Abstract: With the increasing use of voltage source converters (VSCs) in power electronics dominated power systems, oscillation phenomena in DC-link voltage control (DVC) timescale (around 10 Hz) among multiple VSCs have occurred. Several studies have tried to analyze these oscillation problems, but all associated with the single VSC situation. To consider the dynamic interactions between VSCs in DVC timescale, especially in the weak grid condition, this paper presents a small-signal model to understand VSC external characteristics based on motion equation concept also featured in synchronous generator (SG). Comparisons of time-domain simulation responses and eigenvalues show that the proposed model can hold the main behaviors of concern. The form of the model is very similar to the rotor motion equation in SG, with which power engineers have been very familiar. In addition, by establishing the relationship between the unbalanced powers and state variables of internal voltage (viz., VSC output voltage), the modeling idea introduced in this paper can be applied to other power electronic devices.

Abstract: Distribution voltage profiles are subjected to overvoltage limit violations from high penetration of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. Such voltage rises seen at the point of PV interconnection can be mitigated by adaptively changing the active and/or reactive power injection from the PV inverter. This work proposes a local voltage regulation technique that utilizes very short-term (15 s) PV power forecasts to circumvent imminent upper voltage limit violation or an overvoltage scenario. To provide these PV generation forecasts, a hybrid forecasting method is formulated based on Kalman filter theory, which applies physical PV generation modeling using high-resolution (15 s) data from on-site measurements. The proposed algorithm employs an active power curtailment based on these PV power forecasts, when the reactive power estimate given by a droop-based method cannot provide the desired voltage regulation within predefined power factor limits. The curtailment threshold values are calculated in such a way that this voltage regulation technique can reduce possible voltage limit violations. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated with case studies developed on a standard test feeder with realistic load and PV generation profiles.

Abstract: Power quality problems are manifested in voltage, current or frequency deviations causing malfunction of sensitive equipment. Integration of inverter connected PV and wind power plants, and rampant rise in nonlinear loads have led to harmonic problem in power system. Nonlinear loads and switched devices energized by sinusoidal sources or linear loads and switched devices with non-sinusoidal sources, produce harmonics in distribution system. Academic harmonic analysis study consists of modeling nonlinear loads to develop Norton and Thevenin equivalent circuits of devices for integration into harmonic analysis software. Experimental researchers often use harmonic analyzers to measure the harmonics in real systems to evaluate suitable mitigation alternatives. The distortive power losses force utilities to increase apparent power to maintain reliable and uniform power supply. Harmonic analyzers use data acquisition hardware and inbuilt software algorithms to perform onsite measurements. Harmonic analyzers help find true power factor, total harmonic distortions, reactive and distortive power losses. Use of shunt capacitance at unity power factor worsens the situation instead of supplying distortive power compensation. Active power factor correction techniques, using smart algorithm to cancel the distortive power, have been reviewed for further research. Nonlinear physics of harmonic phenomenon is described to explore its applications. Harmonic mitigation technologies have been compared, current state of the art technology reviewed and demonstrated by designing a harmonic filter. Measurement of harmonics, waveform distortions, and true power factor (TPF) of single and three phase electronic loads is carried out to test their compliance to harmonic standard limits. Energy conservation concept requires reduction of harmonics in distribution networks. This study found 60±10% reduction in power factor and more than 2% increase in line losses due to widespread use of nonlinear loads. Utility apparent power demand increases due to consumers’ inadvertent violation of IEC Standard 61000-3-2 and IEEE Standard 519–1992.

Abstract: Increasing demands for power supplies have contributed to the population of high-frequency ac (HFAC) power distribution system (PDS), and in order to increase the power capacity, multilevel inverters (MLIs) frequently serving as the high-frequency (HF) source-stage have obtained a prominent development. Existing MLIs commonly use more than one voltage source or a great number of power devices to enlarge the level numbers, and HF modulation (HFM) methods are usually adopted to decrease the total harmonic distortion (THD). All of these have increased the complexity and decreased the efficiency for the conversion from dc to HF ac. In this paper, a nine-level inverter employing only one input source and fewer components is proposed for HFAC PDS. It makes full use of the conversion of series and parallel connections of one voltage source and two capacitors to realize nine output levels, thus lower THD can be obtained without HFM methods. The voltage stress on power devices is relatively relieved, which has broadened its range of applications as well. Moreover, the proposed nine-level inverter is equipped with the inherent self-voltage balancing ability, thus the modulation algorithm gets simplified. The circuit structure, modulation method, capacitor calculation, loss analysis, and performance comparisons are presented in this paper, and all the superior performances of the proposed nine-level inverter are verified by simulation and experimental prototypes with rated output power of 200 W. The accordance of theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results confirms the feasibility of proposed nine-level inverter.

Abstract: The power generation from renewable power sources is variable in nature, and may contain unacceptable fluctuations in case of the wind power generation. High fluctuations in power generation may negatively impact the voltage stability of the microgrid. This problem can be alleviated by using hybrid energy storage system consisting of batteries and supercapacitors (SCs) at dc grid. A new control scheme is proposed to control the power sharing between batteries and SCs to match the generation-demand mismatch and hence to regulate the grid voltage. In the proposed control strategy, the SC supplies error component of the battery current in addition to the fast transient power demand. This added feature not only improves the dc grid voltage regulation capability but also reduces the stress levels on the battery and hence increases the life span of the battery. The main advantage of the scheme is that, the uncompensated power due to slow dynamics of the battery is diverted to the SC and keeps the state of charge within the limits for longer duration, as compared to the conventional strategy. The proposed scheme is validated through detailed experimental studies.

Abstract: For hybrid energy storage system in dc microgrid, effective power split, bus voltage deviation, and state-of-charge (SoC) violation are significant issues. Conventionally, they are achieved by centralized control or hierarchical control methods with communications. This paper proposes a simple and effective strategy to solve the problem in a decentralized manner. A high-pass filter-based droop (HPFD) controller is proposed to regulate the battery converter, and a virtual capacitance droop (VCD) controller is implemented for a supercapacitor (SC) converter. The cooperation of HPFD and VCD first achieves autonomous power split that high-frequency fluctuation is buffered by SC and low-frequency power is supplied by battery. Meanwhile, the bus voltage deviation induced by the droop-based power sharing is eliminated automatically at steady state. The resulted bus voltage restoration simultaneously enforces SC SoC back to its nominal value, and, thus, ensures continuous operation of SC as a power buffer without the violation of its SoC boundary. A design guideline is developed to ensure expected system dynamics. The effectiveness of the proposed method and analytical results are validated by simulations and experiments.

Abstract: For power electronic systems to interface medium-voltage grids, e.g., in future electric ships, usually cascaded cells converters need to be employed, whereby either few cells featuring power semiconductors with high blocking voltage capability or a larger number of cells using low-voltage (LV) semiconductors can be used. As shown in this paper, physics-inspired empirical models of the dependence of Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) power modules' loss-relevant characteristics on the blocking voltage enable an analytic optimization of the efficiency of a cascaded H-bridges (ac-dc) converter, which is complemented by a full efficiency versus power density ηρ-Pareto optimization. For a 10-kV grid, 1200V or 1700V are identified as optimum blocking voltages, resulting in a suitable trade-off between efficiency and power density. Significant efficiency and power density gains can be realized by replacing silicon IGBTs by LV silicon carbide (SiC) devices in multi-cell systems, whereas single-cell designs based on high-voltage SiC devices suffer from the high dv/dt and di/dt values required to limit switching losses. Reliability is analyzed considering redundancy, showing that the reliability of designs based on lower blocking voltages can be comparable with that of designs using higher blocking voltages, and hence fewer cells, if similar effort concerning additionally installed power capability is considered.

Abstract: Three-phase voltage source converters (VSCs) are commonly used as power flow interface in ac/dc hybrid power systems. The ac power grid suffers from unpredictable short-circuit faults and power flow fluctuations, causing undesirable grid voltage dips. The voltage dips may last for a short time or a long duration, and vary the working conditions of VSCs. Due to their nonlinear characteristics, VSCs may enter abnormal operating mode in response to voltage dips. In this paper, the transient response of three-phase VSCs under practical grid voltage dips is studied and a catastrophic bifurcation phenomenon is identified in the system. The converter will exhibit an irreversible instability after the dips. The expanded magnitude of ac reactive current may cause catastrophic consequence for the system. A full-order eigenvalue analysis and a reduced-order mixed-potential-theory-based analysis are adopted to reveal the physical origin of the large-signal instability phenomenon. The key parameters of the system are identified and the boundaries of instability are located. The bifurcation phenomenon and a set of design-oriented stability boundaries in some chosen parameter space are verified by cycle-by-cycle simulations and experimental measurement on a practical grid-connected VSC prototype.

Abstract: A new approach for reactive power management with volt–var control, but considering inverters’ capacity and sensitivity to the critical bus is presented in this paper. The approach addresses the voltage rise and reverse power flow issues when residential renewable energy sources such as rooftop solar panels produce more energy than the local load demand. The overvoltage is controlled by selective var injection based on the inverter location, capacity, and minimum power factor limit set by regulation. This method improves the voltage regulation of a distributed system with high penetration of renewable energy sources while efficiently utilizing the inverters’ reactive power capacity. Simulation results are presented with a ten inverter network supplied by a 60 kVA distribution transformer. Experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of this method for overvoltage prevention of a distribution test system with three photovoltaic (PV) inverters.

Abstract: As electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more widespread, their high power consumption presents challenges for the residential low voltage networks, especially when connected to long feeders with unevenly distributed loads. However, if intelligently integrated, EVs can also partially solve the existing and future power quality problems. One of the main aspects of the power quality relates to voltage quality. The aim of this work is to experimentally analyze whether series-produced EVs, adhering to contemporary standard and without relying on any vehicle-to-grid capability, can mitigate line voltage drops and voltage unbalances by a local smart charging algorithm based on a droop controller. In order to validate this capability, a low-voltage grid with a share of renewable resources is recreated in SYSLAB PowerLabDK. The experimental results demonstrate the advantages of the intelligent EV charging in improving the power quality of a highly unbalanced grid.

Abstract: The large integration of photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems into power systems causes deterioration in power system stability. In our previous work, we showed that reactive power control using the inverters of PV systems, known as dynamic voltage support (DVS) capability, is a promising approach to improve the short-term voltage stability in power systems. In this paper, we propose a novel DVS capability as a function of PV inverters. In contrast to the conventional DVS capability, the proposed method uses both active and reactive power injection to improve the short-term voltage stability. Numerical examples show that the proposed DVS capability further improves the short-term voltage stability compared with the conventional DVS capability. Furthermore, the proposed method can alleviate a frequency drop after a fault caused by interruption in PV systems.

Abstract: In the case of partial shading, the output power of the unshaded PV modules will be decreased by the influence of the shaded PV modules in one branch. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel topology for a PV power generation system by connecting a PV module to the capacitor in each submodule of a modular multilevel converter parallel. As partial shading occurs, the maximum power can be extracted by regulating the capacitor voltage to the maximum power point voltage. With this proposed topology, the maximum power tracking controller, the redundancy module controller, the voltage stability controller, and the grid-connected controller are studied. Simulation and experiment results show that comparing to the traditional topology, the proposed topology can greatly improve the output power of the PV system under the conditions of partial shading and features with low-voltage stress and high efficiency.

Abstract: This paper introduces a cascaded H-bridge multilevel converter (CHB-MC)-based StatCom system that is able to operate with extremely low dc capacitance values. The theoretical limit is calculated for the maximum capacitor voltage ripple, and hence minimum dc capacitance values that can be used in the converter. The proposed low-capacitance StatCom ( LC -StatCom) is able to operate with large capacitor voltage ripples, which are very close to the calculated theoretical maximum voltage ripple. The maximum voltage stress on the semiconductors in the LC -StatCom is lower than in a conventional StatCom system. The variable cluster voltage magnitude in the LC -StatCom system drops well below the maximum grid voltage, which allows a fixed maximum voltage on the individual capacitors. It is demonstrated that the proposed LC -StatCom has an asymmetric V–I characteristic, which is especially suited for operation as a reactive power source within the capacitive region. A high-bandwidth control system is designed for the proposed StatCom to provide control of the capacitor voltages during highly dynamic transient events. The proposed LC -StatCom system is experimentally verified on a low-voltage seven-level CHB-MC prototype. The experimental results show successful operation of the system with ripples as high as 90% of the nominal dc voltage. The required energy storage for the LC -StatCom system shows significant reduction compared to a conventional StatCom design.

Abstract: For utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) systems, the control objectives, such as maximum power point tracking, synchronization with grid, current control, and harmonic reduction in output current, are realized in single stage for high efficiency and simple power converter topology. This paper considers a high-power three-phase single-stage PV system, which is connected to a distribution network, with a modified control strategy, which includes compensation for grid voltage dip and reactive power injection capability. To regulate the dc-link voltage, a modified voltage controller using feedback linearization scheme with feedforward PV current signal is presented. The real and reactive powers are controlled by using $dq$ components of the grid current. A small-signal stability/eigenvalue analysis of a grid-connected PV system with the complete linearized model is performed to assess the robustness of the controller and the decoupling character of the grid-connected PV system. The dynamic performance is evaluated on a real-time digital simulator.

Abstract: There is a growing interest in using dc power systems and microgrids for our electricity transmission and distribution, particularly with the increasing penetration of photovoltaic power systems. This paper presents an electric active suspension technology known as the dc electric springs (DC-ES) for voltage stabilization and power quality improvement. The basic operating modes and characteristic of a DC-ES with different types of serially connected non-critical loads will first be introduced. Then, the various power delivery issues of the dc power systems, namely bus voltage variation, voltage droop, system fault, and harmonics, are briefly described. The operating limits of a DC-ES in a dc power grid is studied. It is demonstrated that the aforementioned issues can be mitigated using the proposed DC-ES technology. Experiment results are provided to verify the feasibility of the proposed technology.

Abstract: This paper presents a novel distributed approach to achieve both bounded voltage and accurate reactive power sharing regulation in ac microgrid. The coupling/trade-off effects between bus voltages and reactive power sharing regulation are first analyzed in detail to provide a guideline for coordinated control design. Furthermore, a containment and consensus-based distributed coordination controller is proposed, by which the bus voltage magnitudes can be bounded within a reasonable range, instead of only controlling average voltage value. Furthermore, the accurate reactive power sharing between distributed generators can be achieved simultaneously. Then, a detailed small-signal model is developed to analyze the stability of the system and the sensitivity of different parameters. Experimental results are presented and compared, where the controller performance, robust performance under communication failure, and plug-and-play operation are successfully verified.

Abstract: This paper investigates the fault ride through (FRT) capability improvement of a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbine using a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). Series compensation of terminal voltage during fault conditions using DVR is carried out by injecting voltage at the point of common coupling to the grid voltage to maintain constant DFIG stator voltage. However, the control of the DVR is crucial in order to improve the FRT capability in the DFIG-based wind turbines. The combined feed-forward and feedback (CFFFB)-based voltage control of the DVR verifies good transient and steady-state responses. The improvement in performance of the DVR using CFFFB control compared with the conventional feed-forward control is observed in terms of voltage sag mitigation capability, active and reactive power support without tripping, dc-link voltage balancing, and fault current control. The advantage of utilizing this combined control is verified through MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation results using a 1.5-MW grid connected DFIG-based wind turbine. The results show good transient and steady-state response and good reactive power support during both balanced and unbalanced fault conditions.

Abstract: Due to the increasing penetration level of microgrids (MGs), it becomes a critical issue for MGs to help sustaining power system stability. Therefore, ancillary services, such as the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability should be incorporated in MGs in order to guarantee stable operation of the utility grid during grid faults. In this paper, a LVRT control strategy based on positive/negative sequence droop control is proposed for grid-interactive MGs to ride-through voltage sags with not only inductive/resistive, but also complex line impedance. By using the proposed control strategy, MGs can support the grid voltage, make profits, and also ride-through the voltage dip during the whole fault period. A two-layer hierarchical control strategy is proposed in this paper. The primary controller consists of voltage and current inner loops, a conventional droop control and a virtual impedance loop, while the secondary controller is based on a positive/negative sequence droop scheme which is able to coordinate the power injection during voltage sags. Experimental results are obtained to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

Abstract: A case study dealing with long-term voltage instability in systems hosting active distribution networks (DN) is reported in this paper. It anticipates future situations with high penetration of dispersed generation (DG), where the latter are used to keep distribution voltages within desired limits, in complement to load tap changers. The interactions between transmission and active DN are investigated on a 3108-bus test system. It involves transmission grid, large generators, and 40 DN, each with DG steered by a controller inspired by model predictive control. The reported simulations show the impact of distribution network voltage restoration, as well as the benefit of load voltage reduction actuated by the dispersed generators.

Abstract: Droop control strategy is widely applied in ac microgrid to realize the seamless mode transition and achieve average power sharing among different inverters. However, there is a lack of analysis about the operation performance of droop control strategy in grid-connected mode. In this paper, grid fluctuation and control accuracy of reactive power are illustrated to be the main influence factors for power flow control according to the small-signal model. The feedforward of grid frequency and voltage magnitude is proposed to mitigate the impacts of grid fluctuation on power flow control. Since the feedforward items are achieved through the synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop with the input of filter capacitor voltage, extra sensors for grid voltage are avoided. Moreover, voltage magnitude control is introduced to enhance the control accuracy of reactive power flow. In addition, modified droop control loops are also proposed to improve the system stability. With the implementation of the proposed control scheme, improved power flow control and enhanced system stability are achieved with the feature of seamless mode transition maintained. Finally, the major contribution of this paper is verified by a laboratory prototype.

Abstract: Submodule (SM) capacitor voltage ripple is one of the major concerns in modular multilevel converters (MMCs). Capacitor voltage ripple leads to the double-frequency circulating current (CC) in legs, thereby resulting in a cascading effect of increased peak value of the arm current, semiconductor device stress, and power losses in MMCs. In this study, a model predictive control (MPC) with common-mode voltage (CMV) injection is proposed to minimize capacitor voltage ripple and the magnitude of CC. A discrete-time mathematical model of the MMC with CMV is presented to predict the future behavior of the control variables. The injection of CMV guarantees arm voltage balancing without CC control and long-term stability of MMC without large capacitors. The dynamic and steady-state performances of MPC with CMV injection are verified on an MMC with three-level flying capacitor SMs. A performance comparison between the proposed approach and the conventional MPC is also presented. Simulation and experimental studies show that CMV injection significantly reduces the capacitor voltage ripple and the CC in legs. The proposed approach also improves output voltage and current waveform quality.

Abstract: In some rural and sub-urban areas, the hosting capacity (HC) of low voltage networks is restricted by voltage limits. With local voltage control, photovoltaic generators can mitigate the voltage rise partly and, therefore, increase the HC. This paper investigates the effectiveness and general performance of different reactive and active power control concepts. It presents the findings of an extensive simulation-based investigation into the effectiveness of voltage rise mitigation, additional reactive power flows, network losses, and power curtailment. The two most common implementations of reactive power control have a similar effectiveness. The voltage rise can be compensated for by up to 25% and more than 60% for typical cable and overhead (OH) feeders, respectively. By additionally using active power curtailment of up to 3% of the annual yield, the HC can be increased by about 50% and 90% for the considered cable and OH feeder, respectively (purely rural feeders).

Abstract: This paper presents an adaptive droop-based power-sharing control strategy. The primary objective is to control the sharing of the active power transmitted by a multiterminal voltage-source converter based high voltage direct current network among a number of onshore ac grids or offshore loads based on the desired percentage shares. The shared power is generated by remote generation plants (e.g., offshore wind farms) or is provided as surplus from ac grids. The desired percentage shares of active power are optimized by the system operator in order to fulfil the active power requirements of the connected grids with respect to meeting goals such as supporting energy adequacy, increasing renewable energy penetration, and minimizing losses. The control strategy is based on two hierarchal levels: voltage-droop control as the primary controller and an optimal-power flow based secondary (supervisory) controller for selecting the optimal droop reference voltages. Based on the dc voltage transient and steady-state dynamics, a methodology for choosing the droop gains for droop controlled converters has been developed. The proposed control strategy has been validated through simulation on the CIGRE B4 dc grid test system. The results confirmed the flexibility and effectiveness of the power-sharing control provided by the new control strategy.

Abstract: It is well known that traditional line-commutated converter (LCC) based high voltage direct current (HVDC) system is not able to control its reactive power and terminal AC voltages. This paper investigates the reactive power and AC voltage control at the inverter side of the LCC HVDC system with controllable capacitors. The system's ability of operating under negative extinction angle is utilized to achieve a wide range of reactive power control and, in particular, the ability of exporting reactive power. In connection with the inverter AC terminal voltage or reactive power control, among different control possibilities at the rectifier side, active power control is desirable since large variations of active power transfer is very unfavorable. Detailed theoretical analysis is carried out first to show the reactive power controllability, and the capacitor voltage level is selected based on the desired control range. In addition, a new extinction angle measurement approach is proposed for negative extinction angle measurements. The effectiveness of the reactive power/voltage control capability for the proposed system is validated through simulation results using Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). To verify the effectiveness of the reactive power and voltage control, CCC HVDC and LCC HVDC with SVC are also set up in RTDS, and simulation comparisons are made. Furthermore, contribution to AC voltage control in power system using the proposed method is demonstrated through simulation results of the modified two-area four-machine AC power system.

Abstract: This paper presents an optimal way to control steady-state voltage in distribution feeders using reactive power ancillary service that is provided by synchronous distributed generators (DGs). Based on load forecasts provided one day in advance, DG reactive power is dispatched on the hour in coordination with the switching operations of an on-load tap changer (OLTC) and shunt capacitors (SCs). This aims to reduce not only distribution line power losses but also the number of switching operations of the OLTC and the SCs, which affect the feeder voltage quality and switching device lifetime. For the reactive power dispatch, a mixed-integer nonlinear optimization problem is formulated using a multiobjective function and solved using a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. Modules using evolutionary and dynamic programming are incorporated into the PSO algorithm to be less susceptible to becoming trapped in local optima and have a better chance of reaching global optimum. Simulation case studies using small- and large-scale distribution networks were performed using MATLAB to demonstrate that the coordinated reactive power support of the DGs, OLTC, and SCs can achieve the objective effectively, resulting in improved voltage quality.

Abstract: A 6.78-MHz wireless power receiver using a 3-mode reconfigurable resonant regulating rectifier for resonant wireless power transfer is presented. The proposed receiver improves power conversion efficiency and reduces die area and off-chip components by achieving power conversion plus voltage regulation in one stage, using only four on-chip power transistors and one off-chip capacitor. Moreover, the proposed 3-mode operation reduces the output voltage ripples and accomplishes switching synchronization easily during mode switching. The proposed pulsewidth modulation controller using ramp-stacking technique and type-II compensation achieves tight voltage regulation in the full loading range with fast transient responses. An adaptive sizing method is also employed to further improve the light-load efficiency of the receiver. Fabricated in a standard 0.35- $\mu \text{m}$ CMOS process using 5-V devices, the receiver regulates the output voltage at 5 V and delivers a maximum power of 6 W. The measured peak efficiency reaches 92.2% when delivering an output power of 3.5 W. For a load step between 0.5 and 5 W, the overshoot and undershoot are less than 300 mV and the settling times are less than 16 $\mu \text{s}$ .

Abstract: Electric spring (ES), a new smart grid technology, has earlier been used for providing voltage and power stability in a weakly regulated/stand-alone renewable energy source powered grid. It has been proposed as a demand-side management technique to provide voltage and power regulation. In this paper, a new control scheme is presented for the implementation of the ES, in conjunction with noncritical building loads like electric heaters, refrigerators, and central air conditioning system. This control scheme would be able to provide power factor correction of the system, voltage support, and power balance for the critical loads, such as the building's security system, in addition to the existing characteristics of ES of voltage and power stability. The proposed control scheme is compared with original ES's control scheme where only reactive power is injected. The improvised control scheme opens new avenues for the utilization of the ES to a greater extent by providing voltage and power stability and enhancing the power quality in the renewable energy powered microgrids.

Abstract: This letter proposes a new on-line load sensitivity identification by means of power electronics-based devices. Applying a voltage and frequency perturbation and measuring the consumed power of the loads, the proposed method computes in real time the voltage and frequency dependency of the load active and reactive power. In this letter, a smart transformer application has been proposed, but the method is general for any power electronics converter able to influence dynamically the voltage and frequency in the grid.

Abstract: A robust feedback linearizing control strategy, based on sliding mode compensation, is proposed for the operation of a grid-connected photovoltaic inverter system under grid faults, characterized by unbalanced voltages, to meet low-voltage ride through requirements. Under normal grid condition, the control system is developed for maximum power transfer from the photovoltaic source to the grid by maximum power point tracking operation of the dc–dc converter, and regulation of the dc-link voltage and the current at the inverter-grid side. Under grid fault, which is unbalanced grid voltage due to voltage dips, the active power is regulated to reduce the current excess and the reactive power is injected to avoid the inverter damage or disconnection, while the dc-link voltage is controlled via the dc–dc converter. A sliding mode compensator is injected into the control system to enhance its robustness to uncertainties. The feedback linearizing control schemes are developed from the grid model at the inverter side and the dc-link model at the dc–dc converter side. The proposed control strategies are experimentally validated on a three-phase grid-connected photovoltaic inverter system and experimental results show that the control system is effective in terms of voltage and power control with smooth transitions between the modes.