Abstract As a well-known power generation function,

a photovoltaic (PV)-based system for enhancing network

steady-state stability is examined preliminarily in this
study. The damping action is achieved through
independent control of real and reactive power flows in the
PV system. Enhanced system stability property of the
compensated system is shown through detailed analysis.
Impacts of system parameters and operating condition
variations on the degree of damping achievable, the
robustness of the proposed control strategy in enhancing
network steady-state stability are illustrated through
computer simulation.
Index Items -PV damping system, power oscillations,
damping ratio
1

I. INTRODUCTION
UE to rapid increase oI energy consumption and
the limited traditional energy resources,
development oI renewable energy resources is
regarded as one possible solution to alleviate the
shortIall. The motivation Ior using the renewable is also
driven by the concern Ior the environment. In this regard,
harnessing the energy Irom the sun using a photo-voltaic
(PV) generation system has become an attractive
candidate and has received much support |1,2|.
Normally, the PV generation system operates under the
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) mode so as to
extract the maximum amount oI energy Irom the sun
|3-8|. UnIortunately, thus Iar the relatively high cost oI
the PV generation system has acted as a barrier to
large-scale application oI the renewable technology. In
order to enhance the attractiveness oI PV system,
perhaps one possible way would be to extent its
Iunctions so that it can be used Ior additional utility
Iunctions.
In pursuing this possibility, one notes that a most
Iundamental challenge to power system control is to
suppress undesirable system oscillations initiated (Ior
example) by some network switching actions. The scale
oI the oscillating power component is oIten small
initially compared to the level oI the transIerred power.

1
This work was supported in part by National Natural Science
Foundation oI China under Grant 50977050 and 50823001.
Guo-Jie Li is with the Electrical Engineering Department, Tsinghua
Univ., Beijing 100084, P.R. China. (liguojietsinghua.edu.cn).
S.Y. Ruan is with State Grid Operation Company Ltd, Beijing, China
S.S. Choi is with School oI Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore
Nevertheless, iI no appropriate control action is taken to
damp the undesirable oscillations, it can lead to
breakdown oI the power transIer ability oI the network.
Networks which contain weakly coupled transmission
links operating under heavy load transIer conditions
|9-11| are particularly prone to this type oI problem. In
this regard, the proposed PV system to be considered in
this paper is intended Ior providing the ability to
enhance network steady-state stability. The detailed
analysis will show that an inverter within the PV system
exercises independent real and reactive power Ilow
controls which thereby leads to enhanced system
damping.
The paper is organized in the Iollowing manner. In
Section II, a description oI the PV damping system is
given. The operating principle oI the damping system is
described in Section III and an analysis oI the
eIIectiveness oI the scheme is provided. Digital
simulation results, based on PSCAD/EMTDC, are
presented in Section IV to illustrate the eIIicacy oI the
scheme.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE PV DAMPING SYSTEM
The PV damping system includes mainly a PV panel,
inverter system, Iiltering reactor, and step-up
transIormer Ior grid-connected |3-6|. The schematic oI
the grid-connected PV system is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Schematic oI a grid-connected PV system

The PV panel converts solar energy directly to
electrical power and outputs DC voltage J
dc
, which is
inverted to AC voltage through the inverter system. The
inverter system consists oI Iast switching IGBT, usually
operating under PWM scheme. The switching pattern oI
the PWM is governed by a controller acting on the input
A Photo-Voltaic Damping System For Suppressing Power System
Oscillation
Guo-Jie Li, non Member, S.Y. Ruan, non Member, and, S.S. Choi, Senior Member, IEEE
D
Grid
i
a
,i
b
,i
c

PV panel
Controller
e
a
,e
b
,e
c

J
dc

PWM
P
pv
fQ
pv

J
dc

Inverter
i
a
,i
b
,i
c

Reactor
Trans.
I
2009 IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation
Christchurch, New Zealand, December 9-11, 2009
FrAT5.4
978-1-4244-4707-7/09/$25.00 2009 IEEE 1681
three phases AC voltages e
a
, e
b
, e
c
and currents i
a
, i
b
, i
c
,
as shown in Fig. 1.
The inverter oI the PV damping system acts as a
voltage source converter (VSC). As in a standard VSC,
by adjusting its modulation index and the phase oI the
VSC terminal voltage with respect to the grid-side
voltages, real and reactive power outputs oI the VSC
can be controlled independently |13,14|. At the present
stage oI investigation, no energy storage device oI
signiIicant capacity is assumed in the PV system.
There is a maximum output power (P
pvmax
) operating
point according to characteristics oI a solar cell |3, 4, 6|.
In this study, it is proposed that the PV damper is to
operate with its steady-state J
dc
set to produce an output
power P
pv0
0.5P
pvmax
. In this manner, while P
pv0
is only
halI oI the maximum possible, this operating state is
nevertheless accompanied by an attractive P
PJ
swing
range which can be used to advantage in enhancing
network stability, as will be shown next.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE PV DAMPING ACTION
The damping characteristics oIIered by the PV system
can be conveniently demonstrated using the classical
single-machine-inIinite bus (SMIB) power system
shown in Fig. 2, based on its equivalent circuit shown in
Fig. 3. The purpose here is to demonstrate the beneIicial
eIIects oI the PV damping system, without having to
resort to complicated mathematical analysis. Note that
the PV is connected at an intermediate bus M, which
bisects the transmission link between the generator and
the inIinite bus into two sections. It is assumed that the
PV contributes to a smaller proportion oI the power Ilow
to the inIinite bus. Under such a scenario, it will be
meaningIul to examine in details how the PV system
would enhance the stability oI the generator, when the
power system is subjected to small disturbances.

Fig. 2 A SMIB system incorporated with a PV damping system


Fig. 3 An equivalent circuit oI the SMIB system

In Fig. 3, o denotes the rotor angle oI the generator
with respect to the inIinite bus, and
'
q
E represents the
generator EMF behind the machine transient d-axis
reactance
'
d
x . Hence x1 would be the sum oI
'
d
x and the
line reactance between the generator terminal and M.
is the phase diIIerence between bus M voltage J
m
and
that oI
'
q
E . P
e
j Q
e
, P
pv
j Q
pv
and P
s
f Q
s
are the
respective real and reactive power Ilows at the generator,
PV and inIinite-bus terminals. J
s
is the voltage oI the
inIinite system bus.
For the purpose oI illustrating how the PV system can
enhance stability, a simpliIied 2
nd
-order linearized
model oI the power system is used in which the
generator excitation and governor control actions are
neglected |9|, viz.:
e e o A = A
0
dt
d
(1)
) (
2
1
e D
P K
H dt
d
A A = A e e (2)
where o A and e A denote the generator rotor angle and
speed deviations respectively, H

is the generator inertia
constant,
e
P A is the deviation oI the generator
electrical output power,
D
K

is the machine damping
torque coeIIicient and e
0
is the synchronous speed.
From the network equation, P
e
is given by
sin
1
'
x
J E
P
m q
e
=
(3)
Laplace transIorm (1) and (2) with the operator s, one
obtains
0
2
) (
2
) (
0 2
= A + A + A
e
D
P
H
s
H
K
s
e
o o (4)
Also apply power balance at bus M,
) sin( sin
2 1
'
o = +
x
J J
P
x
J E
s m
pv
m q
(5)
M
P
pv
fQ
pv

) ( o Z
m
J
o Z
'
q
E
Z0
s
J
x
1
x
2

x
f

Inverter
P
e
fQ
e

) ( | o + Z
v
J
P
s
fQ
s

M
PV panel
pv pv
fQ P +
1682
As the Iocus oI the analysis is on the small-signal
response oI the power system, one could make use oI
the linearized version oI (3) and (5) around the nominal
operating point to obtain:
m
q m q
e
J
x
E
x
J E
P A + A = A
0
1
'
0
1
0
'
sin cos
(6)
m
s s m
pv m
q m q
J
x
J
x
J J
P J
x
E
x
J E
A + A A =
A + A + A
) sin( ) )( cos(
sin cos
0 0
2
0 0
2
0
0
1
'
0
1
0
'
o o o

(7)
where the subscript '0 represents the initial value oI
the respective variable.
Bus M is considered as a generator bus, and as such,
its two control variables are the injected real power Irom
the PV and its bus-bar voltage magnitude. For this
purpose, the proposed control strategy Ior the PV
damping system will be based on the use oI the ac line
Irequency deviation Af to modulate P
pv
and J
m
, i.e. let
) ( ) 2 (
0
1
1
o
e
t A = A = A s
k
f k P
pv
(8)
) ( ) 2 (
0
2
2
o
e
t A = A = A s
k
f k J
m
(9)
where k
1
and k
2
are controller gains yet to be
determined.
As shown in Fig. 4, the injected real and reactive
powers oI the PV damping system can be expressed by
the Iollowing equations:
| sin
f
m v
PJ
x
J J
P =

f
v m m
PJ
x
J J J
Q
) cos . ( |
=
where x
f
is the Iilter reactance between the inverter
terminals and the AC system, is the phase angle
diIIerence between the AC bus voltage J
m
and the
inverter AC-side output voltage J
v
. The above equations
show clearly that P
PJ
is aIIected mainly by , and Q
PJ

depends on the amplitude diIIerence oI the two voltages
|13, 14|.
Substitute (8) and (9) into (7), one obtains
) ( ) ( ) (
0
2
2
0
1
1 0
o
e
o
e
o A + A + A = A s
k
C s
k
C C
(10)
where
C J x C
s
= ) cos(
0 0 1 0
o
C
J
x x
C
m
=
0
2 1
1

C
J
E x J x
C
m
q s

=
0
0
'
2 0 0 1
2
sin ) sin( o

) cos( cos
1
0 0 1 0
'
2
o +
=
s q
J x E x
C
Substitute (9) and (10) into (6) leads to
) ( sin
) )( ( cos
0
0 1
2
'
0
2
2
0
1
1 0 0
1
0
'
o
e
o
e e

A +
A + + = A
s
x
k E
s
k
C s
k
C C
x
J E
P
q
m q
e
(11)
Finally substitute (11) into (4), a second-order
equation describing the rotor angle dynamics can be
obtained:
0 ) (
2
) (
2
) (
0 2
= A + A + A o
e
o o
H
K
s
H
K
s
S
Dpv
(12)
where
C k J E k x E K K
s q q D Dpv
+ + = ) sin cos (
0 2
'
0 1 2
'
o (13)
C J J E K
s m q S
= )) cos( cos (
0 0 0 0
'
o (14)
Through this simpliIied model, it can be readily seen
that there is a new damping torque coeIIicient K
Dpv
.
Indeed, the associated damping ratio , and the
eigenvalues applicable to the compensated power
system can be readily obtained Irom (12) and can be
expressed as
0
2 2 e
,
H K
K
S
pv D
= (15)
2
0
4 2 4
|
|

\
|
=
H
K
H
K
f
H
K
Dpv
S
Dpv
e

(16)
Furthermore Irom (13) (16), it is readily established
that
D Dpv
K K >
when < < 90 90
0
and
< < 90 ) ( 90
0 0
o , iI one sets 0
1
> k and 0
2
> k .
Thus the damping torque coeIIicient oI the compensated
system K
Dpv
will increase once the controller gains k
1

and k
2
are set to assume positive values, regardless oI
the initial power Ilow directions. The initial rotor angle
o
0
may even exceed 90. This is a very useIul result Ior
it suggests that the PV controller would introduce
additional damping torque into the system. On the other
hand, Irom (13), (14) and (16), it is seen that the values
oI k
1
and k
2
have to be constrained iI one desires the
eigenvalues to be oI complex conjugate pair. This is to
ensure that while the PV damping system will lead to
improved system stability, it should also result in
desirable dynamic response characteristics, e.g. with
small overshoots. Thus the design oI the PV system
becomes one oI the determinations oI k
1
and k
2
to
achieve the desired damping level. The procedure can
best be illustrated by numerical examples.
IV. ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
In this Section, some numerical examples will be used
to illustrate how the PV damping system can be
designed Ior stability enhancement.
A. Selection of Controller Gains
The design oI the PV controller is to be considered
1683
Iirst. Suppose the Iollowing p.u. parametric values and
operation conditions describe the initial steady-state
condition oI the SMIB power system:
8 . 0
1
= x , 76 . 0
2
= x ,
'
d
x 0.3, H1.585, K
D
0,
Z = Z 40 1
'
o
q
E , Z = Z 2 . 25 1 ) ( o
m
J , Z = 0 1
s
J ,
24 . 0
0
=
pv
P , 167 . 0
0
=
pv
Q , and 32 . 0
0
=
e
P .
From the initial values, the determination oI the
controller gains is based on the values oI and
obtained in the resulting system. By setting k
1
k
2
10, it
is seen that 0.193 and -1.49f7.56, a design
deemed to have resulted in satisIactory response
characteristics.
OI course, one has to realize that and i.e., the
network dynamic characteristics, will be aIIected by the
power system operating conditions. For example, Fig. 4
shows how the power transIer level aIIects the damping
ratio. In obtaining Fig. 4, the generator and injected bus
M voltages (i.e. E
q
and J
m
) are assumed constant at 1
p.u.
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
P
pv0
=P
e0
,
P
e0
=0.52
P
e0
=0.42
P
e0
=0.32
P
pv0
|p.u.|
P
e0
=0.22

Fig. 4 Variations oI
,
with Ppv0 and Pe0

The Iigure shows the variation in as a Iunction oI
the PV injected power P
pv0
and the upstream generator
output power P
e0
. The initial power received at the
inIinite bus is P
s0
P
pv0
P
e0
. It shows that the damping
ratio, increases when P
s0
increases in the case oI P
pv0

and/or P
e0
increases. II the generator output power P
e0
is
kept constant, increases when the injected power P
pv0
increases. The reason Ior this is when this occurs, o
will increase since J
m
is assumed constant. At the same
time, will remain unchanged Ior P
e0
, E
q

and J
m
are
constant. Hence o will also increase. From (13) - (15), it
is seen that K
Dpv
will become larger while K
s
will
decrease and thus will increase. Meanwhile the
reactive power at the inIinite bus, governed by the
expression
2
/ )) cos( . ( x J J J Q
m s s s
o = , is also seen to
increase whereas Q
e
is unchanged. Thus, under such a
situation, Q
pv
Irom the PV system has to increase to
make up Ior the increase in Q
s
.
Similarly, one can also show that will increase when
P
e0
is increased Ior a given value oI P
pv0
. In this case, o,
, o will be larger iI E
q
and J
m
are assumed constant.
Q
e
has to increase under this condition in order to keep
'
q
E and J
m
constant.
Also shown on Figure 4 is the boundary curve P
pv0

P
e0
. As it is envisaged that the PV-system is oI lower
power rating than the generator, the most likely
operating condition would be to the leIt oI the boundary
curve.
In view oI the above analysis on with the changes in
the power Ilow condition, one is thereIore lead to the
conclusion that the lowest would be obtained when P
s0

is at the minimum. This corresponds to the minimum
load condition. Hence in general, a prudent way to
determine k
1
and k
2
would be to select k
1
and k
2
to yield
adequate damping Iactor , at the operating condition
when the power system is at the load transIer condition
when P
e0
and P
pv0
are at their lowest levels. As P
s0

increases which necessarily means that P
e0
and/or P
pv0

has to increase, will also increase. Thus the system
damping is expected to improve.
Another observation is that since the above results
and analysis are based on the Iact that both E
q
and J
m

are kept constant, this means that system stability will
not be compromised due to changes in the available
solar energy (which causes variations in P
pv
), provided
Q
pv
is modulated to keep J
m
constant. Indeed, Fig. 5
shows how Q
pv
is to be regulated as the real power
distribution in the network varies, while J
m
is kept
constant at 1 p.u. in these cases.
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
P
pv0
=P
e0
Q
p
v
0


|
p
.
u
.
|
P
pv0
|p.u.|
P
e0
=0.52
P
e0
=0.42
P
e0
=0.32
P
e0
=0.22
Fig. 5 Variations oI Qpv0with Ppv0 and Pe0 Iunction oI the PV damping
system.

One may also note that the control scheme enjoys
certain degree oI robustness in view oI the Iollowing
considerations. As no energy storage device has been
included in the design, thereIore, the PV damping
system would be unable to supply real power oI any
1684
signiIicant extent, in the event there is negligible
amount oI solar energy available at the time. This means
that the output real power will be low and the real power
Ieedback loop will be ineIIective, or equivalently, k
1

will be zero. From Fig. 4, one observes that even
without the real-power injection (i.e. with only
STATCOM action), the damping Iactor is at least 0.14,
increasing to about 0.22 Ior P
e0
0.22 to 0.52 p.u. This
corresponds to the case oI k
1
0. Indeed, iI one oI the
two control Ieedback loops proposed in (8) and (9) is
lost due to (say) internal Iaults in the PV, either k
1
or k
2

would become zero. From (13) and (15), it is noted that
the resulting damping ratio will still be higher
compared to the system without the PV damping system,
Ior in these instances,
D Dpv
K K > .
B. PJ Location
One can also use the above results to assess the eIIect
oI the PV location on system damping. Assume the line
is oI the same type across the whole length,
then
'
2 1 d l
x x x x + = + where
l
x is the total line
reactance. DeIine
l
d
x
x x
'
1

= t
(17)
t deIined this way is the ratio oI the line length between
the generator to M to that between M and the inIinite bus.
Hence t is the location Iactor oI the PV system.
Substitute the system parameters and initial values
given earlier into (15), one obtains
t
t
,
078 . 0 49 . 1
207 . 0 315 . 0

=
(18)
In this example, the vs : curve is shown in Fig. 6
Irom which it shows that will increase when the PV
damping system is located closer to the generator. As
the main Iunction oI the PV is to help the generator to
maintain synchronism with the inIinite bus, clearly the
lower the impedance x
1
, the more eIIective is the scheme.
Thus, the result shown in Fig. 6 is consistent with the
Iunction oI the PV damping system.
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
:

Fig. 6 Variations oI
,
with PV damping system location
C. Response Under Small Disturbance
In order to assess and demonstrate the theoretical
analysis shown in the previous section, simulation
studies based on the well-established PSCAD/EMTDC
power system simulation package have been carried out.
Apart Irom using the parametric values given earlier to
describe the power system, the solar cell is represented
in PSCAD using the models described in |3, 12|.
Consistent with the analysis, the constant voltage behind
the transient reactance generator model is used.
In this study, a small disturbance is simulated by
introducing a 0.1 p.u. step increase oI the input
mechanical power oI the generator Ior 0.1s beIore the
mechanical power is returned to its initial state.
Although this is a rather artiIicial disturbance,
nevertheless it provides a good test oI the dynamic
stability capability oI the compensated power system.
The time response will be studied under three control
modes. Mode 1 is the control strategy when P
pv
is kept
constant at P
pv0
and J
m
is kept constant at J
m0
; Mode 2
pertains to the control strategy when P
pv
is kept constant
at P
pv0
and J
m
is controlled using (9); Mode 3 represents
the control strategy when P
pv
and J
m
are controlled
using (8) and (9) respectively. Time response plots oI
P
pv
, J
m
, rotor speed c, and Q
pv
Iollowing the
disturbance are as shown in Fig 6. The corresponding
responses are shown by curves, labeled with '1, '2 or
'3 to denote the mode under which the control strategy
operates at.
From Fig. 7, it is shown that the generator rotor
oscillations Iollowing the power increase disturbance
have been suppressed to some extent when J
m
is
controlled under Mode 2, i.e. via the control law (9).
This means that the system damping is improved even
when there is no sunlight, and the PV system acts as a
conventional STATCOM. Oscillations are damped out
even more quickly and eIIectively when P
pv
and J
m
are
controlled through the Ieedback strategies (8) and (9)
respectively (i.e. Mode 3). Thus it conIirms the PV
damping system with the proposed control strategy is
eIIective in suppressing power system oscillations.
3 4 5 6 7
0.16
0.18
0.20
0.22
0.24
0.26
P
p
v
[
p
.
u
.
]
T ime [s]
1
3
2

(a)
1685
3 4 5 6 7
0.9990
0.9995
1.0000
1.0005
1.0010
R
o
t
o
r

S
p
e
e
d

|
p
.
u
.
|
Time |s|
1
2
3
(b)
Fig. 7 Power system response Iollowing a 5-cycle 10 increase oI the
generator mechanical power
V. CONCLUSION
The proposed PV damping system with simple
Irequency-Ieedback control strategy is shown to be
eIIective in enhancing network steady-state stability in a
SMIB system. Unlike the conventional PV generation
system which only harnesses energy Irom the sun, the
proposed PV scheme has the added advantage Ior it is
designed to provide damping control Iollowing
disturbance. A theoretical analysis is provided in
showing how improved damping is achieved. The
location oI the PV damping system will aIIect the
perIormance in the SMIB system. Clearly the nearer to
the generator, the more eIIective is the scheme. The
proposed PV damping system has no energy storage
Iacility but is shown to provide improved system
damping even when there is no sunlight. Under such a
condition, the PV system operates much like a
STATCOM.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This work was supported by BP Alternative Energy Ltd.
VII. REFERENCES
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and Future Prospects, Proc. Sixth International ConIerence
Electrical Machines and Svstems, Vol. 1, pp. 297 -301, 9-11 Nov.
2003
|2| C. Rodriguez and G.A.J. Amaratunga, 'Dynamic maximum
power injection control oI AC photovoltaic modules using
current-mode control, IEE Proc.-Electr. Power Appl.,
153(1), pp.83-87, January 2006
|3| M.W. Park, I.K. Yu, 'A Novel Real-Time Simulation Technique
oI Photovoltaic Generation Systems Using RTDS, IEEE Trans.
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