of these
converters makes the network a smart grid, since it is
easily possible to regulate the electrical power flows in
different points of the network. This system also requires a
Maximum Power Point Tracking algorithm (MPPT) for
extracting the maximum power available from the solar
source. Several MPPT algorithms have been proposed in
literature. So of the algorithms are: perturb and observe
method, open and short circuit method, incremental
conductance algorithm, fuzzy logic and artificial neural
networks [7-11]. In this work, MPPT algorithm based on
the perturb and observe method will be used. To control
the inverter output power a sliding mode controller with a
vectorial modulator will also be used. The proposed
approach allows obtaining a fast and robust response of
the system. Several simulation results are presented in
order to confirm the proposed system.

II. POWER SYSTEM
Solar PV panels are used to captures the suns energy
and supply DC power to the system. In this way, in order
to feed the AC main grid it is required a grid connected
inverter. In this work, a PV system with a DC/DC power
converter and a three-phase inverter is used. Fig. 1
presents the main configuration of the grid connected
photovoltaic system. It consists in a voltage source
inverter connected to the AC power by a transformer.

Fig. 1. Configuration of the grid-connected photovoltaic system.
INES 2012 IEEE 16th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems June 1315, 2012, Lisbon, Portugal
173 978-1-4673-2695-7/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
The model of the PV arrays has been obtained
considering the standard current voltage curve [12] with 5
parameters (1).

( )
sh
PH S
cell
PH S
L PH
R
I R + V
nkTN
I R + V q
I I = I
(
(

|
|

\
|
1 exp
0

(1)

Where
L
I denotes the current due to the solar radiation,
o
I the saturation current, q the electron charge, k the
Boltzmann constant, T the temperature, R
S
the series
resistance, R
sh
the shunt resistance, N
cell
the number of
series cells in a module and n the ideality factor (n 1,2).
Considering the power switches ideal with
instantaneous switching capability, the following
switching functions can be obtained (where i{1,2,3}):

=
ON is
ij
S OFF is
i
S if
OFF is
ij
S ON is
i
S if
i
0
1


(2)

In order to obtain a state space model if the power
converter and transformer, it will the switching functions
(1) and considered the transformer as an equivalent RL
circuit. In this way, the following nonlinear and time
variant model will be obtained:

(
(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(

(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(





+
(
(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(
(

PH
s
s
s
o
o o o
Co Co Co
Co Co Co
Co Co Co
Co Co
I
v
v
v
C
L
L
L
C
i
C
i
C
i
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
L
v
v
i
i
i
L
R
L
R
L
R
v
i
i
i
dt
d
3
2
1
3
2
1
2
3
2
2
2
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
1
0 0 0
0
1
0 0
0 0
1
0
0 0 0
1
3
2
3 3
3 3
2
3
3 3 3
2
0 0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0 0


(3)
Applying the Park Transformation to equation (3), the
following dq model can be obtained by equation (4)
(where the time varying angle t represents the angular
position of the reference frame which is rotating at
constant speed in synchronism with the three-phase ac
voltages).

(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(

(
(
(

(
(
(
(
(
(

=
(
(
(

PH
q
d
o
Co
q
d
q
d
q
d
Co
q
d
I
v
v
C
L
L
v
i
i
L L
L L
R
L L
R
v
i
i
dt
d
1
0 0
0
1
0
0 0
1
0


(4)

III. CONTROL SYSTEM
This system must supply to the grid the energy from the
photovoltaic panels. However, when the power converter
is not working at its rated value he must be able to supply
reactive power. In order to implement this control system,
several functions must be realized: PLL to synchronize
with the grid, MPPT algorithm and control of the inverter.
A. PLL
In order to synchronize this system with the grid a
phase locked loop (PLL) is used. In this way, it was used a
PLL based on a Modified synchronous reference frame
method. The transformation angle is obtained with the
voltages of the AC network. The speed of the reference
frame varies instantaneously depending of the waveform
of the three-phase voltage system. Let be the
transformation angle (variable in time). This angle is
computed using the AC voltages using (5) and (6). In this
method, no synchronizing circuit is needed.

2 2
cos

v v
v
+
=

(5)

2 2
sin

v v
e
+
=

(6)

B. MPPT Algotrihm
The objective of the MMP algorithm is to obtain the
maximum power of the maximum power of the PV
modules. In this work, a MPPT algorithm based on the
perturb and observe. The different steps of this method
are:
1. Acquisition of the solar panel voltage and current
signals
2. If the power is constant, return to new measurements
3. If the power decreased or increased, test the voltage
variation
4. According to the voltage variation, modify the desired
output voltage of the solar panel.


V. F. Pires et al. Controlling a Power Converter as a Photovoltaic Power Source and Compensator...
174
The desired output voltage is calculated by the
following expression:

=
1 n ref n ref

(7)

where the duty cycle step.

C. Control of the inverter
The DC/AC power converter will regulate the active
and reactive that is injected to the grid. This is
accomplished using a sliding mode controller. This
methodology was adopted due to the characteristics of this
controller, such as response speed and robustness to
external perturbations. Since this system As the system
has two degrees of freedom, one (
d
) is used to control
the capacitor voltage
Co
V , while the second (
q
) is used
to obtain leading or lagging power factor. In this way,
considering the power converter three-phase currents and
voltage capacitor as controlled outputs, the system
dynamic equations written in phase canonical form are:

(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(
(


+
+

+
+

+
=
(
(
(

dt
dI
C
I
LC
R
LC
v v
C
i i
v
LC L
R
L
v
L
v
i i
L
R
v
i
dt
d
PH
o
PH
o o
s q s d
o
d q q d
Co
o
q d
q Co q
d q
Co
q
1
) (
2 2


(8)

where
o
PH d q q d
C
I i i +
=


From (8) it is possible to confirm that current
q
i has a
strong degree of one, and capacitor voltage
Co
v has a
strong degree of two [13]. In this way, considering the
feedback errors the following sliding surfaces can be
obtained:

= + =
= =
0 ) ( ) ( ) , , (
0 ) ( ) , (
3 2
1
dt
dv
dt
dv
k v v k t e e S
i i k t e S
Co
ref Co
Co ref Co v
q ref q i
Co
q


(9)
From the last equation and using (4), the following
sliding surfaces are obtained:

=
+
+
+ =
= =
0
) ( ) , , (
0 ) ( ) , (
3 3
3 2
1
o
PH
o
q q d d
ref Co
Co ref Co v
q ref q i
C
I
k
C
i i
k
dt
dv
k v v k t e e S
i i k t e S
Co
q


(10)
Assuming that the inverter is conservative, and the
steady state mean value of the capacitor current is zero
(11), the second sliding surface can be represented by
equation (12).

+ =
+ =
q q d d PH
q q d d PH Co
i i I
i v i v I V


(11)

0
) ( ) , , (
3 3
3 2 2
= +
+ =
d
o Co
d
o
PH
ref Co
Co ref Co v
i
C V
v
k
C
I
k
dt
dv
k v v k t e e S
Co


(12)
From sliding surface (12) it is possible to obtain the
desired current
d
i that will be injected in the grid.
However, since this variable is continuous the sliding
surface (12) will be increased by adding a new state
variable, as can be seen by the following expression:

0 ) (
) ( ) , , (
1 1 4
3 3
3 2 2
= +
+
+ =

dt v v k
i
C V
v
k
C
I
k
dt
dv
k v v k t e e S
Co ref Co
d
o Co
d
o
PH
ref Co
Co ref Co v
Co


(13)
The desired current
d
i is then obtained from equation
(13), as can be seen by (14).

) ) (
) ( (
3
4
3
2 '
dt v v
k
k
C
I
dt
dv
v v
k
k
v
C V
i
Co ref Co
o
PH
ref Co
Co ref Co
d
o Co
ref d

+
=

(14)
In order to ensure that the state trajectory is always
moving towards 0 ) , ( = t e S
q
i
, whenever is ) , ( t e S
q
i
not
zero, the following condition must be ensured:

0 ) , ( ) , ( <

t e S t e S
q q
i i

(15)

Thus, the following switching law will be considered:

< > <


> < >
ref
i i
ref
i i
i i t e t e S
i i t e t e S
q q
q q


, ,
, ,
0 ) , ( 0 ) , (
0 ) , ( 0 ) , (
S
S
&
&

(16)

The switching strategy to ensure condition (16) consists
in the choice of the inverter output voltage vector in the
reference frame. According to the possible state of the
power switches, there are 8 current vectors (Fig. 2).
Table I shows de the distinct states and the respective
current vectors.
INES 2012 IEEE 16th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems June 1315, 2012, Lisbon, Portugal
175

Fig. 2. Voltage vectors in the reference frame.

TABLE I.
STATES OF THE SWITCHES AND RESPECTIVE CURRENT VECTORS.
Vect. 1 2 3 V1n V2n V3n V V
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 1 0 0
3
2V

3
V

3
V

6
2V

0
2 1 1 0
3
V

3
V

3
2V

6
V

2
V

3 0 1 0
3
V

3
2V

3
V

6
V

2
V

4 0 1 1
3
2V

3
V

3
V

6
2V

0
5 0 0 1
3
V

3
V

3
2V

6
V

2
V

6 1 0 1
3
V

3
2V

3
V

6
V

2
V

7 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0

To implement this switching strategy to independent
three-level histeretic comparators (Fig. 3) are used (where
and are choose in order to limit se switching
frequency) .

Fig. 3. Three-level histeretic comparator.

The
ref q
i is obtained from the reactive power required
by the grid. However, the reactive power injected to the
grid by the power converter must considerer the energy
supplied by solar panel. When the solar panel is at the full
power, then the available reactive power from the
converter is zero. The limit of the available reactive power
is increasing when the energy supplied by the solar panel
is decreasing. The maximum available reactive power is
when the energy supplied by the solar panel is zero. In this
way, if the required reactive power is less than the
maximum available power then
ref q
i is given by:

d
req
ref q
V
Q
i = (17)

Otherwise, if the required reactive power is bigger than
the maximum available power then
ref q
i is given by:

2 2
max d d ref q
i i i = (18)

According to the last conditions the maximum available
power of the power converter is always ensured.

IV. RESULTS
In order to confirm the proposed system several tests
have been made. The obtained simulations were obtained
with the program MATLAB/Simulink and using
SimPowerSystems library. The nominal power of the
photovoltaic system is kW P
n
6 = and it is connected to
a low voltage grid with 230V/400V and 50Hz. The
simulation results are presented in Figs. 4 to 8.
In the first example (Fig. 4) it is presented the voltage
grid and current for the maximum solar irradiance
condition (6 kW of active power and 0 kVAr of reactive
power). Fig. 5 shows the voltage grid and current when
the active power reference is 4 kW and the reactive power
reference is 4.4 kVAr. From this figure it is possible to
verify a phase delay between the voltage grid and current
in order to generate the reactive power.

Fig. 4. Grid voltage and current for the maximum solar
irradiance condition.

Fig. 5. Grid voltage and current for half of the maximum solar
irradiance condition.
V. F. Pires et al. Controlling a Power Converter as a Photovoltaic Power Source and Compensator...
176
In order to test the control system, several simulations
in transient state have been made. Figure 6 shows the
time behavior of the current in case of sudden change of
the active power reference. At t=0.1 s the active power
reference suddenly changes from 2 kW to the nominal
power (6 kW). From this figure it is also possible to
verify that after the reference change, the phase shift
remains but the current amplitude increases. The response
of the control system is very fast
Figure 7 shows another transient test. In this case it is
presented the time behavior of the current in case of
sudden change in the active and reactive power reference.
At t=0.1 s the active power reference suddenly changes
from 6 kW to 4kW. The reactive power reference
changes from zero to the maximum allowed value
(4.4 kVAr). The change is chosen to be much faster than
in real conditions, in order to test the behavior of the
control system. Since the system is always working at
maximum apparent power the current amplitude stays
constant but the phase shift between the voltage grid and
current changes. From this figure it is possible to confirm
that the system response is very good.


Fig. 6. Grid voltage and current for a step change of the active
(increase) power.


Fig. 7. Grid voltage and current for a step change of the active
(decrease) and reactive (increase) power.

A third transient test is presented in Figure 8. In this
test, only the active power reference suddenly changes.
This change will happen at t=0.1 from 3 kW to 4 kW. The
reactive power reference is always constant (3 kVAr).
From the time behavior of the current presented in this last
figure, it is possible to verify that the current amplitude
change. Since the active power increases the current
amplitude also increases. It is also possible to confirm
again the fast response of the control system.

Fig. 8. Grid voltage and current for a step change (increase) of
the active power.

V. CONCLUSIONS
Small PV generation plants become an important
power source in distribution networks. Since these PV
systems require the use of a power converter, they also
can play an important role in the grid regulation. In this
way, an optimization of the power flow either from the
PV panels or either towards the grid can be achieved.
In this work, it was made a study for the use of a
photovoltaic power source as a power active generator and
at the same time to compensate the reactive power of the
grid. It was adopted a PV system with a DC/DC converter
and a three-phase inverter. For the control of the three-
phase inverter it was adopted a sliding mode controller
with a vectorial modulator. This controller will regulate
the DC capacitor and the active and reactive power
injected to the grid. This control system allows obtaining a
fast and robust response of the system. This PV source
with the proposed control system was tested by means of
numerical simulations. The obtained results allow
confirming the effectiveness of the proposed system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors wish to thank the FCT Fundao para a
Cincia e a Tecnologia for financial support of this work.
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