Received: 12 November 2020 Revised: 17 February 2021 Accepted: 15 March 2021

DOI: 10.1002/2050-7038.12899

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Mitigation of circulating current with effective energy

management in low-power PV-FC-battery-microgrid

Kamalesh MS1 | Senthilnathan Nattuthurai1 | Bharatiraja Chokkalingam2 |

Lucian Mihet-Popa3

1
Department of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Kongu Engineering College,
Perundurai, Tamilnadu, India
2
Department of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and
Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamilnadu,
India
3
Faculty of Engineering, Ostfold
University College, Fredrikstad, Norway
Correspondence
Bharatiraja Chokkalingam, Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
SRM Institute of Science and Technology,
SRM Nagar, Kattankulathur, 603203
Tamilnadu, India.
Email: bharatiraja@gmail.com
Handling Editor: Prof. Amini, M. Hadi
Summary
Microgrids are the localized network to support electricity consumers either in an
islanded manner or in integration with macrogrid. Microgrids are generally vul-
nerable to major issues like improper voltage regulation, circulating current, and
unequal power sharing. In this paper, conventional droop controller for current
sharing is upgraded with a Boomerang Trajectory based Sliding Mode Controller
(BT-SMC). In the proposed BT-SMC technique, the error trajectories are traced
and controlled toward the equilibrium point accomplishing the system to reach
the stable state. Also, the dynamic changes in the load are governed and con-
trolled by adjusting the droop resistance in the parallel converters. The BT-SMC
generates an equivalent control signal based on the control law and maintains the
PWM pulses on par with the droop value and duty ratio. Additionally, this paper
concerns the precondition for power sharing and power management among the
different RES at different availability conditions by adopting a Source Shifting
Algorithm (SSA). The hand-in-hand process of BT-SMC with SSA provides a
proper load sharing with a wide stability region in the phase plane. The proposed
self-adapting and self-tracking system is evaluated in Matlab/Simulink and the
results were validated in real time by using dSPACE MicroLabBox—DS-1202.

KEYWORDS
current and power sharing, DC-DC boost converters, droop resistance, microgrids, renewable
energy management, sliding mode controller

List of Symbols and Abbreviations: BT-SMC, Boomerang Trajectory based Sliding Mode Controller; PWM, Pulse Width Modulation; RES,
Renewable Energy Sources; SSA, Source Shifting Algorithm; HIL, Hardware-In-Loop; PV, Photovoltaic; FC, Fuel Cell; BT, Battery; EMS, Energy
Management System; CPL, Constant Power Load; PEM-FC, Proton Exchange Membrane based Fuel Cell; CDP, Control Desk Platform; MPPT,
Maximum Power Point Tracking; MOSFET, Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors; dSPACE, Matlab interface DS-1202 MicroLabBox
series; BNC, Banana Cable Connector; PI, Proportional and Integral; IL, Inductor current; Vc, Capacitor voltage; D, Duty Ratio; Vin, Input Voltage; Iz,
Disturbance current at the source side; ILoad, Load bus current; VLoad, Load bus voltage; Pdem, Power demand; Pmax, Maximum power; d, ^ Small signal
^
representation of duty cycle; ^v0 , Small signal representation of output voltage; ^vin , Small signal representation of input voltage; iz , Small signal
representation of input disturbance; ^iL , Small signal representation of inductor current; d, Large signal representation of duty cycle; v0, Large signal
representation of output voltage; vin, Large signal representation of input voltage; iz, Large signal representation of input disturbance; iL, Large signal
representation of inductor current; IC1,2,3,…n, Circulating current between the converters; VL1,VL2,VL3, Individual converter's inductor voltage drop; u1,
u2, u3, Individual converter's switch duty cycle; R1, R2, R3, Individual converter's output resistance; σ(x, t), Sliding function; K, α, β, Sliding constants;
Ŕ, Radius of curvature; Ḱ, Curvature of the curve; PFC(Th), Fuel Cell threshold power; PBT(Th), Battery threshold power; Rdroop, Droop resistance; RLoad,
Load resistance; ΔRdroop, Change in droop resistance; Rcable, Cable resistance; Rinternal., Parasitic internal resistance.

Int Trans Electr Energ Syst. 2021;e12899. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/etep © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1 of 28
https://doi.org/10.1002/2050-7038.12899
2 of 28 MS ET AL.

1 | INTRODUCTION

Renewable energy resources play a vital role in the present growing world, which balances the energy needs in the
inner and outer space. Microgrid is a subsidiary concept of utility grid, which supports the power demand in localized
environment. In order to meet the power demand efficiently, the renewable power sources should be handled effec-
tively. Engineers and researchers are working toward the effective and profitable energy management to meet out the
trade-off between the availability and demand. An islanded renewable energy microgrid system consisting of solar PV-
FC-BT is considered in this paper to analyze its power management and current sharing technique among the localized
loads. The effective energy sources available in abundance are the power generated from solar PV, FC, and BT.1,2
Microgrids are generally classified as AC microgrid and DC microgrid. In DC microgrid system, DC-DC and AC-DC
converters are used to integrate the renewable sources with the loads. The selection of the power converters is purely
dependent on the type, nature, and rating of the load characteristics. Larger current carrying system will have large
power converters ranging from kilowatts to megawatts. In such large power operation, the power is shared by two or
more converters to avoid the fatness of the converter, high stress on the switch, and to avoid the increase in tempera-
ture. The development of parallel converters to share the load was initially evoked for high amplitude current values.3
However, in recent days, they are used for maintaining constant current in sensitive loads like Electric Vehicle
(EV) on-board battery chargers,4 digital computers, unmanned planes, spying drones, etc. The converters engaged in
parallel operation need to meet the following requirements: (a) voltage regulation, (b) load current sharing,
(c) maximum power point tracking, (d) zero circulating current, (e) online dynamic control with self-regulating algo-
rithm during transient conditions, etc.5 Among the various requirements, current sharing and voltage stability are the
hotspots for the researchers to work on. Many current sharing methods like droop sharing, booster array, master slave,
and synchronous method are summarized in the literature.5-7 A novel droop method discussed in Reference 7 over-
comes the problem of poor load regulation by adaptively changing the reference voltage. However, the mismatch in
control parameters leads to variation in output voltage. It is followed by the development of cascaded and parallel load
sharing topologies, which took the current sharing technique to the next level as a dual converter structure with fuel
cell and ultra-capacitor, but the usage of integrated control as mentioned in the literature seems to be unaffordable in
low power applications. A new terminology called droop index, introduced in Reference 8, is a function of normalized
current and its respective sharing difference. Also, Reference 8 provides an accurate estimation by considering the cable
resistance and its respective cable losses, and later it was remodeled with an adaptive droop index.9 Various current
sharing techniques like PWM method, hysteretic control, SMC-based PWM control, and constant on-off control are
employed in parallel converter configurations.10-12 From the aforementioned discussion, the integration of RES in par-
allel requires an optimum and robust controller to maintain the voltage regulation and distribute the power among the
converters with respect to the available energy source.
In addition to the paralleling of converters, various research studies have been carried out in the field of RES inte-
gration with PV-FC-BT, PV-FC, and FC-BT combinations.13-15 Microgrid configurations with FC-BT power sources are
discussed with attention to the peak power enhancement, converter loss analysis, power management, and distribution
control.16 In this list, power management and distribution control play a vital role.17 It should be noted that the coordi-
nation of integrated RES along with storage units, to regulate and maintain the dc bus voltage, is critical during
dynamic generation and demand balancing within the islanded microgrid. Also, the availability of sunlight for PV sys-
tem, fuels for FC, and BT are optimally utilized to have a highly efficient conversion system with an effective EMS at
the load side. In addition to these challenges, the stability of voltage, fair sharing of current between individual units,
and to avoid overuse, battery units are very important criteria to be considered. Hence, an adaptive control strategy for
active power sharing in the RES integrated power system was developed in References 18,19. Fuzzy systems, neural net-
works, and genetic algorithm based demand side management, scheduling, and optimization are elaborated in Refer-
ences 20-22. From these points, the integration of RES in parallel requires an efficient EMS along with the current
sharing controller. On considering the above salient points, this paper concerns a renewable energy based EMS for PV,
FC, and BT with SSA control strategy along with BT-SMC based voltage regulation and current sharing in microgrid.
The power management functions implemented in the proposed system executes the decision-making strategy with
minimal usage of communication requirement. A DC powered microgrid with three DC-DC converters are connected
in parallel to a common DC load bus.
A PWM based SMC23 analyzes the theoretical existence of sliding mode and its stability on the sliding surface. This
concept of SMC for a single boost converter is enhanced in this paper for the parallel configurations and employed in
microgrid applications with constant power loads. Voltage control loops and current controlled loops are designed in a
MS ET AL. 3 of 28

loop-in-loop fashion for regulating a constant DC voltage and proper current sharing. The actual problem starts when
the number of converter increases, because it requires six PI controllers and one SMC for a single unit. This again
increases the computation complexity of individual units and aggravates the delay in communication between the con-
verters. Pertaining to the stability, various stabilization methods for multiple converters in DC microgrid applications
are elaborated in Reference 24. Hence, to solve the abovementioned complications, this paper proposes a BT-SMC con-
trolled DC microgrid. The main contributions of this paper are as follows;

1. Integration of DC renewable power sources to form a low power DC microgrid.

2. Parallel boost converters are monitored and controlled for effective current sharing by adjusting the droop
resistance.
3. A unique BT-SMC control strategy is executed to maintain zero circulating current.
4. Formulation and implementation of SSA technique for an effective power management.
5. The proposed technique with BT-SMC based current sharing and energy management system with CPL is simulated
in Matlab and implemented using dSPACE MicroLabBox—DS-1202.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows: Section 2 describes the microgrid system with parallel boost converters,
Section 3 presents the small signal model of the boost converter, Section 4 includes the paralleling of converters, Sec-
tion 5 proposes the utilization of BT-SMC control strategy for reducing the circulating current and droop estimation,
and Section 6 discusses the experimental results.

2 | M I CRO GR I D S Y S T E M D E S IG N S P EC I F I CA T IO N S

The schematic description of the network with the combination of PV-FC-BT microgrid is shown in Figure 1. The out-
put of PV, FC, and BT are integrated to a standard DC voltage bus via regulated DC-DC converters. The system is con-
sidered to be a prototypical model for localized loads with the capacity of 100 W. A load bus of 24 V/4.2 A/100 W of DC
power supply is considered in this paper.

FIGURE 1 Schematic block diagram of the proposed BT-SMC based RES Power System
4 of 28 MS ET AL.

The nomenclature of the converter parameters and its specifications used in this paper are illustrated in Table 1.
The microgrid is integrated with three sources namely two numbers of 105 W PV panel connected in series, an 80 W of
PEM-FC, and a 12 V/15 Ah Li-ion battery. The DC bus collects the source voltage from all the resources via the DC-DC
converters and fed to the 24 V load bus. It is to be noted that, battery source is accompanied with a bidirectional boost
converter for charging and discharging processes. Each converter is provided with current sensors and voltage sensors
to measure the electrical quantities on the source side and on the load side as well. These sensors are connected to the
analog input BNC connectors of MicroLabBox panel, and the respective signals are scaled up inside the dSPACE-CDP,
which performs as a front-end platform and receives the signals. At the back-end, the SSA power management tech-
nique is configured in such a way that it provides the reference power magnitude to each individual converters based
on the resource availability. Similarly, BT-SMC takes care of the total load current flowing in the bus and in the individ-
ual converters as well. The converters used in the proposed system are designed by considering the individual converter
states and its dynamic responses. Thus, the following section discusses the design of boost converters with the consider-
ation of small signal modeling with its respective state variables.

3 | S M A LL S IG N A L MO D E L A N D PA R A LL E I N G O F BO O S T C O N V E R T E R S

3.1 | Small signal modeling

Small signal modeling and analysis of any power electronic circuits provide remarkable directions to analyze the circuit
dynamics, stability, and nonlinear characteristics. Thus, the first and foremost step is to derive the small signal model
for the conventional DC-DC boost converter. Small signal modeling of the converter helps in deriving the transfer func-
tions Gv(s) and GI(s) of the converters. For battery power conversion, bidirectional buck-boost converter is employed;
however, boost conversion is exclusively considered for power flow from source to load, as the charging process is con-
trolled by the battery charge controller. The basic topology of boost converter with two storage elements, viz. inductor
(L) and capacitor (C), is shown in Figure 2.
The mathematical model of the boost converter with state variables x1 and x2 and the respective state equations can
be given as follows:

1
x_ 1 = ½V in − ð1 − DÞx 2  ð1Þ
L

TABLE 1 Nomenclature and parameter specifications

Parameters Solar PV Fuel cell Battery

Voltage, Current, and Power VPV 18.6 V VFC 4.75 V VBT 12 V
IPV 8.1A IFC 16.8A IBT 4.56A
PPV 150 W PFC 80 W PBT 15 Ah
Converter parameters CONVERTER 1 CONVERTER 2 CONVERTER 3
Output voltage VDC1 Output voltage VDC2 Output voltage VDC3
Output current IDC1 Output current IDC2 Output current IDC3
* *
Reference voltage VDC1 Reference voltage VDC2 Reference voltage VDC3*
Reference current IDC1* Reference current IDC2* Reference current IDC3*
Voltage drop across VL1 Voltage drop across VL2 Voltage drop across VL3
L1 L2 L3
Circuit Component Inductor (L1) 162 mH Inductor (L2) 0.5H Inductor (L3) 210 mH
specifications Capacitor (C1) 2260 μF Capacitor (C2) 2260 μF Capacitor (C3) 2260 μF
Inductor ESR (RL) 0.09 Ω Inductor ESR (RL) 0.3 Ω Inductor ESR (RL) 0.09 Ω
Capacitor ESR (RC) 0.25 Ω Capacitor ESR (RC) 0.25 Ω Capacitor ESR (RC) 0.25 Ω
Diode ESR (RD) 0.01 Ω Diode ESR (RD) 0.01 Ω Diode ESR (RD) 0.01 Ω
MS ET AL. 5 of 28

1
x_ 2 = ½ð1 −DÞx 1 −I Load  ð2Þ
C

On substitution and simplifying the circuit components, the state and output equations of the averaged large signal
are given as follows:
2 3
− ð1 −DÞ 2 3 " #

 0
 1 0
IL 6 L 7 IL
=6 
4 1 −D
 7 + 4 L 5½V in  + −1 ½I z  ð3Þ
Vc −1 5 V c
0 C
C R0 C




V0 0 1 IL
= ð4Þ
I in 1 0 Vc

In order to achieve the small signal model of the system, the steady-state quantities have to be subtracted from its
averaged large signal model like,

^ = D −d;^v0 = V 0 −v0 ;^vin = V in −vin ;^iz = I z − iz ;^iL = I L −iL

d ð5Þ

Applying Equation (5) in Equations (3) and (4) derives the final small signal expression of the state equation and it
takes the form as follows:
2 3 2V 3
" # − ð1 −DÞ " # 2 3 " # c
^I L 6 0
L 7 ^I L 1 0   6 L 7h i
=6 7 + 4 L 5½^vin  + − 1 ^iz + 4 5 d^ ð6Þ
^vc 4 ð1 −DÞ −1 5 ^vc IL
0 C
C R0 C C

The parameters mentioned in Table 1 are used in the design calculation, and the same has been simulated in
Matlab/Simulink for calculating the duty ratio and PI controller constants. The proposed system derives the following
transfer function; however, due to the change in the values of Vin, L, and RL, individual converter transfer function also
gets varied.

RLoad ð1 + RC sÞ
Gv ðsÞ = × V in ð7Þ
s2 ðRLoad + RL ÞLC + s:ðL + RLoad :RC Þ + RLoad

RL RC s 2LI L
GI ðsÞ = × ð8Þ
s2 ðRC + RL ÞL + s:ðC + RL :RC Þ + RLoad V in

From the estimated transfer functions (7) and (8), it is inferred that the uncertainty in the system is mainly due to
the effects caused by the varying load RLoad, which in turn consequences the load regulation and load current between

FIGURE 2 Circuit diagram of boost converter including parasitic

components
6 of 28 MS ET AL.

the parallel converters. These transfer functions are used in the voltage and current control loops, respectively, in the
forthcoming sections. These transfer functions play a significant role in determining the duty ratio adjustments and to
control the droop values as well.

3.2 | Paralleling of converters

In this subsection, all three individual converters are connected in parallel to each other and coupled with the load bus.
Figure 3 shows the interconnection of individual converters, representing a microgrid with common bus voltage of
24 V. The dashed lines between the converters indicate the flow of circulating current between the converters. The
mathematical analysis of the circulating current for “n” converters is given in References 12,24, and the general equa-
tion can be given as follows:

I DC1 −I DC2 I DC1 − I DC3 I DC1 − I DCn X n

I DC1 −I DCj
I C1,2,3,…n = + +…+ = ð9Þ
n n n j=2
n

From Equation (9), the need for equal magnitude of current shared among the converters is emphasized. If the cur-
rent shared between the converters is equal, then the circulating current will be zero. The chances of sharing equal cur-
rent are less, which leads to the possibility of circulating among the converters. Thus, the possible circulating current is
adjusted by adjusting the virtual droop resistance in the dSPACE-1202 CDP. Hence, this section derives the general
relationship between the converter output voltage, circulating current, and the droop resistance of the individual con-
verter. As this paper concerns only three sources, the derivation in this entire paper will be focused for three converters
and its circuit components. It is to be noted that the voltage drop of parasitic components are very minimum and hence
they are considered as constant.

FIGURE 3 A, Parallel boost converter configuration with CPL. B, Equivalent circuit of three-loop system
MS ET AL. 7 of 28

V PV −V L1 V FC −V L2 V BT −V L3
V DC1 = ;V DC2 = ;V DC3 = ð10Þ
u1 −1 u2 −1 u3 −1

Applying KVL to Figure 3A, then the circuit will be reformed as shown in Figure 3B.

V DC1 −I DC1 R1 − I Load RLoad = 0; V DC2 −I DC2 R2 −I Load RLoad = 0; V DC3 − I DC3 R3 −I Load RLoad = 0 ð11Þ

where R1, R2, R3 indicate the converter resistance at the output side including the Rcableand Rinternal.
The expression for individual converters' output current can be derived from Equation (11) as follows:

R2 V DC1 ðV DC1 −V DC2 Þ

I DC1 = + ð12Þ
ðR1 RLoad + R2 RLoad Þ ðR1 + R2 Þ

R3 V DC2 ðV DC2 −V DC3 Þ

I DC2 = + ð13Þ
ðR2 RLoad + R3 RLoad Þ ðR2 + R3 Þ

R1 V DC3 ðV DC3 −V DC1 Þ

I DC3 = + ð14Þ
ðR3 RLoad + R1 RLoad Þ ðR3 + R1 Þ

Simplifying the above expressions, Equations (12)-(14), and the expression for circulating current is expressed as
follows:

ðV DC1 −V DC2 Þ
I C12 = − I C21 = ð15Þ
R1 + R2

ðV DC3 −V DC1 Þ
I C13 = −I C31 = ð16Þ
R3 + R1

ðV DC2 −V DC3 Þ
I C23 = −I C32 = ð17Þ
R2 + R3

In the middle of operation, due to load dynamics, the value of VLoad is perturbed and enter into an oscillatory plane.
The outer voltage loop controller counterbalances the variation and stabilizes it to constant DC of 24 V. However, the
changes in RLoad will cause a change in individual converter current, and as a result the parallel converter circuit gets a
free passage to circulating current. Hence, the general expression for the circulating current is expressed as follows:
2 3 2 32 3
I C1   ðn −1Þ … −1 V DC1
6 . 7 6 . .. 7 6 7
6 .. 7 = 1 6 . .. 76 ... 7 ð18Þ
4 5 nRLoad 4 . . . 5 4 5
I Cj −1 … ðn −1Þ V DCj

Thus, circulating current is mitigated by maintaining the equal potential at the output terminals of all three con-
verters by adjusting the droop resistance value Rdroop. This can be further expressed by deriving the functions for VLoad
and ILoad.

V Load = V DC1,2,…n = Rinternal + Rdroop1,2,3 + RLoad  I DC1,2…n

V DC1,2,…n −V Load
I Load = I DC1,2…n =
Rinternal + Rdroop1,2,3 + RLoad
8 of 28 MS ET AL.

where

1 1 1 1
= + + ð19Þ
Rinternal RD RC Rcable

Hence, the general relationship between the droop resistance with that of the load current, load voltage, and circu-
lating current are derived in Equation (19). The above analysis infers that the droop resistance value plays a vital role in
balancing the converter voltage. The control strategy for controlling the voltage and sharing the load current will be dis-
cussed in the following section.

4 | P R O P O S ED C O N T R O L L O O P S A N D CO N T R O L S T R A TEG Y

In this section, the control strategy of the proposed BT-SMC based droop technique is discussed. This
section gives priority to the methodology of reference current estimation, design of voltage and current control
loops, and droop resistance control. In the proposed system, BT-SMC control loop is accompanied along with the
conventional outer voltage loop and inner current loop. The main objective of the BT-SMC control is to track the
error values of the output voltage, converter current, and administer the control signals of the individual con-
verters along with the effective SSA.

4.1 | SSA and current reference estimation

The primary process in voltage control loop and current control loop is to estimate the reference values of VDC1,2,…n*
and IDC1,2,…n* for the “n” converter system. The value of VLoad is the terminal voltage of the load bus, hence the refer-
ence value for the voltage control loop will always have VDC1,2,…n* = 24V. However, the actual problem starts with the
fixing of current reference value. Each converter source voltage and its input line current are different from each other,
depending on the resource availability based on weather conditions, SOC of the battery and availability of the H2 and
O2 fuels. Hence, this paper proposes SSA, which will estimate the magnitude of reference current for the inner current
loop. To start with, the maximum power that can be delivered by the considered energy sources are calculated and com-
pared with that of Pdem.

4.1.1 | Case-1: One-converter operation

Power generated by solar PV receives the highest priority as it is readily available during daytime and it is entirely con-
nected to the load. The solar PV boost converter is switched on by the power estimator based on the solar availability. It
always checks for the maximum power from the solar MPPT control unit and decides the power level to be supplied by
the load. Hence, the first condition for Pdem and PPV available are given as follows:

ð Pdem = PPV Þ k ðPPV > Pdem Þ ð20Þ

Thus, it is sufficient for the controller to estimate the IDC1*, which is given as follows:

I DC1  = I Load ð21Þ

If Equation (20) is satisfied then Pdem is supplied by PPV via the MPPT unit and the remaining surplus
PPV will be utilized for battery charging with the help of a charge controller unit. Hence, the load current (21) is
fixed as the reference value to the solar control loop. When there is a change in load, then the condition (20)
fails, and as a result Pdem increases. During this period, battery will be at charging mode or remains in idle state
depending on the level of SOC. If PPV is not sufficient to meet the power demand from the load, then SSA shifts
to Case-2.
MS ET AL. 9 of 28

4.1.2 | Case-2: Two-converter operation

In this mode of operation, two sources will share the load. The second highest priority is given to fuel cell, as the battery
will be acting as a backup power source during nighttime. However, depending on the fuel availability of H2 and O2,
battery source may be added and fuel cell remains in idle state. Hence, the fuel flow control of the fuel cell is monitored
and the availability levels are sent by the FC test bench as an equivalent voltage signal to the dSPACE-CDP and the
values are compared with threshold levels of PFC(Th) for decision-making by SSA. The maximum power from the fuel
cell PFC is calculated along with PPV and the respective converters are activated for two converters and dSPACE-CDP
monitors the power sharing among the converters with that of the load demand.

if the battery SOC < 80%↠ðPPV + PFC Þ > Pdem k ðPPV < Pdem Þ&& PFC > PFCðThÞ
Or ð22Þ

if the battery SOC > 80%↠ðPPV + PBT Þ > Pdem k ðPPV < Pdem Þ&& PBT > PBT ðThÞ

Thus, the controller estimates the reference value of converters value of IDC1* and IDC2* as follows:

I Load
if the battery SOC < 80%↠I DC1  = I DC2  =
2
Or ð23Þ
I Load
if the battery SOC > 80%↠I DC1  = I DC3  =
2

4.1.3 | Case-3: Three-converter operation

In this mode, all the three parallel converters are connected to load bus, when case-2 fails to meet the power demand.
Hence, the cumulative power supplied by all the RES is sufficiently required to drive the load. It is to note that the
power extracted from the battery will be calculated based on the Depth of Discharge (DOD) level of the battery. In these
three converters' operation, the threshold level of the battery requires immense care. The SOC level of the battery is
estimated by coulomb counting method with respect to the C-rating of the battery. This process is handled inside the
CDP of dSPACE by receiving the terminal voltage of the battery instantaneously. Based on the amount of battery dis-
charging current (IBT) and with C-rate, the continuance of the battery supply is estimated. It is important that the bat-
tery should not be drained from working voltage to cutoff voltage. Thus, the total load current ILoad is equally shared by
solar, fuel cell, and battery sources with their respective converters.

ðPPV + PFC + PBT Þ ≥ Pdem

Or ð24Þ

If PBT < PBT ðThÞ &&ðSOC > 50%Þ↠ðPPV + PFC Þ < Pdem &&ðPPV + PBT < Pdem Þ&&ðPBT + PFC < Pdem Þ

Thus, the reference value of all the three converters' values IDC1*, IDC2*, and IDC3* are estimated as follows:

I Load
I DC1  = I DC2  = I DC3  = ð25Þ
3

Similarly, depending on the source availability, the reference current may also be fixed unequally as

I DC2 
I DC1  = I Load j I DC2  = I DC1 
2 j I DC3 = 2 . Thus, the reference value for the individual converters are estimated as given
in Equations (20)-(25) and they are sent to the BT-SMC based current controller for voltage regulation, which is repre-
sented as a flowchart in Figure 4.
10 of 28 MS ET AL.

4.2 | BT-SMC based current control loop

As the magnitude of the reference current is estimated in the previous subsection, the respective reference values are
forwarded to current control loops so as to maintain the current sharing among the converters. The illustrative repre-
sentation of voltage control loop, current control loop, and BT-SMC loop are shown in Figure 5. In which, the current
control loops are the dual control loops, in which the outer voltage loop directly controls the output voltage (VDC1,2,3)
by directly adjusting the duty cycle, and the inner current loop is indirectly controlled by the peak value of the inductor
current. Here, the voltage control loop and the corresponding current control loops carry the transfer functions derived
in Section 3.1. A control reference signal is generated to control the peak inductor current along with the duty cycle. In
this BT-SMC based current control loop, individual converter output current (IDC1,2,3) is sensed individually and com-
pared with the reference current (IDC1,2,3*), and the respective error values are instantaneously recorded in dSPACE-
CDP. If any load perturbation happens, then the value of IDC1,2,3 will be changed, which causes the inductor current
and perturbs it as well. Hence, the main process in control loop is to control the peak magnitude of the inductor current
with respect to the output current and it is expressed in Equations (7) and (8). The waveform shown in Figure 5 repre-
sents the change in magnitude of the inductor current, along with the duty cycle variation. As the value of duty cycle is
0
changed instantaneously by the controller, it is expressed as D(t) and a small change in duty cycle is expressed as D (t).
From Figure 5 inductor current waveform, the following analyses are made.
Let us consider,
IL(t) = x1(t) = Inductor current at t-th instant.
IL(t − 1) = x1(t − 1) = Inductor current at (t-1) instant.
SOn = Slope of IL(t) during TOn; SOff = Slope of IL(t) during TOff; Se = Slope of the compensator.
In order to control the inductor current, the magnitude of the instantaneous inductor current has to be measured at
(t−1) and t−th instant, that is, the past and present instant values are taken for consideration. Thus, the difference in
values between them is taken into account, which is given as follows:

e1 ðx ðt ÞÞ = x 1 ðt Þ − x_ 1 ðt Þ = SOn Dðt Þ + Se D0 ðt Þ
ð26Þ
e1 ðxðt −1ÞÞ = x 1 ðt −1Þ − x_ 1 ðt −1Þ = SOn Dðt −1Þ + Se D0 ðt − 1Þ

FIGURE 4 Flowchart representation of reference current estimation

MS ET AL. 11 of 28

FIGURE 5 Schematic diagram of the control loops

Thus, the ratio between the error values gives a constant value with minimum variation from the previous value,
which is to be used along with the duty ratio in the voltage control loop. The BT-SMC plays a vital role in estimating
the value of ueq, for current control technique.

e 1 ðx ðt ÞÞ x 1 ðt Þ − x_ 1 ðt Þ SOn Dðt Þ + Se D0 ðt Þ
= = = ueq ð27Þ
e1 ðxðt −1ÞÞ x 1 ðt −1Þ − x_ 1 ðt −1Þ SOn Dðt −1Þ + Se D0 ðt −1Þ

The abovementioned ratio is a function of state variable x1(t) and it equates the value of duty ratio, hence it is
always less than one. The above expression (27) can be rewritten as Equation (28) and consequently the sliding function
is given in Equation (29)

e1 ðx ðt ÞÞ −ueq ð e1 x ðt −1ÞÞ = 0 ð28Þ

ðT
σ = K e1 ðx ðt ÞÞ− ueq ð e1 x ðt − 1ÞÞdT ð29Þ
0
For the inductor current, during S=ON, the inductor charges from T = 0 ! Ton and it discharges from
T = Ton ! Toff.
12 of 28 MS ET AL.

On considering the time interval for charging and discharging, the sliding function is rewritten as follows:

TðOn TðOff

σ ðx, t Þ = K e1 ðx ðt ÞÞ dT −ueq K ð e1 x ðt −1ÞÞdT ð30Þ

0 T On

Substitute Equation (27) in Equation (30) and replacing the variables from Equation (1) derives,

TðOn
 TðOff

1 1
σ ðx, t Þ = K I L ðt Þ − ½V in − ð1 − DÞx 2 ðt Þ dT − ueq K I L ðt −1Þ− ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2 ðt −1Þ dT ð31Þ
L L
0 T On

The above expression is in the form of

ðT

σ ðx, t Þ = K φðx ðt ÞÞ −ueq gðx ðt −1ÞÞ dT ð32Þ
0

The function φ(x(t)) is defined as the function on the sliding surface plane σ(x, t) with ueq. g(x(t − 1)) = ueq. g(x) as
the constant function for PWM generation. Hence, in BT-SMC, the boundary surface is designed with φ(x(t)) as elabo-
rated in Reference 25. The boundary surface expression on the sliding plane is B(t) = x, jσ(x, t)j ≤ φ(x(t)) 8 Φ > 0, where
Φ is the width of the boundary layer. The function B(t) is used for setting up the boundary layer in the sliding plane. As
the boundary layer is dynamically moving with respect to the movement of the control variable, the system dynamics is
purely dependent on σ(x, t) with respect to the variation of Φ.
Thus, the derivative of the sliding function σ_ ðx,t Þ is given as follows:

σ_ ðx,t Þ = K e1 ðx ðt ÞÞ −ueq ð e1 x ðt −1ÞÞdT with respect to error eðt Þ
 ð33Þ
σ_ ðx, t Þ = K φðx ðt ÞÞ −ueq gðx ðt −1ÞÞ with respect to boundary layer φðt:Þ

Thus, the system trajectory with equivalent control ueq is given as follows:


0 if σ ðx, t Þ < 0
ueq = ð34Þ
1 if σ ðx, t Þ > 0

Based on the above ueq condition, the control signal enters into the sliding motion with boomerang traces, having
σ σ_ < 0. In such a case, for σ = 0, the surface is locally attractive and for σ_ = 0, the trajectory will be a subset in the slid-
ing surface Sσ_ ℝ, where, ℝ is the set of real numbers in the sliding plane having ℝ > 0.
On simplifying the sliding function and applying the time limits in Equation (34),



1  1 
σ ðx, t Þ = K I L ðT On Þ − ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2 T On −ueq K I L ðT On Þ− I L T Off − ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2  T Off −T On ð35Þ
L L

For the sliding surface to reach the equilibrium condition, equating Equation (35) to zero and rearranging the terms
derives,

I L ðT On Þ− L1 ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2 T On
ueq =   ð36Þ
I L ðT On Þ −I L T Off − L1 ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2  T Off −T On
MS ET AL. 13 of 28

The following are the observations inferred from Equation (36),

1. The value of IL is controlled for a period of TOn at the numerator and for a period of TOff at the denominator, which
signifies the control of peak magnitude of IL with respect to the change in PWM period.
2. The value of Vin and L are constants, but the value of duty ratio of the previous iteration will be changed in the pre-
sent iteration. The iteration process continues till the set reference value is satisfied or the error becomes zero or
nearer to zero.
3. Since x2 is the state variable representing the capacitor voltage, it is intended to be maintained as a constant in the
inner current loop.

As the paper adopts the BT-SMC and the boundary layer concept on the sliding surface, the control law of outside
the boundary layer is used from Reference 25 and that is given as follows:


σ ðx, t Þ
u = ueq −K:sat ð37Þ
Φ

Substituting Equation (36) in Equation (37) derives the final control law for the BT-SMC based current control for
adjusting the duty ratio.


I L ðT On Þ − L1 ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2 T On σ ðx, tÞ
u=   −K:sat =D ð38Þ
I L ðT On Þ −I L T Off − L1 ½V in − ð1 −DÞx 2  T Off − T On Φ

The above control law expression depicts the boomerang sliding controller parameters are designed in such a way
that the converter dynamics enters into the sliding regime and converges to the equilibrium state. This control law is
used for adjusting the duty ratio, meanwhile it also supports in control of droop resistance, which is discussed in the fol-
lowing section.

4.3 | BT-SMC based droop value control

This subsection derives the BT-SMC based control law for adjusting the value of droop resistance Rdroop. By having the
output current equations and the circulating current expressions (15)-(17), the expression for the change in droop resis-
tance (ΔRdroop) is estimated and formed as a set of real values. These droop values are adjusted in the increment and
decrement pattern based on the switching function. The sliding switching function decides the additive or subtractive
nature of ΔRdroop to the existing older values of Rdroop.
The circulating current expressions (15)-(17) are expanded with VLoad and Rdroop1,2,3 and are given as follows:

Rdroop1 ½V DC1  + ΔV DC1 −V Load  + Rdroop2 ½V DC2  + ΔV DC2 −V Load 

ΔI C12 = I DC1 −I DC2 = ð39Þ
Rdroop1 + Rdroop2

Rdroop1 ½V DC1  + ΔV DC1 −V Load  + Rdroop3 ½V DC3  + ΔV DC3 −V Load 

ΔI C13 = I DC1 −I DC3 = ð40Þ
Rdroop1 + Rdroop3

Rdroop2 ½V DC2  + ΔV DC2 −V Load  + Rdroop3 ½V DC3  + ΔV DC3 −V Load 

ΔI C23 = I DC2 −I DC3 = ð41Þ
Rdroop2 + Rdroop3

where ΔVDC1,2,3 = VLoad − VDC1,2,3

This shows that the magnitude of the circulating current depends on the change in the converter output voltage
with respect to the change in load bus voltage. Thus, the total change in the load voltage ΔVLoad is given as follows:
14 of 28 MS ET AL.

1  
ΔV Load = ΔV DC1 + ΔV DC2 + ΔV DC3 −I Load Rdroop1 + Rdroop2 + Rdroop3 ð42Þ
3

Two methods of droop control are applicable to the kind of systems considered in this paper like V-I droop method
and I-V droop method.26 This paper utilizes I-V droop method with BT-SMC based droop value estimation. From the
estimated converter reference current IDC1,2,3* in Subsection 4.1, the I-V droop characteristics curve is plotted and it is
shown in Figure 6.
The reference current based on droop coefficient and circulating current is given as follows:

V NL − V Load
I DC1,2,3  = ð43Þ
Rdroop1,2,3

The important technique behind the droop adjustment is that the voltage reference value gets linearly reduced when
the output current or the load current increases. Acquiring this concept, the state variable IL and its derivative are used
for further analysis. As the reference values estimated above are in steady state condition, from now on those values are
0 0 0
considered to be in transient conditions, that is, dynamic load changing is considered. Hence, IDC (t), IL (t), VLoad (t), and
0
D (t) represent the converter current, inductor current, load bus voltage, and duty ratio at transient period, respectively.
Thus, Equation (43) is rewritten as follows:

V NL − fV Load + V Load 0 ðt Þg
I DC1,2,3  + I DC1,2,3 0 ðt Þ = ð44Þ
Rdroop1,2,3
Rearranging Equation (44) gives,

V NL − fV Load + V Load 0 ðt Þg
I DC1,2,3 0 ðt Þ = I DC1,2,3  − ð45Þ
Rdroop1,2,3

In conventional current control loop, PI controllers play a vital role in adjusting the duty ratio; on the other hand,
BT-SMC based control mentioned in Equation (38) will handle the switching control by considering Equation (50) with
its sliding constants α and β.

ðT
0
D ðt Þ = α½fI DC1,2,3 + I DC1,2,3 ðt Þg − fI L ðt Þ + I L ðt Þg + β ½fI DC1,2,3  + I DC1,2,3 0 ðt Þg − fI L ðt Þ + I L 0 ðt Þgdt
 0 0
ð46Þ
0

FIGURE 6 I-V droop control characteristics

MS ET AL. 15 of 28

0
The general expressions for IDC1,2,3* and IDC1,2,3 (t) are discussed in Equations (49) and (50), respectively. Similarly,
the expressions for IL(t) during TOn and TOff are discussed in Equation (36). Hence, the state Equation (1) takes the form
of (47),

1
x_ 1 0 ðt Þ = ½V in − ð1 −D0 ðt ÞÞx 2 ðt Þ ð47Þ
L
2 3 2 3 2 3 2 3
V DC1 0 0 L1 0 0 α1 0 0 β1 0 0
6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7
Where V in = 4 0 V DC2 0 5;L = 4 0 L2 0 5; α = 4 0 α2 0 5; β = 4 0 β2 0 5
0 0 V DC3 0 0 L3 0 0 α3 0 0 β3

The error between x_ 1 ðt Þ and x_ 1 0 ðt Þ will be controlled by the BT-SMC and trace its trajectory slides toward the origin.

e_ 1 ðt Þ = x_ 1 ðt Þ − x_ 1 0 ðt Þ ð48Þ

The above expression (48) is now sent to the BT-SMC, where the BT-SMC control law is employed to reduce the
error and approaches zero or nearest to zero. The BT-SMC will make the control system to respond in such a way that
the error trajectory is tracked and traced through a boomerang trace in the sliding plane and reach the equilibrium
state. The methodology of tracing a boomerang path and its control over the trajectory25 is done by changing Ŕ and it is
given as follows:

 3=2
a2 + ðs:x h Þ2
Ŕ = ð49Þ
−s:x h

where s = ab and xh = x − ha is major axis and b is minor axis of the boomerang trajectoryh, g—center of the boomerang
_
trajectory along the x-axis and x-axis, respectively.
In the above equation, the parameter xh is replaced by e_ 1 ðt Þh and it is given as,

h  2 i3=2
a2 + s:_e1 ðt Þh
Ŕ = ð50Þ
−s:_e1 ðt Þh

where e_ 1 ðt Þh = e_ 1 ðt Þ−h = x_ 1 ðt Þ − x_ 1 0 ðt Þ− hh < Φ, that is, the center of the trajectory should remain within the boundary
layer
On substituting Equation (48) in Equation (50),

h i
2 3=2
a2 + ðs:f x_ 1 ðt Þ − x_ 1 0 ðt Þ−hgÞ
Ŕ = ð51Þ
−s:f x_ 1 ðt Þ− x_ 1 0 ðt Þ −hg

Substitute Equations (1) and (47) in Equation (51),

h   2 i3=2
a2 + s: L1 ½V in − ð1 −DðtÞÞX 2 ðtÞ − L1 ½V in − ð1 −D0 ðt ÞÞx 2 ðt Þ−h
Ŕ =  ð52Þ
−s: L1 ½V in − ð1 −Dðt ÞÞX 2 ðt Þ− L1 ½V in − ð1 −D0 ðt ÞÞx 2 ðt Þ −h

0
Based on the variation of D (t), the value of Ŕ is continuously varying with respect to time. It is to be noted that,
when the error approaches zero, the value of the denominator in Equation (52) will also be approaching zero. That is,
Ŕ ! ∞ when e_ 1 ðt Þh ! 0 but practically the value of error will not be equal to zero, but it will be nearest to zero. Hence,
the curvature (Ḱ), which is equal to the reciprocal of Ŕ, will become a scalar quantity, illustrating that the moving trajectory
16 of 28 MS ET AL.

should confine to some single point nearer to zero. This indicates the stability of the system remains stable and approaches the
equilibrium state in finite time. Now, the condition for BT-SMC switching over the sliding plane is given as follows:
8 ( 9
>
> Ŕ_e1 ðt Þ⟹Negative > >
>
> RdroopðnewÞ = RdroopðoldÞ + ΔRdroop when >
>
>
> 0
ð Þ ð Þ >
>
>
> D t > D t >
>
>
> ( >
>
< Ŕ_e1 ðt Þ⟹Positive =
u = RdroopðnewÞ = RdroopðoldÞ −ΔRdroop when ð53Þ
>
> D0 ð t Þ < Dð t Þ >
>
>
> ( >
>
>
> >
>
>
> Ŕ_e ð t Þ ffi 0 >
>
>
>
1 >
>
: R droopðnewÞ = R droopðoldÞ when
0
;
D ð t Þ ffi Dð t Þ

5 | R ES U L T S A N D D I S C U S S I O N

In this section, the proposed parallel converter is configured for a PV-FC-BT based microgrid system, and it is designed
with the parameters listed in Table 2, and they are implemented in real-time experimental hardware. The proposed BT-
SMC based parallel converter and its control strategy are simulated in Matlab/Simulink simulator and its respective
hardware experimental setup is implemented using dSPACE-MicroLabBox-1202. Initially, the quantitative parameters
of all the three renewable power sources are measured and their specifications provided in the product nameplate are
used for simulation analysis. Hence, the ratings and specifications are analyzed based on the characteristic curves as
shown in Figure 7, which helps in designing the load profile without damaging the system.

5.1 | Characteristic curve analysis of the renewable power sources

This subsection examines the performance characteristic curves of the individual energy sources for estimating the
power contour for the proposed microgrid system. First, the solar panels are chosen with two numbers of 105 W, mono-
crystalline PV panel is used. The panels are connected in parallel for providing constant voltage with increased current
and power rating. The parametric characteristic curves are analyzed on the basis of insolation and the geographical
temperature. The insolation level is varied from 1000 to 600 W/m2 and its respective peak power delivered is about

TABLE 2 Renewable power sources parameters and specifications

Solar PV Fuel cell Battery

Parameters Specifications Parameters Specifications Parameters Specifications

PV panel type Monocrystalline Type of FC PEFM Battery type Lithium-ion
Nominal peak power 105 W Nominal stack power 18.45 W Nominal capacity 15 Ah
Open circuit voltage 18.7 V Peak stack power 94.15 W Nominal voltage 12.5 V
Short circuit current 7.54 A H2 nominal 91.9% Charging cut-OFF 15.2 V
utilization voltage
Voltage at maximum 14.2 V O2 nominal 0.096% Charging current 0.5C
power utilization
Current at maximum 7.084 A H2 and O2 0.1766 slpma Discharging cut-off 9.6 V
power consumption voltage
Number of cells 60 Air consumption 0.2856 slpma Discharging current 0.5 C
Mechanical dimension 58.7×26.8×1.4 Cell efficiency 55%
(In.)
Number of panels used 2 2*115 W Number of cells 5
a
slpm, Standard liters per minute.
MS ET AL. 17 of 28

100 to 60 W from each panel. Meanwhile, the maximum current delivered from each PV panel is about 7.084 to
4.251 A. Hence, the temperature level of the PV panel is evaluated from 25 C STC to a maximum of 45 C is shown in
Figure 7A.
The second renewable source is that of a PEM-FC receiving H2 and O2 as fuels along with the air in the atmosphere.
Five numbers of PEM-FC with a total capacity of 4.95 V are analyzed for its load characteristics by varying the load
gradually and abruptly as shown in Figure 7B. It is observed that, when fuel cells are loaded with 85 W of load profile,
it delivers the rated load with a line voltage regulation of 4.2 V, which is reduced from 4.95 V, and it indicates that
0.75 V of line voltage reduction. Similarly, when it is loaded with 98 W load profile, the fuel cell delivers around 92 W
with a line voltage regulation of 3.45 V, which is reduced from 4.95 V, and have about 1.5 V reduction, which shows a
better voltage regulation. The third renewable power source is lithium ion battery with a capacity of 12 V, 15 Ah, and
its charging and discharging profiles are tested, to understand the capability of the battery to supply the load during
nighttime and also to provide a backup power supply during emergency interruptible situations. The discharging profile
shown in Figure 7C contemplates that the voltage is maintained constant of 12 V during the initial discharging period
and it reduces to nearly 10.1 V during the completion. Hence, the battery cutoff voltage is maintained at 9.6 to 10.1 V
(±0.5 V), below the cutoff voltage, the battery relay gets turned OFF in order to avoid the draining of the battery. Simi-
larly, the battery is capable of delivering a maximum discharge current of 7.1A with respect to the change in energy
density. When the battery SOC reduces below the threshold level, the discharging current is monitored and respective
relay is controlled. Thus, from the performance characteristic curve analysis of various power sources, it is inferred that
the Safe Operating Area (SOA) of the considered renewable resources are estimated. Also, this analysis assists in design-
ing the experimental setup with safety operating load profile.

5.2 | Simulation result analysis during steady-state operation

The proposed system is validated in simulation and the performance of the BT-SMC controller for controlling the volt-
age regulation and circulating current mitigation is investigated for two different cases, that is, performance analysis
during steady state and performance analysis during transient conditions. Firstly, in steady state analysis, a constant
load is connected to the load bus and the availability of the renewable power sources are modified as per the scope of
the resources. In the first test case, the operating mode is tested in such a way that all the three renewable sources are
available and adequate enough to supply the load. A constant load of 100 W is connected to the load bus and it is
observed that all the three sources equally share the load; however, the boost converter connected with the solar PV
supplies 23.58 V and the other two converters connected to FC and BT supply 23.75 V, which is nearly a voltage error
of 0.17 V, leading to the arise of circulating current, that is, between the PV converter and FC battery with a maximum
magnitude of 1.69 A in the opposite direction and the circulating current is mitigated by BT-SMC controller by
0.25 second, and the current shared by all the converters are made equal as shown in Figure 8A,B.
In the second test case, the steady state is validated for the system, if any one of the source is not available to support
the load. In most of the cases, the availability of solar power is fluctuated and fuzzy in nature due to unpredictable cli-
matic conditions. Hence, this case analyzes the power sharing without solar PV power. As mentioned above, the 100 W
load is now shared by fuel cell and battery source. From Figure 9, it is observed that the fuel cell and battery share are
50.25 and 50.05 W, respectively. Pertaining to the load current, the total load of 4.355 A is shared as 2.155 and 2.196 A
by the fuel cell and battery, respectively. Similarly, various test cases in steady-state condition with wide variation in
power availability are tested and the analyses are tabulated in Table 3.

5.3 | Simulation result analysis during transients

This subsection discusses the analysis of power sharing during transient conditions, in which the load is dynamically
varied under the safe operating region and the proposed system is validated for its stability and performance. First of
all, the load is varied in such a way that the ongoing load is increased suddenly, that is, ongoing load of 55 W is
increased to 70 W. As shown in Figure 10 the load is varied at 1.15 seconds and, as a result, the constant output voltage
of 24 V gets perturbed for a very short span of time and reverts to its original reference value within 1.36 seconds, which
is nearly 0.2 second for getting back to its stability region.
18 of 28 MS ET AL.

F I G U R E 7 A, P-V and I-V characteristics of solar PV. B, P-I and I-V characteristics of PEFM—Fuel cell. C, Charging and discharging
profile—Li-ion battery
MS ET AL. 19 of 28

FIGURE 8 A, Power and Voltage waveforms when all resources are adequately available. B, Current and circulating current waveforms

In the second case, the system is validated for removal of load and reconnecting it back to the load bus in a very
short time that is, the load is removed at 1.15 seconds and reconnected at 1.5 seconds with a short duration of
0.4 second as shown in Figure 11. In such a scenario, the BT-SMC performs excellently in voltage stabilization and
power sharing. Likewise, the parallel converter configuration with the proposed BT-SMC control strategy is tested for
its overload condition, in which the load is drastically increased above 100 W at 1.5 seconds and the system responded
in an excellent manner. The constant load bus voltage of 24 V is suddenly dropped down to 21.8 V and recovers back to
24 V within 1.57 seconds, which means the recovery time is nearly 0.07 second. At the same time, there is a sudden
occurrence of circulating current between the solar PV converter and the battery converter as shown in Figure 12. The
mitigation of circulating current is handled by BT-SMC, which controls the R_droop as given in the control law (53).
20 of 28 MS ET AL.

FIGURE 9 Performance curves when solar PV is not available

TABLE 3 Test case analysis and parameter profile

Test cases Case description PPV PFC PBT PTotal Pdem

All power resources are available 33.89 35.39 35.39 104.67 103.5
Solar is not available at a cloudy day 0 50.25 50.05 100.3 100.5
Solar is abundantly available on a sunny day 87.16 6.638 8.649 102.447 100.7
Battery charging mode at daytime 36.53 57.72 0.241 94.491 94.78
Battery discharging mode at nighttime 0 8.254 77.64 85.894 84.16
Voltage profile V DC1 V DC2 V DC3 VTotal Vdem
All power resources are available 23.58 23.75 23.75 23.69 23.42
Solar is not available at a cloudy day 0 23.55 23.55 23.08 23.75
Solar is abundantly available on a sunny day 23.72 23.56 23.56 23.37 23.51
Battery charging mode at daytime 23.35 23.73 0 23.51 23.58
Battery discharging mode at nighttime 0 23.41 23.18 23.7 23.7
Current profile I DC1 I DC2 I DC3 ITotal Idem
All power resources are available 1.438 1.491 1.49 4.419 4.419
Solar is not available at a cloudy day 0.0458 2.155 2.196 4.355 4.355
Solar is abundantly available on a sunny day 3.155 0.3689 0.8863 4.41 4.41
Battery charging mode at daytime 1.634 2.539 0.0187 4.184 4.1917
Battery discharging mode at nighttime 0 0.356 3.672 4.032 4.064

5.4 | Simulation result analysis on control strategy

This subsection discusses the various results related to the BT-SMC control strategy. The results of the proposed boo-
merang trajectory control are compared with that of the conventional trajectory of the sliding mode system. Initially,
the closed-loop transfer functions (10) are validated using the step-response plot. As the mathematically derived boost
MS ET AL. 21 of 28

FIGURE 10 Performance curves for a load rise

FIGURE 11 Performance curves for an equal load drop and load rise

converter system is literally a nonlinear model, step-response plot deliberates the actual transient response of the sys-
tem, providing an insight to the model dynamics, peak response, and settling time.
From Figure 13A, it is observed that the closed-loop transfer function dynamics are parameterized with peak over-
shoot; rising time and settling time are tabulated in Table 4. The major inference from the step response analysis is that
the amplitude of overshoot and undershoot is completely nullified by the BT-SMC control strategy. Also, the oscillatory
nature of the step response is avoided by BT-SMC, whereas the conventional SMC system experiences a minimum level
of ringing effect at its heaviside step function boundary region. This is because of the absence of chattering effect in the
BT-SMC sliding plane, whereas the conventional SMC chatters on the sliding plane and slide toward zero. Step
response analysis is followed by the trajectory control characteristic analysis, in which the conventional trajectory is
compared with that of the boomerang trajectory as shown in Figure 13B. It is to be noted that, the boomerang trajectory
22 of 28 MS ET AL.

FIGURE 12 Performance curves for a load drop and sudden rise

initially traces an ellipsoidal path and frequently changes its radius of curvature as given in the expression (57) and it
converges toward the equilibrium. Meanwhile, the conventional SMC trajectory slides on the sliding line over the slid-
ing plane with a high-frequency switching leading to chattering effect, which influences the oscillatory effect on the sta-
bility region.
As the proposed BT-SMC is derived with a boundary layer concept, the chattering effect is completely eliminated in
the sliding line. Pertaining to the convergence of the trajectory, the proposed boomerang trajectory converges in a finite
time to zero, which means the error trajectory for the droop resistance value and circulating current approaches zero.
However, in conventional SMC, the convergence time reaches the equilibrium in finite time, but larger amount of
high-frequency chattering occurs on approaching the equilibrium.
The flow of control signal from the controller to the plant should be rapid and continuous as well. Figure 13C shows
the error signal and its derivative signal reach zero, which indicates that error in circulating current is highly reduced
within 0.4 second. Similarly, the control signal ueq(t) in conventional SMC settles down very rapidly at 0.018 second,
whereas the BT-SMC control signal settles at 0.023 second. However, the control signal of conventional SMC encoun-
ters a discontinuity in control till 0.092 second; this leads to unstable operation of the converter and influences oscilla-
tions in the output voltage and current. In BT-SMC control, the control signal settles at 0.023 second and continues to
play the controlling work without any discontinuity, this justifies the reliability and versatility of the BT-SMC control
strategy.

5.5 | Experimental setup and results

The proposed BT-SMC control technique based on parallel converter configuration for microgrid applications is
implemented in laboratory prototypical setup and its performance is validated with the simulation results. The experi-
mental structure is arranged in a HIL platform, that is, the stateflow model with control strategy and PWM generation
are designed in Dspace/ControlDesk/RTI platform as the simulation front-end manual control panel, whereas the con-
verter circuits, signal conditioning units, current/voltage sensors, and PWM driver circuits are connected in the external
hardware associated with the MicroLabBox/top panel variant with BNC connectors. Pertaining to this paper, the Micro-
LabBox unit handles four voltage signals, four current signals, three PWM signals, one MPPT control unit, and a battery
monitoring unit, all in a single hand with excellent response time and huge data acquisition system. To start with, three
numbers of PSMN040-200W N-channel MOSFET are used as a switching device for constructing the boost type DC-DC
converter. The circuit is accompanied with DST2045AX Schottky power diode, having a very minimum forward drop of
0.54 to 0.58 V and a high frequency operation.
MS ET AL. 23 of 28

F I G U R E 1 3 A, Step response characteristics of proposed BT-SMC. B, Analysis of trajectory on the Sliding plane. C, Comparison of
control signal between conventional SMC and BT-SMC
24 of 28 MS ET AL.

TABLE 4 Step-response analysis

Parameters Boomerang trajectory—SMC Conventional—SMC

Peak overshoot Absence of overshoot 1.229
Undershoot Absence of undershoot 0.96
Rise time 0.131 s 0.131 s
Settling time 0.3 s 0.361 s
Ringing effect Absence of ringing effect Presence of minimum level of oscillations

F I G U R E 1 4 A, Bus voltage and current. B, Bus voltage and PWM signals. C, Current shared by all three converters. D, Voltage and
control signal variations for a load rise from 50 to 100 W. E, Load reduction from 100 to 80 W. F, Load switching between reduction and
addition of load. G, Circulating current between the parallel converters. H, Load supplied by battery during nighttime

The boost converters are connected together in parallel configuration to the load bus with a cable of 0.75 mm2 diam-
eters and 0.048 Ω as the cable resistance per meter.
Voltage sensors are used to sense the voltage of the individual converters and the load voltage as well. Similarly,
ACS712 type of current sensors is used to sense the line current and the total load current in the microgrid. The mea-
sured voltage and current values are sent to the dSPACE through BNC ports in the form of its equivalent voltage sig-
nals. These signals are sent into the CDP for further process like scaling up the magnitude of ADC signals, sensor
signals calibration, noise filtering virtual filters, normalization, empty variable detection, saturation limiters, etc. The
signals coming out from the CDP, especially the control signals, are sent out via DAC with 16-bit resolution and 1 Msps
conversion speed through the analog output channels. However, the PWM signals are sent out via digital output port
MS ET AL. 25 of 28

TABLE 5 Analysis of circulating current and droop values

Test
cases Case description VPV VFC VBT IC12 IC13 IC23 Rdroop1 Rdroop2 Rdroop3
1. All power resources are available 23.58 23.75 23.75 −0.013 0.012 0 0.053 0.001 0.052
2. Solar is not available at a cloudy day 0 23.55 23.55 −0.096 0.081 0 0 0.041 0.150
3. Solar is abundantly available on a 23.72 23.56 23.56 0.012 −0.011 0 0.7861 0.5174 0.268
sunny day
4. Battery charging mode at daytime 23.35 23.73 0 −0.026 −0.053 0.037 0.905 0.5203 0
5. Battery discharging mode at 0 23.41 23.18 −0.062 0.038 0.012 0 0.316 0.672
nighttime

with 5 V as the magnitude. The PWM signals are driven by TPS28226 high-frequency MOSFET driver to amplify the
PWM signal voltage to meet VGS of 20 V. All the experimental results are observed and captured using RIGOL-
MSO1074 scope. Keithley-2380 electronic load is used as the load to the microgrid, for providing the loading effect in
both CV and CP mode. Tektronix-A622 current probe is used for visualizing and capturing the current waveforms.
Initially, the microgrid load voltage and load current are measured. As soon as the microgrid is switched on, the
load bus voltage gradually increases and reaches the rated voltage of VLoad=24 V and the load current is about ILoad=3A
as shown in Figure 14A. Similarly, Figure 14B shows the PWM waveform for the MOSFET with VGS=20 V for a single
converter (Example: Solar PV converter). It is to be noted that individual converter voltage and the load bus voltage are
gradually increased, without leaving any voltage spikes in the microgrid. This phenomenon is controlled in the dSPACE
environment, by changing the load voltage reference values in smooth steps. Hence, in Figure 14A, the load voltage
waveform increases steadily in a step-by-step fashion; this ultimately avoids the unwanted increase in current and pro-
vides a smooth flow of current in the circuit. Figure 14C describes the magnitude of current shared by all the three con-
verters, as per the SSA technique, the solar PV boost converter gets high priority in sharing the current. Thus, IPV=2 A,
IFC=0.8 A, and IBT= 0.3 A. It is notable that the total sum of all the three individual current is ITotal=3.1 A, which
means that the total power dissipated is PTotal=74.4 W, but the actual power demanded is Pdem=72 W. The difference in
power latency occurs because of the power dissipation in the converter circuits and in the sensor modules.
The second case is with respect to the microgrid validation to make a load change in steady-state operation. From
Figure 14D, the ongoing demand of Pdem=50 W is increased to Pdem=100 W, that is, 50% of load rise is likely increased
by increasing the load in Keithley-2380 electronic load under CV mode. It is inferred from the result that the load volt-
age is perturbed for a very short period, having a sudden drop of 23.1 V and settles back to the rated voltage within
0.02 ms. Meanwhile, the BT-SMC control signal is disrupted and gains back its control over the microgrid and stabilizes
the system. As like the load increase, the microgrid is tested for load decrease as shown in Figure 14E. The load is
reduced from 100 to 80 W, that is, a 20% load reduction is given to the microgrid. It is inferred that the sudden drop in
load leads to an abrupt rise in the voltage of 22.6 to 25.1 V and it settles back to 23.7 V. Here, the BT-SMC control takes
0.06 ms to control the voltage regulation and stabilizes the system. The third case is to validate the transient response
and mitigation of circulating current. An abrupt load addition and load removal are engaged in the microgrid as like in
the simulation analysis shown in Figure 11. For this scenario, the ongoing demand of 80 W is reduced to 60 W and
again the power is increased from 60 to 80 W in a very short time interval. The load is scheduled in the electronic load
with a time interval of 1 second and the same has been captured in Figure 14F. In the meantime, the magnitude of cir-
culating current during the load switching is controlled by the BT-SMC as shown in Figure 14G. As the solar PV con-
verter shares a maximum current, the magnitude of circulating current will also be consistently high when compared
to other two circulating current. It is implicitly understood from Figure 14G that the circulating current magnitude
between the converters is controlled and settled to zero rapidly. However, during nighttime, when the battery converter
is fully loaded and solely supplies the load of 5.1 A, a very minimum amount of circulating current in the range of
microamperes is encountered between the fuel cell and the battery converter as shown in Figure 14H and detailed in
Table 5. As it is a nighttime scenario, solar PV converter and its respective circulating current will be zero.
The last and final case to validate in experimental results is the power sharing between renewable power sources
depending on the availability of the resources in an entire day. Hence, this case analysis is discussed in such a way that
the power sharing concepts are considered in daytime and nighttime as well. Pertaining to the daytime, the power shar-
ing is scheduled by SSA, such that the solar power is solely supplying the load as shown in Figure 15A or sharing the
26 of 28 MS ET AL.

F I G U R E 1 5 A, Indigenous power supply from solar PV during daytime. B, Power sharing by solar PV and fuel cell during daytime. C,
Power sharing by solar PV and battery during daytime. D, Indigenous power supply from battery during nighttime. E, Hardware
experimental laboratory setup

power with fuel cell as shown in Figure 15B or sharing the power with battery as shown in Figure 15C,D. Similarly,
during night, most of the load is supplied by battery irrespective of the availability of fuel cell. Power from the fuel cell
is consumed, if and only if, the load is higher above the battery power and this case is controlled by SSA after receiving
MS ET AL. 27 of 28

a proper authentication received from the user. The entire experimental hardware setup with dSPACE-DS-1202 along
with the CDP is shown in Figure 15E.
Ending with the summary of the above test cases and its validation, this paper emphasizes the importance of effec-
tive energy conversion and appropriate power management. Even though the discussed technique requires a typical
knowledge in interfacing concepts and hardware-in-loop programming, this methodology will help the microgrid oper-
ators to have an autonomous, self-regulated system without having a maximum manual intervention.

6 | C ON C L U S I ON

This paper has implemented the proposed BT-SMC control strategy for controlling the voltage regulation and proper
current sharing, depending on the resource availability along with SSA technique along with the mitigation of circulat-
ing current nearer to zero in a rapid time. The comparative table analysis given in Table 3 justifies the excellent power
sharing between the converters with good voltage regulation. Similarly, Table 4 emphasizes the improved control
response characteristics of the BT-SMC when compared to the conventional SMC, and the characteristics curve shows
that BT-SMC responded well with a quick settling time of 0.3 second and absence of ringing effect as well. Regarding
the simulation and experimental results, the SSA technique performs in an excellent manner to support the load based
on the resource availability. Similarly, in simulation analysis of the BT-SMC technique for circulating current, mitiga-
tion takes 0.07 second to reach the zero circulating current. However, in experimental results, few microamperes of cir-
culating current are present during the nighttime and especially when the power is supplied from the battery. The
above justifications with the proposed BT-SMC technique have achieved proper voltage regulation at the output with-
out compromising the system dynamics. Hence, the life time of the passive components used in the circuit, loads con-
nected, and the life time of the battery are increased. Another important advantage is that the power from the fuel cell
and battery is effectively used, such that the fuel consumption and the charging cycle of the battery are highly reduced.
Robustness on par with stability and trajectory tracking has also been established. The demonstrated BT-SMC tech-
nique is generic and illustrated for a low power application and the same can be escalated for higher power rating, and
also virtual filtering control can be developed as an add-on with the BT-SMC for removing the ripples in the power
supply.

A C K N O WL E D G M E N T S
This work was carried out in G.D. Naidu Research Laboratory/Center for Renewable Energy, which was funded by the
Government of India with a fund of Rs.1 crore/10 million USD (Ref.No SR/FST/COLLEGE – 096/2017) at Kongu Engi-
neering College, Tamil Nadu, India.

P EE R R EV IE W
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/2050-7038.12899.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that supports the findings of this study are available in the supplementary material of this article.

ORCID
Bharatiraja Chokkalingam https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-2119

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How to cite this article: MS K, Nattuthurai S, Chokkalingam B, Mihet-Popa L. Mitigation of circulating current
with effective energy management in low-power PV-FC-battery-microgrid. Int Trans Electr Energ Syst. 2021;
e12899. https://doi.org/10.1002/2050-7038.12899