Dynamic Model and Control of Power Converters for Grid Connected Renewable

Energy Systems
A.F Nnachi, D.V Nicolae, member IEEE and A.A Jimoh, member IEEE
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Tshwane University of Technology
P.O.Box X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa
nnachiaf@tut.ac.za, NicolaeDV@tut.ac.za, jimohaa@tut.ac.za
A. EEE
ABSTRACT response of the system during three-phase to ground
In order to investigate certain dynamic events of a grid fault, step change in reference DC voltage, active and
connected renewable energy system (RES), a systematic reactive power change are studied and presented.
model and control is developed. The RES with its
converter is taken as a controlled dc current source and the 2. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
grid side converter model is based on approximate power
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a grid connected
balance of the dc-link and the ac-side. Here an AC-side
renewable system via a NPC. The system is made of a
decoupled current controller in dq reference frame and
grid connected three-level NPC and a RES connected
simplified net dc-bus voltage controllers are implied.
power electronics converter linked by DC-bus. The
Among different dynamic events that is studied, the
Resistor RDC represents the total switching loss of
response of the system during three-phase to ground fault,
inverter or it could represent the DC load in case the
step change in reference DC voltage, active and reactive
converter operates as a rectifier. It is assumed that the
power change are studied and presented.
DC-bus capacitors are equal. Pin represents the power
flow between the RES side converter and the grid side
converter and is used as a basis to develop the overall
KEYWORDS
system model. R is internal resistance of the smoothing
Converter, dynamic model, controller, Renewable energy.
inductor L [3]. The emphases here is the modeling of the
grid side converter hence the RES is modeled as a
1. INTRODUCTION controlled current source.
The technique of modeling a converter as a rectifier or as
In recent years, the global electrical energy consumption is an inverter is the same; the only difference is the
steadily rising and there is therefore continuous demand to definition of power sign. Modeling the grid side inverter,
increase the power generation capacity. A significant the inverter output voltage (Vta, Vtb, Vtc), the grid voltage
percentage of the required capacity increase can be based
(Vsa, Vsb, Vsc) and the AC neutral point voltage Vno can
on renewable energy sources or distributed generation
systems. Systems such as Wind turbine, micro turbines, be related by the state space equation
photovoltaic and fuel cell systems will be serious
contributors to the power supply. d
[iabc ] = [A][iabc ] + [B][Vabcn ] + [C ] Vno (1)
dt
Grid connection of renewable energy systems will allow
Where [iabc ] = [ia ib ic ]T
the consumer to feed its own load utilizing the available
energy, and the surplus energy can be injected into the grid
under the energy buy-back scheme to reduce the payback Vsa − Vtan 
− R 0 0  − 1 0 0   
 L   L  [Vabcn ] = Vsa − Vtan
period. When this RES is integrated with the utility grid, a A = 0 − R  B = 0 − 1   
two-way power flow is established [1], [2].  L   L   Vsa − Vtan 
0 0 − R  0 0 − 1 
 L  L
Continuous advances in high power semiconductor devices
have made voltage source converter (VSC) a technically
[C ] = [− 1 L − 1 L − 1 L]
T
viable, efficient and important interface to the grid for the
renewable. This paper therefore presents a dynamic model
and control of grid connected renewable via a neutral point This equation (1) represents the discrete time-variant
converter (NPC) VSC. large signal model of the inverter.
A small signal dynamic model of the grid connected
renewable energy systems is developed. The analysis and
control scheme which is done in a dq reference frame is
intended to achieve constant dc-link, obtain unity power
factor and allow bi-directional power flow. Dynamic
 Fig. 1: Grid connected RES via three-level NPC converter

Transforming equation (1) into rotating dqo frame based

on the transformation [ f dqo ] = Tdq 0 (ωt )[ fabc ] [4] where 3. THE DC SIDE OF THE SYSTEM
  2π   2π  
cos ωt cos ωt − 3  cos ωt + 3   Taking into account that the dq transformation is power
    
2  2π   2π 
conservative, the instantaneous power at the DC side can
Tdq 0 = sin ωt cos ωt −  cos ωt −  (2)
3  3   3  be related to the AC side. In doing this, the switching
 1 1 1  function can be avoided. The active and reactive power
 2 2 2 
  of a three-phase system is given by
d 3
dt
[ ] [ ] [
idqo = [A] idqo + [B ] Vdqon + [C ] Vno ] (3) PAC = (Vd I d + Vq I q ) (6)
2
where 3
Vsd − Vtd  Q AC = (Vd I q − Vq I d )
[i ] = [i
dqo d iq i0 ],
T
  [C ] = 0 0 − 3 
T
2
[V ]dqon = Vsq − Vtq   L
Assuming 100% efficiency, the instantaneous power at
 V −V 
 so to  the DC side is
PDC = PAC
3 3
Where ω is the line angular frequency. As the sum of the V DC i DC = Vtd I d + Vtq I q
2 2
three line currents is zero, there is no homo-polar 3 (Vtd I d + Vtq I q )
component (I 0 = 0) . Therefore the AC NP voltage Vno does iDC =
2 V DC
not affect any transformed current. Therefore the dc-bus voltage dynamics can be written as
Substituting I 0 = 0 into the homo-polar component of the dV (10)
C DC = iin − i RDC − i DC
equation (3), dt
d Io Where
[
= −R − 1 [Vso − Vto ] + − 3 Vno
]I (4) dVDC i VDC 3 (Vtd I d + Vtq I q ) (11)
dt LL o
 L
= in − −
[V − Vto ] dt C DC R DC C DC 2 C DCV DC
0 = 0 − 1 [Vso − Vto ] + − 3 Vno ; Vno = so
L  L 3 Multiplying both sides of (11) by C DC V DC we have
d V2 3 (12)
dt
( 2
CDCVDC )
= Pin − DC − (Vtd I d + Vtq I q )
RDC 2
When the electrical grid is balanced, the average value of
This can be rewritten as
Vso is zero, hence Vno depends only on the homo-polar d 1 2  V2 3 (13)
 CeqVDC  = Pin − DC − (Vtd I d + Vtq I q )
component of the AC voltages of the converter dt  2  RDC 2
Moreover the rotating reference frame is synchronized and Equation (13) which represents the instantaneous power
aligned with the grid in such a way that Vsq = 0 , balance between the dc-side and the ac-side is linear with
substituting this and omitting the homopolar component respect to V DC
2 but nonlinear with respect to I d and I d .
equation (5) becomes The left side is the rate of energy variation of C eq = 2C DC .
d  I d  − L ω   I d  − 1 0  Vtd   − 1 
R
  =   +  L   +  L  Vsd (5) Pin is the incoming power from the RES through dc-link
dt  I q   − ω R  I  1  Vtq  0 
L   L   
− q 0 −
 
to the converter, V DC2
/ R DC is the power dissipation in RDC .
3
(V I + V I ) is the instantaneous power balance between
td d tq q
2
the converter and the ac system.
Assuming the stored energy in the interface reactors is
neglected, then 3 / 2(Vtd I d + Vtq I q ) = 3 / 2(Vsd I d ) [5-9] hence
equation (13) reduces to
d 1 2  V2 3 (14)
 CeqVDC  = Pin − DC − Vsd I d
dt  2  RDC 2

4. SMALL SIGNAL DEVELOPMENT

Equation (14) can be re-arranged as
d 1 2  3 (15)
 CeqVDC  + VDC = RDC Pin − RDCVsd I d
2
RDC
dt  2  2

Fig.2 Equivalent Small signal circuit for AC side in dq coordinates

Linearizing (15) with respect to V DC and representing the
result in Laplace domain, we have
 
  6. DESIGN PROCESS OF THE CONTROLLERS
 R DC 1 ~
Pin (s ) 
 2V  Controlling the time invariant quantities is simple and
DCss  R DC C eq  can be achieved using PI, PD, or PID controller. In the
  s + 1  
  2   following control scheme a cascaded control structure is
 
  used, i.e. the output of one controller is used as the
~  3 R DC V sdss 1 ~ 
V DC (s ) = − I d (s ) reference of the other. Hence the controllers become
 2 2V DCss  R DC C eq s + 1  (16) main criteria in designing the control parameters.
  2  
   
 3 DC dss
R I 1 ~  6.1 DC Side
− 2 2V V sd (s )
  R C   The DC-link voltage VDC is controlled by a PI regulator;
DCss
 DC eq s + 1
  2   the actual dc voltage is compared with the reference dc
 
voltage Vdc*. The error signal is passed through the PI
controller to provide reference current I* for the current
controller.
Where subscript “ss” and “~” represent the steady state
and the small signal perturbations of a variable,
respectively.
Also applying linearization method to equation (5) around
their quiescent operating point, we have
d Id` −RL ω 0 Id  −1L 0  Vtd  −1 0 V~sd
~ ~ ~
~  =  ~  +   ~  + L    (17)
dtIq  −ω −R 0 Iq   0 −1  Vtq  0 0 0  Fig.3 The dc-bus controller
 L   L
6.2 AC side Decoupled Current control
The small-signal model of the ac-side of the converter
(equation 18 and 19) can be used for the design of the
5. THE EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT
current controllers, which is based on proportional and
The equations of the state-space representation (equation integral (PI) actuations. Poles and zero of the
17) can be written as compensators should be located with the objective of
~ achieving good static and dynamic performance of the
~ ~ di ~ ~ (18)
Vtd − Vsd = L d + R id − ωL iq system, and providing sufficient margins.
dt
~ To decouple the d and q current components in 17, the
~ d iq ~ ~
Vtq = L + R iq + ωL id (19) following changes of variable are defined [9], [10]
dt ~ ~ ~ ~
Vtd = ∆Vd − ωL iq + V sd (20)
From the two equations the following equivalent circuit is ~ ~ ~
derived: Vtq = ∆Vq + ωL id
In which
 ~
~ di ~ ~ diq ~ (21) I q (s ) 1 (28)
∆Vd = L d + R id and ∆Vq = L + R iq Gc (s ) = =
dt dt I qref (s ) τis + 1
~ ~
d id Ri 1 ~
= − d + ∆Vd (22) The active and reactive power are proportional to id and
dt L L
~ ~ ~
d iq − R iq ∆Vq iq respectively. The q-axis current determines the
= +
dt L L displacement factor on the grid side of the inductors. To
Equation 22 represents two first-order, decoupled operate the converter with unity power factor implies a
subsystems with ∆V~d and ∆V~q being the new control zero reference q-current (I q* = 0 ) .
variables which can be deduced from the two independent
~
controllers PI controllers. Vsd is a feed-forward term to 6.3 Providing control references to the modulator
speed up the control response to the ac line voltage
disturbance. Defining V~td and V~tq with respect to the amplitude m k and
phase φ of the modulating waveform with no positive
From these equations the control diagram is obtained thus: offset it added to it [9],
m (29)
V = [V + V ]Cosφ
td C1 C2
2
m (30)
Vtq = [VC1 + VC 2 ]Sinφ
2
Assuming VC1 = VC 2 = V DC
2
m
Vtd = V DC Cosφ
2
m
Vtq = V DC Sinφ
2
then
 Vtq 
φ = tan −1  
 Vtd 
(31)
2 2
2 Vtd + Vtq
m =
V DC
Fig. 4 The decoupled current controller block diagram
If a PI controller is defined by

~ t
∆Vd = K p ed + K i ∫ ed dt (23)
0

The transfer function, of the controller

~ Kp  
∆Vd (s ) K  s + Ki 
= Gc (s ) = K p + i =
ed (s ) s s  K p 
Where ed = I * − id (24)
The open-loop gain in the frequency domain is
Fig. 5 Block diagram of the modulator and the phase locked-loop
(PLL)
Kp  
Go (s ) =  s + Ki  1 (25)
s  K p  Ls + R
6.4 The modulator
Choosing K p = L τ i and K i = R τ i , the open-loop
The above state-space model assumes that the control
and close-loop system respectively becomes variables of the converter are Vd and Vq instead of the duty
G (s ) =
1 (26)
o
τis
cycles of the switches. The controller based on this
model provides control references to the modulator,
I d (s ) 1 (27)
Gc (s ) = = which is responsible for generating the voltages in the
I dk (s ) τ i s + 1
*
converter. Although this method avoids using duty
Where τ is the time constant which determines the cycles in the model, accurate measure of the DC-link
current controller response time and is usually chosen in voltage will be required not only for the controller, but
the range of 1.5ms to 5ms. also for the modulator.
Similarly, the quadrature current controller is designed in
the same way. Hence,
7. SIMULATION RESULTS

P h a s e v o lt a g e a n d c u rre n t (p u )
A MATLAB simulink of the model was developed, the
RES and its converter is modeled as a current source that
1 Va(pu)
provides iin = Pin / VDC into the NPC converter connected to
Ia(pu)
the grid. Selected perturbations and system response 0.5
waveforms from the simulation are illustrated in Figs. 6 -
8.
7.1 Reactive power change 0
Initially, real power flows of 0.05MW from RES to the
grid with Vdcref set to 500V, at t= 0.6s, Iqref is changed
from 0 to -0.2KVA. Fig. 6 shows the dynamic response of -0.5
the system. Fig. 6(a) shows the variation of the modulation
index of the system to meet the power flow requirements.
-1
7.2 Step Change in VDCref 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5
Initially, 5kW Pin power flows from the dc side to the ac
side. At time = 0.6s, VDCref is changed from 500V to 600V
time(s)
and the response of the system is shown in fig. 7. Fig. 6 System response to a step change in 1qref from 0 to -0.2KA

7.3 Three-phase fault

1
The entire system is under steady-state condition with
Vdc= 500V and Pin = 0.05MW. At t=0.7s, the grid is 0.5
m
subjected to a three-phase to ground fault for 20ms. Fig.8 (a)
0
shows the system response to this disturbance. 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
5
Id
0
(b)_ Idref
0.9 -5
(a) 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
0.8 1
m

0.7 0.5 (c) Iq

0
-0.5 Iqref
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75
P Q(K W,K V A r)

10 400
(d)
I d , Id re f(k A )

(b) Id 200 P
5 0
Idref Q
0 -200
0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8
-5 1 (e)
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 Va(pu)
0
-1 ia(pu)
0.4
I q , Iq re f(k A )

0.2 (c) Iq 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75

0 Iqref 800
-0.2 600 (f) Vdc
-0.4 Vdcref
400
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8

150
P , Q (K V A r)

P
100 (d)
Q Fig. 7. System response to a step change in Vdcref from 500V to
50
600V
0
-50
0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6
time(s)
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Flow between Utilities and Power Pool Transmission

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