Chaper 7

Voltage Regulation
Presentation #3

Dr. Weidong Xiao

School of Electrical and Information Engineering

University of Sydney, Australia

2017
c

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Outline

1 DC link voltage regulation for AC grid interconnection

2 DC link for single-phase grid interconnection

Feedforward control of DC link for single-phase grid interconnection
Hybrid implementation with both feedback and feedforward for DC link
voltage regulation
Introduction of feedforward term to improve power quality

3 DC link for three-phase grid interconnection

4 Summary

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DC link voltage regulation for AC grid interconnection

DC link voltage should be regulated to balance the power injection and

extraction.
The small signal modeling has been developed in Chapter 6.
The model shows that the dynamics of the DC link presents the integral
characteristic when it is formed by capacitor banks.
The control diagram for the DC link voltage regulation includes both the
feedback and feedforward controllers, indicated as Cfb−dc and Cff −dc ,
respectively.

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Feedforward control of DC link for single-phase grid interconnection

As discussed earlier, the feedforward control can be powerful when is added

to the conventional feedback control loop.
The setpoint referring to the amplitude of the AC current is directed by the
feedforward form that is constructed with the knowledge of the steady-state
behavior.
The injected power or current to the DC link can be measured or estimated by
the measurement at the PV link.
The information can be utilized to estimate how much the current should be
injected into the single-phase AC grid.
When the value of the injected power, Pdc , is known, the steady-state
amplitude of the AC current, Imag , can be computed by

2Pdc
Imag ≈
Vmag

where Vmag and Imag represent the amplitude of the grid voltage and grid
current.
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Feedforward control of DC link for single-phase grid interconnection

The steady state equilibrium can be used to implement the direct form
computation for the feedforward control.
Under the ideal condition with the simulation, the feedforward controller alone
can regulate the DC link voltage regardless the variation of the inject current
from the PV power source.
When the PV power ppv is assumed to be equivalent of the DC power
injection to the DC link, the feedforward controller can be implemented by

∗ 2

Imag = ppv
Vmag
∗
Imag is the command signal or setpoint to regulate the current that is injected
to the grid.

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Performance of DC voltage regulation using only feedforward controller

The commanding value is determined by the feedforward

A step down change of controller.
the injected DC power,
2883
pdc at the moment of

pdc (W)
365 ms. 1441.5

The amplitude of the

250 300 350 400 450
injected AC current, igrid ,
is reduced by half 20

Current (A)
immediately, which 0 igrid
follows the command I*mag
∗ .
signal, Imag −20
250 300 350 400 450
This results in that the
DC link voltage is 382
Vdc (V)

maintained at the same 380

378
level regardless of the
250 300 350 400 450
variance. Time (ms)

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Hybrid implementation with both feedback and feedforward

The previous case study proves the effectiveness of the feedforward approach
for the DC link voltage regulation.
However, the mathematical model is never to be accurate to represent the
real-world PV power system.
Therefore, it is common to combine the feedforward controller with the
feedback controller, which formulates the closed-loop to correct any error that
results from unexpected and non-ideal resources.
The small signal model for the DC link shows the integral function.
The feedback controller can by synthesized by using a P-type controller with
Kp = −10.

The hybrid control

approach can be
implemented.

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Effectiveness of DC link voltage regulation using hybrid controller

A disturbance is introduced at the moment of 85 ms that the grid voltage dips

5 % into the RMS value of 209 V, which results in reduction in the power
extraction from the DC link.

311
When the feedforward is

vgrid (V)
used alone, the DC link 0
voltage, vdc starts to Hybrid
−311
deviate from the nominal 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
value due to the 20
unbalanced power.
igrid (A) 0
With the hybrid Hybrid
Feedforward only
controller, the feedback −20
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
controller detects the
difference and increase 386 Hybrid
Vdc (V)

384 Feedforward only

the reference value for 382
380
the grid current 378
regulation. 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Time (ms)
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Introduction of feedforward term to improve power quality

The DC link voltage contains the noticeable ripple appearing at the

double-line frequency due to the conversion from DC to single-phase AC.
This is caused by the significant difference between the constant DC injection
and the fluctuated extraction from the single-phase DC/AC conversion.
The feedback signal that is sensed at the DC link is coupled with the
double-line-frequency ripples.
Low pass filter is not ideal for implementation due to the relative low frequency
of the ripple voltage. A low pass filter can introduce significant phase lag into
the control loop and reduce the system dynamic speed and stability margins.
When the voltage setpoint is a constant value, VDC , the ripples presents at the
error signal and the controller output, which eventually affects the grid current
regulation and causes distortions.
The issue can be minimized by introducing another feedforward form into the
control system.

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Introduction of feedforward term to improve power quality

The peak-to-peak value of the DC link ripple voltage can be determined by

Pdc
∆Vdc =
ωb Vdc Cdc
Therefore, the DC link voltage is expressed as the following equation that
includes the double-line-frequency ripples.
∆Vdc
vdc = VDC + sin(2ωb t)
2
The signal can be added into the feedforward form to cancel the ripple that is
sensed from the feedback signal.
The controller for DC link voltage regulation can be re-constructed by
implementing one feedback controller with two feedforward paths.
One direct form is constructed according to the ripple voltage that can be
computed by the above equations.
Another term shows stead-state relation between the DC power and the
amplitude of the grid current, which was introduced earlier.
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Introduction of feedforward term to improve power quality

Both feedforward terms can use the measured DC power, either pdc or ppv ,
and the known parameters including the AC grid frequency (ωb ), amplitude of
grid voltage (Vmag ), DC link capacitance (CDC ), and the DC link reference
voltage (VDC ).
Synchronization
with the grid signal
is required to
constructed the
feedforard term for
the ripple
cancellation.
The feedback loop
is formed by the
proportional gain,
Kp , which is
discussed in the
previous section.
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Performance of power quality improvement by feedforward control

311
vgrid (V)

Distortion is noticeable in
0
the waveform of the grid
−311 current, igrid , when the
40 60 80 100 120 140
feedforward term is not
W/ Reference feedforward W/O Reference feedforward
implemented to correct
(A)

25
the double-line frequency
mag

20
I*

ripple.
15
40 60 80 100 120 140 The power quality of the
20
injected current is
(A)

0 W/ Reference feedforward W/O Reference feedforward maintain in high level

grid

when the 2nd feedforward

i

−20
40 60 80 100 120 140 term is implemented.
382
W/ Reference feedforward W/O Reference feedforward For demonstration, a
vdc (V)

380 disturbance is also

378 introduced at the moment
40 60 80100 120 140 of 85 ms.
Time (ms)
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DC link for three-phase grid interconnection

When the injected power to the DC link, pdc is measured or estimated from
the PV generation power, ppv , the amplitude of the command signal for the
AC current regulation can be computed.
When the system loss is ignored, the energy equilibrium can be created,
which is expressed as √
3VLN Imag 2
Pdc = √ Imag = Pdc
2 3VLN
where VLN represents the line to neutral voltage, Imag is the amplitude of the
line current, and Pdc is the steady-state value of the injected DC power.
The feedforward term can be
establish accordingly with the
feedback controller.
The controller output is
∗ , which is the
symbolized as imag
command signal to represent the
amplitude of the three phase
current.
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Effectiveness of DC link voltage regulation using hybrid controller

Injected DC power
changes from the rated
2883
level to the half at the
pdc (W)

1441.5 moment of 95 ms and

back to the rated power
0
60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 again at the moment of
135 ms.
5 i
a
No significant overshoot
iabcs (A)

ib
0
i
c
is noticeable by following
−5
the DC link voltage even
60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160
though significant power
561
variation happens at the
vdc (V)

560
transient moment.
559
The three-phase current
558
60 70 80 90 100 110
Time (ms)
120 130 140 150 160 is regulated to
accommodate the
significant variation.
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Summary

This presentation focuses on the voltage regulation of DC link for

single-phase and three-phase AC grid interconnection.
Feedfoward controllers are used in the voltage regulation for DC link and
proved to be effective for fast response to the disturbance caused by power
variation.
For the single-phase grid interconnection, the feedfroward controller is also
applied to mitigate the side effect of the double-line frequency ripple that is
coupled with the DC link voltage. The ripple is feed back to the controller and
affects the reference signal for the grid current regulation.
Simulation proves the effectiveness of the proposed hybrid solution including
both feedback and feedforward controller.

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