2018 International Conference on Computer, Control, Electrical, and Electronics Engineering (ICCCEEE)

Design and Simulation of Voltage Source Grid

Connected Inverter (VSI)
Amna Babikir Taha Sharief F. Babiker
Dept. of Electrical Engineering Dept. of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Sudan International University University of Khartoum
University of Khartoum Khartoum,Sudan
Khartoum,Sudan sfbabikir@uofu.edu
eme_elect@hotmail.com

Abstract- Design and simulation of a voltage source grid

connected inverter (VSI) have been introduced in this paper. A II. PHOTOVOLTAIC CELLS
grid connected PV array of 250 KW connected to a 25-kV grid Electrical modelling and electrical characteristics of a
via a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) was designed and photovoltaic (PV) cell is shown in Fig.1(a) and Fig.1(b).
simulated. Mathematical and electrical equations of the design
have been presented. Different components of the system have
been described and simulated using MATLAB/ SIMULINK. A
control unit of the grid-side inverter controlling the maximum
power point tracking (MPPT), DC voltage regulator, current
regulator, pulse width modulation (PWM) and phase lock loop
(PLL) circuit have been discussed.

Keywords-Grid connected inverter, VSI, MPPT, PWM, PLL.

I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy power generation begins to spread
widely in Sudan especially in rural areas. One of those
renewable energy resources is solar energy which uses
photovoltaic modules to generate heat or electricity for various
applications.
Fig. 1. Electrical Modelling and Electrical Characteristics of a PV Cell.
Most of the renewable energy resources produce direct
current (DC). Thus, inverters are used to convert this DC into Fig.1(a) defines the currents and voltages of the PV model.
an AC electric energy. Inverters used in the conversion process Fig.1(b) shows the electrical characteristics of the model, at
are categorized as stand-alone or grid-connected inverters[1], constant irradiance and constant temperature.
[2], [3].
The characteristic equation of the PV model is as shown in
Paper [4] divides the control tasks of grid-connected equation (1)
inverter into two sides; Input-side and Grid-side controller. The
input-side controller tries to capture maximum power from the
input source. The grid-side controller tries to deliver the power P = Iph – I0 {exp[ ]-1}+ (1)
to the grid with high efficiency and perform the grid
synchronization. Papers [5], [7] and [8] study the grid side of
the inverter. The regulation of the grid current is performed by Where
the current control loop. I and V are the output current and the output voltage of the PV
According to several researches, controlling of the grid- cell respectively.
connected inverter were divided into two cascaded loops: Iph is the photo current of the PV cell.
internal current loop and external voltage loop. The current
loop regulates the grid current, and voltage loop balances the I0 is the saturated current.
flow of the power in the system.
q is the electric charge (1.6 × 10−19 C).
In this paper, a three-phase voltage source grid-connected
Rs is the series resistance of the PV cell.
inverter with an inverter control unit that performs both PV
side and grid side controlling was introduced. The inverter Rsh is the parallel resistance of the PV cell magnitude.
system is designed and simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK
package. n is the diode characteristic factor.
k is Boltzmann’s constant (1.38eѸ23 J/K).

978-1-5386-4123-1/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

T is the temperature of the PV cell.
Series resistance Rs and parallel resistance Rsh could be
neglected (Rs is very low and Rsh is very high). So the output
power of the PV cell could be
P = Iph V- I0 V [exp ( )-1] (2)
III. INVERTER TOPOLOGIES
From the PV side of view, grid connected inverter
topologies are classified into two groups; voltage-source
inverter (VSI) and current-source inverter (CSI).
A. Current Source Inverter
Current source inverter (CSI) is widely used in the high
power applications, and sometimes in the low and medium
power applications. CSIs have a large series inductors that
maintain constant current across the DC link. Fig.2 shows the
block diagram of a current source inverter.
Fig. 2. Block Diagram of a Current Source Inverter.
B. Voltage Source Inverter
Voltage source inverter (VSI) is used to convert the AC
voltage of 50 Hz to DC voltage using a diode rectifier. Parallel
capacitors are used as DC link that store energy and perform
the regulation of voltage ripples of the DC bus. PWM is needed
to perform the regulation of the voltage and frequency[8].
Thus, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) semiconductor
switches are used to create the PWM. Fig.3 shows the block
diagram of a voltage source inverter.
Fig. 3. Block Diagram of a Voltage Source Inverter.
The circuit configuration of the Standard three-phase
voltage source inverter is shown in Fig.4 .
Fig. 4. Standard Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverter (VSI).
C. Controlling Three Phase Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
Controlling strategies of the three-phase voltage-source
inverter (VSI) are divided into two; voltage control and current
control. The voltage controlled VSI uses the phase angle
between the inverter’s output voltage and the grid voltage to
control the flow of the power. Current controlled VSI uses the
active and reactive components of the injected current into the
grid and use the pulse width modulation (PWM) techniques to
control them. Voltage controllers are more sensitive to the
small phase errors but if the grid voltage is distorted large
harmonic currents may appear. Current controllers have faster
response and less sensitivity to the distortion in the grid
voltage. Therefore, current controllers are preferred in
controlling of grid connected inverter [9].
IV. SYSTEM’S DESIGN AND SIMULATION
A grid connected PV array of 250 KW connected to a 25-
kV grid via a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) is
designed and simulated using MATLAB/ SIMULINK. The
design specifications are constant irradiance of 1000 W/m2 and
constant temperature of 45 degree Celsius. The designed VSI
system includes both PV side and grid side. The grid’s load is
assumed to be constant (32.5 MW). Fig.5 shows the system’s
bock diagram and Fig.6 shows the system’s modelling in
MATLAB/ SIMULINK.
Fig. 5. The System’s Block Diagram.
 The PV array represented by equations (1) and (2) above
simulated in MATLAB/ SIMULINK as shown in Fig.8 below.

Fig. 8. The Entire Design of the PV Array.

Maximum power point technique is used in controlling the

DC/DC boost converter by operating the array at its maximum
Fig. 6. The System’s Modelling in MATLAB/ SIMULINK.
power despite of all the possible changes that happen in the
As shown in Fig.5 and Fig.6 above, the main component of load impedance using perturb & observe algorithm as shown in
the solar system is the PV array, which generates DC power Fig.9 below.
from the exposed sun irradiance. This generated DC has low
values, so an amplification is performed by a DC/DC boost
converter controlled by the maximum power point tracking that
use the perturb and observe (P&O) algorithm to trace the
maximum power of the PV array. This conversion represents
the control of the PV side of the system. A conversion of
DC/AC is performed by a three phase inverter preparing for
grid interfacing. The grid side control is performed by an
inverter control unit that performs the maximum power point
tracker system (MPPT) using perturb & observe algorithm, DC
Fig. 9. Maximum Power Point Tracking Using Perturb and Observe
voltage regulator, current regulator, PLL & measurements and Algorithm.
PWM modulator. The inverter’s output voltage is connected to
a filter to remove the harmonic components. A three-phase A three-phase DC/AC inverter is modeled using a 3-levels
decoupling transformation is used to raise up the output IGBT bridge PWM-controlled. The inverter implementation in
voltage. MATLAB composed of six IGBTs controlled by PWM drive
Fig.7 shows the flowchart of the PV designed system. as shown in Fig.10.

Fig. 10. Inverter’s Representation in MATLAB/Simulink.

An inverter control unit is designed and simulated as shown

in Fig.11 below to perform MPPT, VDC regulator, Current
regulator, PLL & measurements and PWM.
Fig. 7. Flowchart of the PV Designed System.
Fig. 11. Basic Subsystem Components of the Inverter Control.

Grid connection is performed by connecting the inverter’s

output with a 250-kVA 250V/25kV three-phase delta/star
transformer to raise up the output voltage.

V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Fig. 13. AC Voltage at Normal Load.

The results of designing and simulating of the PV are
divided into two sections; DC side and AC side. On the DC
side the obtained waves start increasing from zero till reaching
an overshoot value due to the inrush current at the starting. PV
inverters have a pre-charge at the starting-up because of the
input dc bus capacitance. On the AC side, the resulted AC
current after the amplification starts with an inrush value of
10A till reaching a final value of 7.9 A at t= 0.06 sec. The AC
voltage after the amplification equals to 20 KV. The AC power
after the amplification starts with an overshoot of 264 KW then
decreases till reaching the value of 238 KW at t= 0.125 sec.
Fig.12, Fig.13 and Fig.14 show the AC side current, voltage
and power respectively.

Fig. 14. AC Power at Normal Load.

Fig. 12. AC Current at Normal Load.
VI. CONCLUSION
A grid connected PV array of 250 KW connected to a 25-
kV grid via a three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) was
designed and simulated. A PV array was used to absorb the sun
irradiance and generate dc power. For implementing MPPT
with the DC/DC boost converter perturb and observe algorithm
was implemented. The output was fed to the three phase
voltage source inverter controlled through PWM signal. The
input voltage of the inverter was regulated through an inverter
control circuit to match the output voltage of the inverter with
the utility grid voltage. In order to get rid of the harmonics
produced by the switching nature of the inverter filters were
used. Phase matching was also implemented through PLL
circuit. The PV system was simulated using MATLAB/
SIMULINK package.
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