P_737
Simple control schemes for grid-connected
three-phase voltage-source inverters of DG units
Fotios N. Gakis, Stavros A. Papathanassiou
Abstract— Subject of the paper is the presentation and
performance evaluation of simple control schemes, suitable for
grid-connected three-phase voltage-source current-controlled
inverters, such as those used in Distributed Generation (DG)
units (photovoltaics, fuel-cells etc.). Each control scheme is
considered as a cascade of two independent controllers, where
the external controller regulates the output reactive and active
power and thereby the DC voltage, generating the reference
currents to be tracked by the internal current controller, which
constitutes the pulse generator for the inverter switches. The
schemes are evaluated with respect to their performance under
non-ideal terminal voltage conditions (unbalance and harmonic
distortion), as well as in case of transients such as voltage sags.
Index Terms— Voltage-source converter, PWM, current
control, grid-connected operation, unbalance, harmonics
I. INTRODUCTION
T
he use of DC/AC inverters in distributed generation (DG)
systems, as the “front-end” converters of DG units, is
gradually becoming the norm. Such inverters, either single
or three-phase designs, are almost universally of the voltage-
source type. Although current and voltage control schemes are
possible and implementable, the current control principle is
generally preferred for its excellent dynamic characteristics
and its inherent over-current limitation capabilities. When
current control is used, the inverter output currents are
measured and compared with reference signals, the errors
being used as an input to the PWM modulator, which provides
the inverter switching signals.
Several methods have been proposed in the literature for the
control of such inverters, ([1]-[5]). The strategies presented in
[1] are used for rectifier operation. In [2] and [3] an LCL filter
is proposed for the connection of the inverter to the grid,
which enhances the performance of the inverter but increases
considerably the complexity of the control scheme. In [4] and
[5] the control strategies are applied in motor control and
optimized and sophisticated techniques are presented.
This paper focuses on simple control schemes, suitable for
three-phase voltage-source current-controlled inverters of DG
units, such as small wind turbines, photovoltaics, fuel-cells
etc.
F. N. Gakis and S. A. Papathanassiou are with the School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), 9
Iroon Polytechniou st., 15780 Athens, Greece (e-mail: st@power.ece.ntua.gr).
1
The alternative control schemes presented and evaluated in
the paper are generic, with respect to the primary energy
source and are simple enough to be considered for small-scale
units, typically up to some tens of kW, connected to the LV
grid. All schemes are simulated, to evaluate their performance
under various operating conditions, both in steady-state and
under disturbances. The evaluation extends to non-ideal
operating conditions of the grid, including weak grids, grids
with unbalanced and distorted voltage etc. Disturbances
include variations of the input source power, as well as grid
voltage anomalies, such as voltage sags. Criteria for judging
the performance of the control schemes are their steady-state
and dynamic response characteristics, the harmonic distortion
of the output currents and the quality of power injected to the
grid, evaluated according to IEEE Standard 1459 ([6],[7]),
which defines the measurement of the electric power
quantities under non-sinusoidal and unbalanced conditions.
II. PRESENTATION OF THE CONTROL SCHEMES
The control scheme of the inverter may be considered as a
cascade of two independent controllers, where the external
controller of the output power generates the reference currents
to be tracked by the internal current controller, which
constitutes the pulse generator for the inverter switches. These
two controllers are presented in more detail in the following
Subsections II.A and II.B.
A. Current controller
The methods used for pulse generation in a VSI, can be
divided in two major classes, depending of the utilization or
not of a carrier signal (usually a triangular waveform). In this
paper, one representative method of each class is selected,
namely the hysteresis current control, as a carrier-less closed-
loop method, and the PI-current control (known also as ramp-
comparison), as a carrier-based current regulator. Block
diagrams for these methods are shown in Fig. 1.
The characteristics of the hysteretic current controller,
shown in Fig. 1(a), are well-known ([4],[5]). Its main
advantage is the simplicity of implementation and its
robustness, while a number of important disadvantages also
exist, including: (a) the current is not strictly limited within
the hysteresis band, (b) the switching frequency is not fixed,
increasing excessively for low filter inductance values and
small hysteresis bands and (c) the harmonic spectrum contains
subharmonic and interharmonic components (Fig. 2(a)).
P_737 2

The problem of the variable switching frequency, related to The regulators used in both methods (hysteresis or PI type)
the absence of a carrier signal, is overcome using the PI regulate the phase currents transformed to a dq0 reference
current control scheme of Fig. 1(b), where the output of the PI frame [8], either the stationary frame (ω = 0) , or the
controllers act as reference signals, compared to the triangular synchronous, rotating at the electrical frequency ωe of the
carrier to determine the switching of the inverter. In this way, terminal voltage. In the latter case, synchronization of the
the switching frequency is fixed (equal to the frequency of the reference frame to the grid voltage is achieved by a suitable
triangular carrier) and as a result, the harmonics in the inverter PLL method. Notably, for a three-wire connection, no zero-
output current appear as sidebands, centered around the sequence component exists in the output currents.
switching frequency and its multiples (Fig. 2(b)). When hysteresis current control is used, the choice of
reference frame is of no practical significance. However,
ω =0 ω =0
id when the PI current control scheme is adopted, the stationary
- reference frame is not preferred, because of the steady-state
+
abc
id* dq
3φ ia amplitude and phase errors introduced by the PI regulators. In
VSI GRID contrast, when currents are transformed to the synchronous
ib
abc dq reference frame, becoming dc signals (under balanced
+
* - ic sinusoidal conditions and perfect synchronization), the PI
iq iq regulators achieve zero steady-state error ([9]).
In general, the PI regulators must provide stable and fast
(a) response characteristics to the system. To assist in the
selection of the regulator parameters and to provide some
ω = ωe insight in the control characteristics of the system, a linearized
id ω = ωe Synchr .
model of the inverter and its controller is used, as shown in
+- dq abc
Fig. 3. G cabc (s ) is the transfer function of the PI regulator in
* ia
i d
3φ
GRID abc coordinates ([9]). k ∆ = υ dc / 2V∆ , where υ dc is the dc
VSI ib dq
abc
+
ic voltage and V∆ the amplitude of the triangular carrier. υ i ,
* -
i q iq υ g are the phase voltages of inverter and grid respectively.
Inherent assumptions in this representation are the following:
(b)
Fig. 1. Block diagram of (a) Hysteresis and (b) PI current control scheme for a (a) the variation of the dc-voltage is negligible and its value is
grid-connected three-phase VSI. sufficiently high to prevent saturation of the current controller,
(b) the inverter control loop dynamics are much slower than
the switching frequency, (c) the electrical system is balanced
and (d) the regulation in each phase is independent of the
other phases.
υg
υi - 1
i *
+ abc
G (s) k∆ +
R f + sL f
c
-
PI regulator VSI Filter
i

Fig. 3: Single phase linearized equivalent of the PI Current Control scheme

(a)
B. Output power and dc voltage controller
The current controller of the previous section ensures that
the output currents track the reference values, generated by an
additional external control loop, which performs the output
power regulation (active and reactive power). Regulating the
active power permits also the implementation of a controller
for the input dc voltage of the inverter.
Two alternative implementations of this concept are shown
in Fig. 4. In both cases an external dc current regulator
(typically a PI controller) is used, which provides either the
(b) current magnitude reference (Fig. 4(a)) or the active output
Fig. 2. Harmonic spectrum of inverter output current for (a) Hysteresis power set point (Fig. 4(b)). There follows the generation of
(hysteresis band ±5%) and (b) PI Current Control (carrier frequency
10 kHz). THD<5% in both methods. the reference currents, which need to be synchronized to the
P_737 3

grid voltage. In Fig. 4(a) this is performed using the measured For the external dc voltage regulator a PI controller is used,
grid voltage as a template sine wave, incorporating a desired but other types are also possible (such as P, PID or Fuzzy). As
phase shift angle φ* , using the following expressions ([10]): in the previous section, the PI regulator parameters are
3 I*  υc −υb   selected using a linearized model of each system, as shown in
i a* = υ a cos ϕ +   sin ϕ *  ,
*

2 VN  Fig. 5. Details on the linearization procedure are presented in

 3  
the Appendix. In Fig. 5, G cdq (s ) is the transfer function of
3 I*  υa −υc  
i b* = υ b cos ϕ +   sin ϕ *  ,
*
the PI regulator in the dq reference frame, F(s) represents the
2 VN   3  
dynamics of the input capacitor and i s is the source current,
i c* = − i a* − i b* (1)
*
injected to the dc side of the inverter.
where I is the current amplitude and VN is the line-to-line
nominal voltage. III. SIMULATION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF THE
In Fig. 4(b) the dq reference currents are calculated from CONTROL SCHEMES
the active and reactive power set points: In order to test the performance of the alternative control
2 (P υ d + Q υ q ) * 2 (P υq − Q υd )
* * * *
schemes, the grid-connected operation of the inverter is
i d* = . , i = . (2)
3 (υ d 2 + υ q 2 )
q
3 (υ d 2 + υ q 2 ) simulated in Matlab/Simulink. Conditions examined include
steady state operation at balanced or unbalanced and
These calculations, performed in the “Current References sinusoidal or distorted grid voltage, constant or varying grid
Calculating Blocks”, may give rise to low order harmonics in frequency, as well as transients such as voltage dips (balanced
the output current and the dc voltage, if the grid voltage is and unbalanced) and step variations of the input power. For
unbalanced. Such harmonics can be avoided if more complex each case, the output current distortion and symmetry is
calculations are made ([11]). evaluated, as well as the dynamic performance of the inverter
control system.
ia* Under sinusoidal and symmetrical grid conditions, all
- abc
Current id* control system implementations achieve low output current
υdc* + References i b*
I*
υdc Calculating
iq*
distortion, provided that the dc-voltage is high enough to
Block (1) i c* dq
ensure that no low order harmonics appear in the current, due
3φ ϕ *

υa υb υc to current controller saturation. The minimum value of the

VSI
GRID
required dc side voltage is determined by the inverter output
(a)
voltage:
* 2
υ dc = 2Vi , peak = 2 V (3)
3 i ,line −line
- Current id*
υ dc
* + References Taking into account the output filter inductance, the
P*
υ dc Calculating
Block (2)
iq* possibility of operation at increased grid voltages and the
3φ Q*
υd υq requirement to operate at slightly capacitive p.f. values, the
VSI
dq required voltage at the output of the inverter is calculated at
abc about 110% of the nominal. Therefore, when the inverter is
υa υb υc connected to the 400 V LV grid, the inverter output voltage
GRID can reach 440 V and hence the required dc voltage is 720 V,
(b) according to (3).
Fig. 4. Control strategies for the generation of reference currents. While low order harmonics due to overmodulation are
υ dc ∆is avoided using a suitably high dc–voltage, higher order
∆I * ∆P *
harmonics are reduced when the filter or grid inductances are
∆υ dc
*
+
- Gcdq (s ) G (s ) - increased. The grid inductance in p.u. is
+

∆υ dc
Xk V2 S S
X k ( p .u .) = = N2 k = N (4)
F (s ) Z base V N S N Sk
(a) where SN is the nominal power of inverter and S k is the grid
υ dc ∆i s short circuit power. Therefore current harmonics are reduced
∆υ dc
* ∆P * +
at weak grids, but the resulting voltage distortion will
- Gcdq (s )
+
- increase.
∆υ dc In case of varying grid frequency, the synchronization of
F (s )
the reference frame to the grid voltage will inevitably be
imperfect ([12]) and the dq signals will as low-frequency
(b) (instead of dc) components. However, the PI regulators (Fig.
Fig. 5. Block diagrams of the control systems of Fig. 4.
1(b)) can handle such components and therefore, after the
P_737
inverse dq to abc transformation no undesirable phase shift
will occur between the injected currents and the grid voltages
([4]). This observation was verified by simulation results of
the inverter operating at a grid with large frequency variations,
even when a simple zero-crossing detection method was used
for synchronization.
Under unbalanced line voltage conditions, simulation of
both control schemes showed a significant distortion in the
output current waveforms and a considerable increase in the
dc capacitor ripple current and voltage (Fig. 6). Theoretical
analysis of this condition ([13]) has shown that unbalance of
the current generates even order harmonics (2ωe, 4ωe,, 8ωe…)
in the dc current and voltage. The 2nd harmonics, being the
most important, interact with the fundamental of the switching
function to generate a non-zero sequence 3rd order harmonic
in the reflected inverter output voltages and currents. Of
course, other low order odd harmonics (5th, 7th etc.) also exist.
From the simulation of the control schemes presented it was
observed that the magnitude of the third-order harmonic is
only affected by the asymmetry of the grid. In fact, the per
unit value of the 3rd order current harmonic is equal to the
asymmetry of the grid (i.e. the ratio of negative to positive
sequence of voltage). Simulation results of the 3rd harmonic
and THD variation are presented in Fig. 7 for both control
schemes.
If the dc-voltage control in the scheme 4(b) is not used and
so the reference power is not varying with time, it can be
shown that 3rd order current harmonic still occurs due to the
calculations performed in the “Current References Calculating
Block (2)” of Fig. 4. The transformation of an unbalanced
voltage, without zero-sequence component, to a dq reference
frame rotating at frequency ω, yields:
Fig. 6: Output currents in case of an unbalanced grid with 5% asymmetry.
12
10
I3/I1
THD
8
6
%
4 third quadrant and therefore harmonic active power flows
2 from the grid to the source.
0 In Table I the operation of the inverter is summarized at
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
asymmetry (%)
Fig. 7: Per-unit value of 3rd order current harmonic and ΤΗD coefficient
versus voltage unbalance. THD calculated up to 50 kHz.
4
υ~dq = υ d + jυ q = V (e jθ1 (t ) + de − jw .e − jθ 2 (t ) ) (5)
where V is the peak of the positive sequence component,
θ 1 ( t ) = (ω e − ω ) t , θ 2 ( t ) = (ω e + ω ) t and de = υ~ a− / υ~ a+
jw
denotes the asymmetry of the grid voltage.
The reference currents are calculated using eqs. (2), which
are written in the complex plane as
~
~* 2 S* (6)
idq = conj ( ~ )
3 υ dq
~ *
where S * = S * e − j φ
Using expressions (5) and (6), the reference current in dq
components is
~* 2 S
*
*
idq = A(t )( e jθ1 ( t ) + de − jw .e − jθ 2 ( t ) )e jφ (7)
3 V
where A ( t ) = (1 + d 2 + 2 d cos( 2 ω e t + w )) − 1 ≈
≈ 1 − 2 d cos( 2 ω e t + w ) + 2 d 2 cos( 4 ω e t + w )
Finally, after transformation from dq to abc, it can be
shown that the reference current is basically consists of the
fundamental and the 3rd harmonic component:
2 S* (8)
i* ≈ (cos(ω e t + α + φ * ) − d . cos(3ω e t + α + w + φ * ))
3 V
where α = 0 , − 2π / 3 or 2π / 3 . The error in equation (8) is
2
less than d .
The presence of the 3rd and other low order harmonics in
the current is also evident when the power injected to the grid
is calculated. Using the power definitions of IEEE Standard
1459, the value of the effective apparent power is higher when
the inverter is connected to an unbalanced grid than to a
balanced one, for the same input dc power. Furthermore, the
existence of positive and negative sequence components in the
voltage and current allows the separation of the fundamental
effective apparent power into positive-sequence power and a
remaining component attributed to the system unbalance.
Under distorted grid voltage, the control schemes
produce distorted currents, while the distortion of the dc
voltage increases as well (Fig. 8). If, for example, the inverter
is connected to a grid with 5th, 7th, 11th and 13th-order
harmonics, as it is shown in Fig. 9, the output current contains
significant harmonics of the same orders, as well as small
magnitude harmonics of higher order (i.e. 17th and 19th),
besides the PWM high frequency components which always
exist. If the inverter is not operated in the linear range, as may
happen in the case of a grid voltage with high crest factor, the
spectrum of the current will contain significant low-order
harmonics due to overmodulation. Voltage and current
harmonics of the same order transfer active power. In the
presented example, the current phasors lie in the second or
steady state conditions. The THD of the current, which is
generally low, increases in case of overmodulation, grid
unbalance and grid distortion. The dc voltage presents also
increased ripple if the grid is non-ideal.
P_737 5

Fig. 8: Current injected to a non-sinusoidal grid with high crest factor.

Fig. 10: Inverter output current and dc voltage response to a step increase of
the input source power (100%).

(a)

(b)
Fig. 9: Harmonic spectra of (a) non-sinusoidal grid voltage with the maximum
values of harmonics according to IEC 61000-3-6 and (b) resulting inverter Fig. 11: Inverter output currents and dc voltage response to a 30%
output current. symmetrical three-phase voltage sag.

TABLE I: STEADY STATE PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Grid Comments
Low THDi. Low order harmonics
strong
absent if VSI in the linear range
The weaker the grid, the more
Balanced weak distorted the PPC voltage and the
Sinusoidal less distorted the output current
No undesirable phase shift,
variable
even if synchronization to
frequency
grid voltage not perfect
Unbalanced Low order harmonics appear in
Nonsinusoidal output current and dc voltage

Τhe dynamics of the control schemes are demonstrated by

simulating a step change of the incoming source power to the
dc side, as well as balanced and unbalanced voltage sags.
Simulation results, presented in Figs. 10, 11 and 12, show that
the PI regulators of the control schemes provide a good
response.
Fig. 12: Inverter output currents and dc voltage response to a single-phase
voltage sag (30%). Currents and dc-voltage exhibit low-order harmonics due
to the voltage unbalance.
P_737 6

IV. CONCLUSIONS The transfer function G (s ) of Fig. 5(a) can be derived

In this paper, simple control schemes have been presented from the following expression:
for a three-phase voltage source inverter intended for grid 3 dI * 
connected operation. Each control scheme is considered as a P * =  VI * cos ϕ * + R f I * 2 + L f I * 
2 dt 
cascade of two independent controllers, a dc voltage
→ ∆ P * = 3  V cos ϕ * ∆ I * + 2 R f I * ∆ I * + L f I * d ∆ I 
*
controller, which provides the reference signals to the control
system and a current controller, which generates the inverter 2  dt 
switching signals according to the reference and measured
∆ P * = (V cos ϕ * ∆ I * + 2 R f I * ∆ I * + sL f I * ∆ I * )

→
L 3
signals. The characteristics of the controllers have been
selected to provide stable and fast response to the system. For 2
→ G ( s ) = ∆ P* = 3 V cos ϕ * + 2 R f I * + sL f I *
( )
*
this purpose, linearized models of the inverter and the control (12)
schemes have been employed. The steady-state and dynamic ∆I 2
response of the system has been evaluated under various *
where I and V represent peak values of the current and
operating conditions.
terminal phase voltage and L f , R f are the filter inductance
V. APPENDIX and resistance respectively. It is noted that, although the
The transfer function of a synchronous frame PI power relation is primarily expressed using instantaneous
controller is given by quantities, it is easy to show that, under perfect sinusoidal
conditions, the first of eqs. (10) holds with peak current and
 Ki 
K p + s 0  voltage values.
Gc = 
dq
[ ] Ki 
(9)
 0 Kp +  VI. REFERENCES
 s 
[1] J. R. Rodríguez, J. W. Dixon, J. R. Espinoza, J. Pontt, P. Lezana, ‘PWM
Using the transformation techniques described in [9], the Regenerative Rectifiers: State of the Art’, IEEE Transactions on
equivalent stationary abc representation of the synchronous Industrial Electronics, Vol. 52, No. 1, February 2005
frame PI controller can be developed as in eq. (10). Main [2] E.Twining, D. G. Holmes ‘Grid Current Regulation of a Three-Phase
Voltage Source Inverter with an LCL Input Filter’, ΙΕΕΕ Transactions
concern in this relation are the significant off-diagonal terms, on Power Electronics, Vol. 18, No. 3, May 2003
which represent cross-coupling between phases and make the [3] M. Lindgren, ‘Modeling and Control of Voltage Source Converters
single-phase representation illustrated in Fig. 3 approximate. Connected to the Grid’ Ph.D, Chalmers University of Technology,
Göteborg, November 1998
[4] B. K. Bose ‘Power Electronics and Variable Frequency Drives,
A B C Ks Technology and Applications’, IEEE, 1996
, where A = Kp + 2 i 2 ,
[
Gcabc
=] 2 
3 
C A B  s + ωe
[5] J. Holtz ‘Pulsewidth Modulation for Electronic Power Conversion’,
Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 82, No. 8, August 1994
 B C A  [6] IEEE Std 1459-2000 ‘Definitions for the Measurement of Electric Power
Quantities Under Sinusoidal, Nonsinusoidal, Balanced or Unbalanced
Kp −1 2 K i s − 3 2 K iω e ,
B =− + Conditions’
2 s 2 + ω e2 [7] A. E. Emanuel ‘Summary of IEEE Standard 1459: Definitions for the
Measurement of Electric Power Quantities Under Sinusoidal,
K p − 1 2 K i s + 3 2 K iω e (10) Nonsinusoidal, Balanced or Unbalanced Conditions, IEEE Transactions
C = − +
2 s 2 + ω e2 on Industry Applications, Vol. 40, No. 3, May/June 2004
[8] D. G. Holmes, T. A. Lipo ‘Pulse Width Modulation for Power
Converters, Principles and Practice’, IEEE Press, 2003
The transfer function F(s) in the block diagrams of Fig. 5 [9] D. N. Zmood, D. G. Holmes, G. H. Bode ‘Frequency-Domain Analysis
can be found if the system is linearized around an operating of Three-Phase Linear Current Regulators’, IEEE Transactions on
Industry Applications, Vol. 37, No. 2, March/April 2001
point, characterized by the values of the dc voltage and the [10] J. W. Dixon, B. T. Ooi ‘Indirect Current Control of a Unity Power
source current. To simplify the analysis it is considered that Factor Sinusoidal Current Boost Type Three-Phase Rectifier’, IEEE
*
the reference power P is equal to the active power υ dc idc , [11]
Transactions on Industry Electronics, Vol. 35, No. 4, November 1988
A. V. Stankovic, T .A. Lipo ‘A Novel Control Method for Input Output
transferred to the grid: Harmonic Elimination of the PWM Boost Type Rectifier Under
Unbalanced Operating Conditions’, IEEE Transactions on Power
d υ dc d υ dc
P * = υ dc i dc = υ dc ( i s − C ) = υ dc i s − C υ dc Electronics, Vol. 16, No. 5, September 2001
dt dt [12] M. Karimi-Ghartemani, M. R. Iravani ‘A Method for Synchronization of

→ ∆ P = υ dc ∆ i s + i s ∆ υ dc − C υ dc d ∆ υ dc
Power Electronic Converters in Polluted and Variable-Frequency
*
Environments’, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, Vol. 19, No. 3,
dt August 2004
[13] L. Moran, P. D. Ziogas, G. Joos ‘Design Aspects of Synchronous PWM
→
L
∆ P = υ dc ∆ i s + i s ∆ υ dc − sC υ dc ∆ υ dc
*
Rectifier-Inverter Systems under Unbalanced Input Voltage Conditions’,

→ F (s) = ∆ υ dc 1 (11)
IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 28, No. 6,
= November/December 1992
υ dc ∆ i s − ∆ P *
sC υ dc − i s