This paper presents a current control design for stabilizing an inductive-capacitive-inductive (LCL)-filtered grid-connected inverter (GCI) system under uncertain grid impedance and distorted grid environment. To deal with the negative impact of grid impedance, LC-type grid impedance is considered in both the system model derivation and controller design process of an LCL-filtered GCI system. In addition, the integral and resonant control terms are also augmented into the system model in the synchronous reference frame to guarantee the reference tracking of zero steady-state error and good harmonic disturbance compensation of the grid-injected currents from GCI. By considering the effect of grid impedance on the control design process, an incomplete state feedback controller will be designed based on the linear-quadratic regulator (LQR) without damaging the asymptotic stabilization and robustness of the GCI system under uncertain grid impedance. By means of the closed-loop pole map evaluation, the asymptotic stability, robustness, and resonance-damping capability of the proposed current control scheme are confirmed even when all the system states are not available. In order to reduce the number of required sensors for the realization of the controller, a discrete-time current-type full-state observer is employed in this paper to estimate the system state variables with high precision. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme are demonstrated by the PSIM simulations and experiments by using a three-phase GCI prototype system under adverse grid conditions. The comprehensive evaluation results show that the designed control scheme maintains the stability and robustness of the LCL-filtered GCI when connecting to unexpected grids, such as harmonic distortion and L-type and LC-type grid impedances. As a result, the proposed control scheme successfully stabilizes the entire GCI system with high-quality grid-injected currents even when the GCI faces severe grid distortions and an extra grid dynamic caused by the L-type or LC-type grid impedance. Furthermore, low-order distortion harmonics come from the background grid voltages and are maintained as acceptable limits according to the IEEE Std. 1547-2003. Comparative test result with the conventional one also confirms the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme under LC-type grid impedance thanks to the consideration of LC grid impedance in the design process.
Grid-connected inverter (GCI) plays a crucial role in facilitating stable and efficient power delivery, especially under severe and complex grid conditions. Harmonic distortions and imbalance of the grid voltages may degrade the grid-injected current quality. Moreover, inductive-capacitance (LC) grid impedance and the grid frequency fluctuation also degrade the current control performance or stability. In order to overcome such an issue, this study presents a frequency-adaptive current control strategy of a GCI based on incomplete state observation under severe grid conditions. When LC grid impedance exists, it introduces additional states in a GCI system model. However, since the state for the grid inductance current is unmeasurable, it yields a limitation in the state feedback control design. To overcome such a limitation, this study adopts a state feedback control approach based on incomplete state observation by designing the controller only with the available states. The proposed control strategy incorporates feedback controllers with ten states, an integral controller, and resonant controllers for the robustness of the inverter operation. To reduce the reliance on additional sensing devices, a discrete-time full-state current observer is utilized. Particularly, with the aim of avoiding the grid frequency dependency of the system model, as well as the complex online discretization process, observer design is developed in the stationary reference frame. Additionally, a moving average filter (MAF)-based phase-locked loop (PLL) is incorporated for accurate frequency detection against distortions of grid voltages. For evaluating the performance of the designed control strategy, simulations and experiments are executed with severe grid conditions, including grid frequency changes, unbalanced grid voltage, harmonic distortion, and LC grid impedance.
The increasing global energy demand is driving the deployment of renewable energy in the electrical power infrastructure, which emphasizes the critical importance of grid-connected inverters (GCIs). As the power injected into the utility grid increases, GCIs commonly operate in parallel. However, interactions between multiple GCIs and the presence of LC grid impedance pose significant challenges to the stable operation of GCIs. Existing control strategies to deal with multiple GCIs often neglect the capacitive component of grid impedance, which results in instability and deteriorated power quality in a complex grid condition. To overcome these problems, this study proposes a current control scheme and stability assessment of multiple GCIs. To effectively mitigate high-frequency resonance, the proposed method is achieved by an incomplete state feedback control which eliminates the feedback control terms for unmeasurable states. Furthermore, resonant and integral control terms are incorporated to reduce steady-state error as well as to improve harmonic compensation induced by the PCC voltages. A full-state observer is employed to reduce sensing requirements and simplify system complexity. Multiple-GCI behavior is comprehensively analyzed under complex grid environments. A comprehensive stability assessment is also conducted to evaluate the interactions of multiple GCI systems with LC grid impedance. The effectiveness of the designed controller in enhancing power quality and guaranteeing system stability is validated by theoretical analysis, PSIM simulations, and experimental tests on a DSP-controlled 2 kW prototype system.
Grid-connected inverter (GCI) plays a crucial role on facilitating a stable and efficient power delivery, especially under severe and complex grid conditions. Harmonic distortions and imbalance of the grid voltages may degrade the grid-injected current quality. Moreover, inductive-capacitance (LC) grid impedance and the grid frequency fluctuation also degrade the current control performance or stability. In order to overcome such an issue, this study presents a frequency-adaptive current control strategy of a GCI based on incomplete state observation under severe grid condition. When LC grid impedance exists, it introduces additional states in a GCI system model. However, since the state for the grid inductance current is unmeasurable, it yields a limitation in state feedback control design. To overcome such a limitation, this study adopts a state feedback control approach based on incomplete state observation by designing the controller only with the available states. The proposed control strategy incorporates feedback controllers with ten states, an integral controller, and resonant controllers for robustness of inverter operation. To reduce the reliance on additional sensing devices, a discrete-time full-state current observer is utilized. Particularly, with the aim of avoiding the grid frequency dependency of system model as well as complex online discretization process, observer design is developed in the stationary reference frame. Additionally, a moving average filter (MAF) based phase-locked loop (PLL) is incorporated for accurate frequency detection against distortions of grid voltages. For evaluating the performance of the designed control strategy, simulation and experiment are executed with severe grid conditions including the grid frequency changes, unbalanced grid voltage, harmonic distortion, and LC grid impedance.