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This paper presents a novel approach to conceive the secondary control in droop-controlled MicroGrids. The conventional approach is based on restoring the frequency and amplitude deviations produced by the local droop controllers by using a MicroGrid Central Controller (MGCC). A distributed networked control system is used in order to implement a distributed secondary control (DSC) thus avoiding its implementation in MGCC. The proposed approach is not only able to restore frequency and voltage of the MicroGrid but also ensures reactive power sharing. The distributed secondary control does not rely on a central control, so that the failure of a single unit will not produce the fail down of the whole system. Experimental results are presented to show the feasibility of the DSC. The time latency and data drop-out limits of the communication systems are studied as well.

This paper presents a review of control strategies, stability analysis and stabilization techniques for DC microgrids (MGs). Overall control is systematically classified into local and coordinated control levels according to respective functionalities in each level. As opposed to local control which relies only on local measurements, some line of communication between units needs to be made available in order to achieve coordinated control. Depending on the communication method, three basic coordinated control strategies can be distinguished, i.e. decentralized, centralized and distributed control. Decentralized control can be regarded as an extension of local control since it is also based exclusively on local measurements. In contrast, centralized and distributed control strategies rely on digital communication technologies. A number of approaches to using these three coordinated control strategies to achieve various control objectives are reviewed in the paper. Moreover, properties of DC MG dynamics and stability are discussed. The paper illustrates that tightly regulated point-of-load (POL) converters tend to reduce the stability margins of the system since they introduce negative impedances, which can potentially oscillate with lightly damped power supply input filters. It is also demonstrated how the stability of the whole system is defined by the relationship of the source and load impedances, referred to as the minor loop gain. Several prominent specifications for the minor loop gain are reviewed. Finally, a number of active stabilization techniques are presented. Index Terms-DC microgrid (MG), local control, coordinated control, impedance specifications, stability. NOMENCLATURE Acronyms AVP Adaptive voltage positioning. BLDC Brushless DC. CC Central controller. CPL Constant power load. DBS DC bus signaling. DCL Digital communication link. DG Distributed generator. DPS Distributed power system. EET Extra element theorem. ESAC Energy storage analysis consortium. ESS Energy storage system. EV Electric vehicle. GM Gain margin.

In this work we present new distributed controllers for secondary frequency and voltage control in islanded microgrids. Inspired by techniques from cooperative control, the proposed controllers use localized information and nearest-neighbor communication to collectively perform secondary control actions. The frequency controller rapidly regulates the microgrid frequency to its nominal value while maintaining active power sharing among the distributed generators. Tuning of the voltage controller provides a simple and intuitive trade-off between the conflicting goals of voltage regulation and reactive power sharing. Our designs require no knowledge of the microgrid topology, impedances or loads. The distributed architecture allows for flexibility and redundancy, and eliminates the need for a central microgrid controller. We provide a voltage stability analysis and present extensive experimental results validating our designs, verifying robust performance under communication failure and during plug-and-play operation.

General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. ? Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. ? You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain ? You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? N order to integrate different types of renewable energy sources and to electrify a remote area, the concept of the microgrid was proposed several years ago [1]. Recent literature Manuscript received January 16, 2013.