Hybrid Control Technique for Load Sharing and
Seamless Transition in Microgrid Mode of
Operation
Girish G. Talapur, Student Member, IEEE, H. M. Suryawanshi, Senior Member, IEEE,
Rohit R. Deshmukh, Makarand S. Ballal, Senior
. Member, IEEE and Rahul Choudhary
Electrical Engineering Department
Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), Nagpur, India
Email: girish223@gmail.com, hms 1963@rediffmail.com
Abstract—This paper proposed a hybrid control technique
for AC microgrid in order to achieve adequate load sharing
and seamless transition of microgrid between grid connected
mode and islanded mode. The hybrid control technique is a
combination of proposed modified droop control technique and
modified power control technique. The modified droop control
technique is developed to improve the dynamic response during
the re-synchronization of microgrid to the main grid. In addition,
a centralised controller is developed in order to participate
all available DGs in the microgrid for re-synchronization to
the mian grid by utilizing communication system, therefore
the power stress on single DG is avoided. The performance of
proposed hybrid control technique in the microgrid for seamless
transition between mode of operations is verified by using real
time simulator.
Index Terms—Microgrid, Droop method, Master-slave method,
Seamless Transition
I. I NTRODUCTION
Microgrids are getting more attention in order to provide
reliable power supply to the consumers. The microgrid com-
prises of local generation units and local load demand. It
can operate either in grid connected mode or in islanded
mode [1]. In microgrids, the major power generation are from
renewable energy sources like solar, wind, small hydro etc.,
which generates power at variable ac or dc voltage. Therefore
power electronic converters are used as interfacing device to
integrate the renewable energy sources to the main grid. In
main grid, synchronous generators are major power sources
and physically integrated with system; here power sharing
between the generation units occurs based on their respective
inertia constants. In microgrid, the power electronic converters
are inertia less and not physically connected to grid. Therefore,
proper load sharing technique is required in microgrid [2].
In literature, it is observed that droop method and master-
slave method are popular load sharing techniques. In droop
method, the DGs are controlled by using measured respective
point of common coupling (PCC) voltage and current signals.
Here the DGs will share the power demand in the microgrid
according to their droop constants [3]–[5]. In master-slave
method, one DG is controlled as voltage source and the
978-1-5386-9316-2/18/$31.00 2018 IEEE
remaining DGs will controlled as current sources. The DG
which is controlled as voltage source will act as master and the
DGs which are controlled as current sources will act as slaves
[6]–[8]. The merits and demerits of different load sharing
techniques are presented in [9].
One of the major challenging issue in controlling of micro-
grid is the seamless transition between grid connected mode
and islanded mode. If master-slave method is used to control
the DGs in the microgrid, then the transition of microgrid
from grid connected mode to islanded mode is complex.
However, the re-synchronization of microgrid to the main grid
is achieved by master DG; here the transition is smooth and
simple [10]. In master-slave method, the master DG failure
results in microgrid shutdown; this is the major drawback. If
droop method is used to control the DGs in the microgrid,
then the transition of microgrid from grid connected mode
to islanded mode is smooth and simple; however, the re-
synchronization of microgrid to the main grid is complex.
Different techniques are presented in literature [11]–[14], for
achieving seamless transition of microgrid during islanding
and Re-synchronization.
This paper presents a hybrid Control technique for mi-
crogrid by combining both the modified droop method and
modified power control in order to achieve seamless transition
during change in operating mode of microgrid. In the proposed
hybrid Control technique, all DGs will participate for re-
synchronization of microgrid to the main grid in order to avoid
the burden on single DG.
II. P ROPOSED MICROGRID DESCRIPTION
To verify the proposed hybrid Control technique a microgrid
is developed, which is shown in Fig. 1. The microgrid is
connected to main grid through controlled static switch. The
control signal for static switch is generated by centralised
controller. The microgrid comprises of four DGs (DG1 , DG2 ,
DG3 and DG4 ) and local loads. The DC input power for DG1
is from solar & battery storage and for DG2 the DC input
power is from wind & battery storage. For remaining DG3
and DG4 the DC input power is from battery storage.
 Fig. 1. Grid connected microgrid.

III. C ONTROLLER the grid connected or islanded mode of operation are

The hybrid Control technique is developed for microgrid by QD = QR1 + QR2 (2)
combining both the modified droop method and master-slave
method in order to achieve the following: Where QR1 &QR2 are the reactive power demand by the
region-1 & region-2 in the microgrid.
1) To improve the microgrid dynamic response under the
During the re-synchronization period of microgrid to the
load disturbances.
main grid, the total active power demand in microgrid is
2) The microgrid frequency and voltage variations during
the local load disturbances are avoided. PD = PA1 + Pe1 + PA2 + Pe2 (3)
3) The microgrid voltage is unaffected by unbalanced loads
and non-linear loads. Where Pe1 &Pe2 are the control variables generated and com-
4) To achieve the seamless transition of microgrid during municated to DG3 & DG4 from the centralised control.
islanding from the main grid and re-synchronization to The total active power demand by region-1 (PR1 ) and
the main grid. region-2 (PR2 ) from the microgrid are
5) All available active DGs will participate to synchronize
PR1 = PA1 + Pe1 (4)
the microgrid voltage with main grid voltage during
the re-synchronization of microgrid to the main grid. PR2 = PA2 + Pe2 (5)
Therefore the burden on the single DG is avoided.
In microgrid, the DG1 & DG2 are controlled by using The master DGs (DG1 & DG2 ) are controlled by modified
proposed modified droop technique and DG3 & DG4 are droop technique. The modified droop equations for DG1 are
controlled by using modified power control technique. Here  
PA1 + Pe1 + PA2 + Pe2
DG1 & DG2 will acts as masters and the remaining DGs ω 1 = ω c + m1 P1 − PDG1 (6)
P1 + P 2
(DG3 & DG4 ) will act as slaves. The slave DGs (DG3
& DG4 ) are controlled to make the regions (region-1 & where, ω0 = ωg during grid connected mode; here ωg is
region-2) as constant loading on microgrid, except during re- grid angular frequency. During islanded operating mode of
synchronization of microgrid to the main grid. The values of microgrid, ωc = ω0 = 2πf0 ; here f0 is a nominal frequency
constant active power loading from region-1 & region-2 is of microgrid. P1 &P2 are rated active power delivered from
defined from the pre-estimated value of average load demands DG1 &DG2 to microgrid. PDG1 is the instantaneous active
from the respective local loads. The average load demands of power delivered by DG1 . m1 is a DG1 droop coefficient for
region-1 & region-2 are PA1 & PA2 , respectively. The total frequency.
active power demand (PD ) in the microgrid during the grid Δf
m1 = 2π (7)
connected or islanded mode of operation are P1
where, Δf is maximum allowed frequency deviation.
PD = PA1 + PA2 (1)  
QR1 + QR2
The total reactive power demand (QD ) in the microgrid during V 1 = V c + n1 Q1 − PDG1 (8)
Q1 + Q2
 Fig. 2. Modified Droop control for DG1 and DG2 .

Fig. 3. Modified power control for DG3 and DG4 .

where, Vc = Vg during grid connected mode; here Vg is The reference voltage of DG1 is obtained from (8) and (14),
grid voltage. During islanded operating mode of microgrid,
vref 1 = V1 ∠θ1 (15)
Vc = V0 ; here V0 is a nominal voltage of microgrid. Q1 &Q2
are rated reactive power delivered from DG1 & DG2 to The instantaneous phase for the reference voltage of DG2
microgrid. QDG1 is the instantanious reactive power delivered is obtained by integrating (10),
by DG1 . n1 is a DG1 droop coefficient for voltage. 
ΔV θ 2 = ω2 (16)
n1 = (9)
Q1 The reference voltage of DG2 is obtained from (12) and
The modified droop equations for DG2 are (16),
  vref 2 = V2 ∠θ2 (17)
PA1 + Pe1 + PA2 + Pe2
ω 2 = ω c + m2 P2 − PDG2 (10)
P1 + P 2 The block diagram of voltage controller for DG1 and DG2
where, PDG2 is the instantaneous active power delivered by by using modified droop control technique is shown in Fig. 2.
DG2 . m2 is a DG2 droop coefficient for frequency. The DG3 and DG4 are controlled by modified power
control technique, which will act as slaves in the microgrid.
Δf
m2 = 2π (11) Here the local load disturbances will not reflect in microgrid,
P2
  those are compensated by respective DG [10]. The control
QR1 + QR2 block diagram of modified power control technique is shown
V2 = Vc + n2 Q2 − PDG2 (12)
Q1 + Q2 in Fig. 3. In microgrid, DG1 and DG2 will act as master DGs
where, QDG2 is the instantaneous reactive power delivered by and the remaining DGs will act as slave DGs.
DG2 . n2 is a DG2 droop coefficient for voltage. The centralised controller is developed in order to achieve
smooth transition between grid connected mode and islanded
ΔV
n2 = (13) mode. If fault occurred in main grid, then the microgrid is
Q2 disconnected and operate in islanded mode. Whenever the fault
The instantaneous phase for the reference voltage of DG1 cleared in main grid, then before reconnecting the microgrid
is obtained by integrating (6), to the main grid; the voltage of microgrid is synchronize with
 main grid voltage. The phase error between grid voltage and
θ1 = ω1 (14) microgrid voltage is given to the proportional and integral
 (a) Load current (iL1 ) in region-1.

Fig. 4. Centralised controller for smooth transition between grid connected

and islanded mode.

TABLE I
T HE M ICRO G RID PARAMETERS

Sr.No. Parameter Value

1 Microgrid Voltage 415V (L-L) (b) DG3 current.

2 Microgrid Frequency 50 Hz
3 Rating of DG1 20 kVA
4 Rating of DG2 10 kVA
5 Rating of DG3 16 kVA
6 Rating of DG4 12 kVA
7 DC link Voltage of DGs 760 V
8 Switching Frequency of VSC 3150 Hz
9 Filter (Rf , Lf and C) 0.15 Ω, 6 mH and 50 μ F
10 Line Impedance 3 mH, 1.334 Ohm

(c) Region-1 current (iR1 ) from micro-grid.

controller (PI) in order to get the desired control variable active

power Pe . Based on the rating of DG3 and DG4 , the Pe1 and
Pe2 is generated and communicate to respective DGs as shown
in Fig. 4.

IV. P ERFORMANCE E VALUATION OF P ROPOSED

M ICRO - GRID USING R EAL T IME S IMULATOR
(d) PCC-3 Voltage (vR3 ).
The proposed grid connected microgrid with hybrid control
technique is implemented in real time simulator OPAL-RT.
Hybrid control technique is combination of both modified
droop control and modified power control technique. The
parameters of proposed grid connected microgrid are shown
in Table I. The performance of proposed hybrid Control
technique is evaluated under load variations, during transition
of microgrid from grid connected mode to islanded mode and
re-synchronization to grid. (e) Active power curves in region-1.
The DGs in the microgrid are controlled by combining both
the modified droop control and modified power control in
order to achieve the following:
• Improvement in dynamic response of microgrid under the
load disturbances.
• The effect of frequency and voltage of microgrid during
the local load disturbances are avoided.
• The microgrid voltage is unaffected by unbalanced loads
(f) Reactive power curves in region-1.
and non-linear loads.
• Seamless transition of microgrid during islanding and re- Fig. 5. PCC3 voltage, Currents and power curves in region-1 (voltage (v)
scale: 200 V/div, current(i) scale: 10 A/div, Active power (P) scale: 3 kW/div,
synchronization of microgrid. Reactive power (Q) scale: 2 kVAR/div).
• All available active DGs will participate to synchronize
the microgrid voltage with main grid voltage during
 (a) Active power flow.

(a) Power curves during Islanding from grid.

(b) Reactive power flow.

Fig. 6. Power curves in Region-2 (Active power (P) scale: 3 kW/div, Reactive
power (Q) scale: 2 kVAR/div). (b) Microgrid voltage during Islanding from grid.
Fig. 7. Power curves and microgrid voltage during transition between grid
connected mode and islanded mode(voltage (v) scale: 200 V/div, active
power(p) scale: 3 kW/div).
the re-synchronization of microgrid to the main grid.
Therefore the burden on the single DG is avoided.
The DG3 in region-1 is controlled by using modified power
control technique in order to maintain the loading of region-
1 in the microgrid at constant. The average load demand in
region-1 is 5kW, which is estimated from the previous load
demand data. Therefore, the region-1 demands 5kw constant
active power from the microgrid. If the load demand in region-
1 is less than 5kW, then the surplus power is stored in battery.
If the load demand in region-1 is greater than 5kW, then the
additional demand will be supplied from DG3 . Initially from
t0 to t1 instant, the load demand in region-1 is 3.5kW which
can be observed in Fig. 5(a) and 5(e). The microgrid supplying (a) Power curves during Re-synchronization to grid.
5kW active power to region-1 as shown in Fig. 5(a) and 5(e),
here the surplus power is stored in battery. The total reactive
power demand in the region-1 is compensated from DG3 as
shown in Fig. 5(f). At t1 instant, the load demand is increased
and which is greater than 5kW as shown in Fig. 5(a) and
5(e). But the microgrid supplying only 5kW active power to
region-1, therefore the additional power is supplied from DG3
which having battery storage as shown in Fig. 5(a), 5(b), 5(a)
and 5(e). In Fig. 5(d), it is observed that the point of common
coupling voltage is unaffected with load variations in region-1. (b) Microgrid voltage during Re-synchronization to grid.
At t2 instant the non-linear load is added and at t3 instant the Fig. 8. Power curves and microgrid voltage during transition between grid
unbalanced load is added in the region-1 as shown in Fig. 5(a). connected mode and islanded mode(voltage (v) scale: 200 V/div, active
power(p) scale: 3 kW/div).
The harmonics current and unbalanced current is compensated
by DG3 which can be observed in Fig. 5(a). Similarly, in
region-2 the local load variations will not reflect in microgrid
as shown in Fig. 6(a) and 6(b). reconnection, the microgrid voltage is synchronize with main
The microgrid voltage and power curves during transition grid voltage. After the voltage synchronization, microgrid is
of microgrid from grid connected mode to islanded mode are reconnected to main grid as shown in Fig. 8(a) and 8(b). All
shown in Fig. 7(a) and 7(b). Whenever fault cleared in main available DGs are participated during re-synchronization of
grid, the microgrid will reconnect to main grid. But before microgrid to main grid which can be observed in Fig. 8(a).
 V. C ONCLUSION [13] S. Mishra, D. Ramasubramanian and P. C. Sekhar, ”A Seamless Control
Methodology for a Grid Connected and Isolated PV-Diesel Microgrid,”
A microgrid is developed in order to verify the perfor- in IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 4393-4404,
mance of proposed hybrid control technique. The adequate Nov. 2013.
[14] W. R. Issa, A. H. E. Khateb, M. A. Abusara and T. K. Mallick,
load sharing among the DGs is achieved in microgrid during ”Control Strategy for Uninterrupted Microgrid Mode Transfer During
grid connected and islanded mode of operation. By using Unintentional Islanding Scenarios,” in IEEE Transactions on Industrial
proposed hybrid control technique and centralised controller in Electronics, vol. 65, no. 6, pp. 4831-4839, June 2018.
microgrid, the smooth transition is achieved during islanding
and re-synchronization with main grid. In addition, all DGs
available in the microgrid is participated in re-synchronization
of microgrid to main grid. Therefore, the power stress is
distributed among the DGs based on their rating.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work is supported by Department of Science and
Technology (DST, Govt. of India), under the Indo-UK col-
laborative research project “Reliable and Efficient System for
Community Energy Solution (RESCUES)”.

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