New opportunities for optimally integrating the increasing number of distributed-generation (DG) units in the power system rise with the introduction of the microgrid. Most DG units are connected to the microgrid via a power-electronic inverter with dc link. Therefore, new control methods for these inverters need to be developed in order to exploit the DG units as effectively as possible in case of an islanded microgrid. In the literature, most control strategies are based on the conventional transmission grid control or depend on a communication infrastructure. In this paper, on the other hand, an alternative control strategy is proposed based on the specific characteristics of islanded low-voltage microgrids. The microgrid power is balanced by using a control strategy that modifies the set value of the rms microgrid voltage at the inverter ac side as a function of the dc-link voltage. In case a certain voltage, which is determined by a constant-power band, is surpassed, this control strategy is combined with -droop control. This droop controller changes the output power of the DG unit and its possible storage devices as a function of the grid voltage. In this way, voltage-limit violation is avoided. The constant-power band depends on the characteristics of the generator to avoid frequent changes of the power of certain DG units. In this paper, it is concluded that the new control method shows good results in power sharing, transient issues, and stability. This is achieved without interunit communication, which is beneficial concerning reliability issues, and an optimized integration of the renewable energy sources in the microgrid is obtained.
Abstract-Microgrids are able to provide a coordinated integration of the increasing share of distributed generation (DG) units in the network. The primary control of the DG units is generally performed by droop-based control algorithms that avoid communication. The voltage-based droop (VBD) control is developed for islanded low-voltage microgrids with a high share of renewable energy sources. With VBD control, both dispatchable and less-dispatchable units will contribute in the power sharing and balancing. The priority for power changes is automatically set dependent on the terminal voltages. In this way, the renewables change their output power in more extreme voltage conditions compared to the dispatchable units, hence, only when necessary for the reliability of the network. This facilitates the integration of renewable units and improves the reliability of the network. This paper focusses on modifying the VBD control strategy to enable a smooth transition between the islanded and the grid-connected mode of the microgrid. The VBD control can operate in both modes. Therefore, for islanding, no specific measures are required. To reconnect the microgrid to the utility network, the modified VBD control synchronises the voltage of a specified DG unit with the utility voltage. It is shown that this synchronisation procedure significantly limits the switching transient and enables a smooth mode transfer.
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