Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control

Minghui Lu; Gab Su Seo; Mohit Sinha; Fernando Rodriguez; Sairaj Dhople; Brian Johnson

doi:10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234

Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control

Minghui Lu, Gab Su Seo, Mohit Sinha, Fernando Rodriguez, Sairaj Dhople, Brian Johnson

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Virtual oscillator control (VOC) is a decentralized time-domain control technique for ac microgrids where inverters are regulated to emulate the dynamics of weakly nonlinear oscillators. VOC enables the design of modular and scalable systems where inverters can synchronize and share power without communication and in near real-time. In this paper, we show how off-the-shelf commercial inverters with current control can be reprogrammed to behave as voltage sources with virtual oscillator dynamics for deployment in islanded settings. We focus on commercial grid-tied inverters that have an inner current-control loop and show how the outer-loop controls can be straightforwardly modified to enable voltage-control-mode operation. To illustrate the practicality and ease of our approach, the proposed strategy was implemented on a 3.2 kVA experimental test bed composed of 10 SunPower-brand micro-inverters with special firmware for VOC implementation. Results from the experiments not only demonstrate feasibility of the proposed dual-loop VOC architecture on a hardware setup but also show improved voltage regulation due to the additional voltage control loop.

Original language	English (US)
Title of host publication	34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages	3427-3432
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9781538683309
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234
State	Published - May 24 2019
Event	34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019 - Anaheim, United States Duration: Mar 17 2019 → Mar 21 2019

Publication series

Name	Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC
Volume	2019-March

Conference

Conference	34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019
Country/Territory	United States
City	Anaheim
Period	3/17/19 → 3/21/19

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36 − 08GO28308. Funding was also provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office under grant No. DE-EE0000 − 1583. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. Funding was also provided by the National Science Foundation through grants 1453921 and 1509277.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 IEEE.

Publisher link

10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234

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Lu, M., Seo, G. S., Sinha, M., Rodriguez, F., Dhople, S., & Johnson, B. (2019). Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control. In 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019 (pp. 3427-3432). Article 8722234 (Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC; Vol. 2019-March). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234

Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control. / Lu, Minghui; Seo, Gab Su; Sinha, Mohit et al.
34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019. p. 3427-3432 8722234 (Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC; Vol. 2019-March).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Lu, M, Seo, GS, Sinha, M, Rodriguez, F, Dhople, S & Johnson, B 2019, Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control. in 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019., 8722234, Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC, vol. 2019-March, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 3427-3432, 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019, Anaheim, United States, 3/17/19. https://doi.org/10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234

Lu M, Seo GS, Sinha M, Rodriguez F, Dhople S, Johnson B. Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control. In 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2019. p. 3427-3432. 8722234. (Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC). doi: 10.1109/APEC.2019.8722234

Lu, Minghui ; Seo, Gab Su ; Sinha, Mohit et al. / Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control. 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2019. pp. 3427-3432 (Conference Proceedings - IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - APEC).

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abstract = "Virtual oscillator control (VOC) is a decentralized time-domain control technique for ac microgrids where inverters are regulated to emulate the dynamics of weakly nonlinear oscillators. VOC enables the design of modular and scalable systems where inverters can synchronize and share power without communication and in near real-time. In this paper, we show how off-the-shelf commercial inverters with current control can be reprogrammed to behave as voltage sources with virtual oscillator dynamics for deployment in islanded settings. We focus on commercial grid-tied inverters that have an inner current-control loop and show how the outer-loop controls can be straightforwardly modified to enable voltage-control-mode operation. To illustrate the practicality and ease of our approach, the proposed strategy was implemented on a 3.2 kVA experimental test bed composed of 10 SunPower-brand micro-inverters with special firmware for VOC implementation. Results from the experiments not only demonstrate feasibility of the proposed dual-loop VOC architecture on a hardware setup but also show improved voltage regulation due to the additional voltage control loop.",

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note = "Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36 − 08GO28308. Funding was also provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office under grant No. DE-EE0000 − 1583. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. Funding was also provided by the National Science Foundation through grants 1453921 and 1509277. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 IEEE.; 34th Annual IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, APEC 2019 ; Conference date: 17-03-2019 Through 21-03-2019",

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N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported in part by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, operated by Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-AC36 − 08GO28308. Funding was also provided by the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Solar Energy Technologies Office under grant No. DE-EE0000 − 1583. The views expressed in the article do not necessarily represent the views of the DOE or the U.S. Government. Funding was also provided by the National Science Foundation through grants 1453921 and 1509277. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 IEEE.

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N2 - Virtual oscillator control (VOC) is a decentralized time-domain control technique for ac microgrids where inverters are regulated to emulate the dynamics of weakly nonlinear oscillators. VOC enables the design of modular and scalable systems where inverters can synchronize and share power without communication and in near real-time. In this paper, we show how off-the-shelf commercial inverters with current control can be reprogrammed to behave as voltage sources with virtual oscillator dynamics for deployment in islanded settings. We focus on commercial grid-tied inverters that have an inner current-control loop and show how the outer-loop controls can be straightforwardly modified to enable voltage-control-mode operation. To illustrate the practicality and ease of our approach, the proposed strategy was implemented on a 3.2 kVA experimental test bed composed of 10 SunPower-brand micro-inverters with special firmware for VOC implementation. Results from the experiments not only demonstrate feasibility of the proposed dual-loop VOC architecture on a hardware setup but also show improved voltage regulation due to the additional voltage control loop.

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Adaptation of commercial current-controlled inverters for operation with virtual oscillator control

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