A Voltage and Frequency Droop Control
Method for Microsources
Xing Huang, Xinmin Jin, Tianyi Ma, Yibin Tong
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, China
E-mail: 07121940@mail.bjtu.edu.cn
jinxm@bjtu.edu.cn
08117321@bjtu.edu.cn
Abstract — This paper focuses on a control method for
microsources which can work as AC voltage sources, instead of
AC current sources. The microsources can not only provide AC
power in grid-connected mode, but also control the frequency and
voltage for the microgrid load in island mode. By using the
voltage and frequency droop control method, the microsources
can realize the “plug-and-play” concept: share the load
automatically by using only the local information, i.e. the voltage,
frequency, instead of the communications with the other
microsources or the microgrid central control system. The
microsources can work in parallel to the grid or as an island.
When the microgrid system disconnects from the grid, caused by
the grid’s short current or power failure, the microsources can
keep on working for the microgrid loads, without restart process.
Detailed analysis is shown in this paper, and experimentations on
a 25kVA three phase inverter have been done to prove the
performance of this method.
I. INSTRUCTION
Different from traditional centralized generating facilities,
the distributed energy resources (DER) can be directly used in
the distribution system. This change is very important, because
it reduces the physical and electrical distance between
generations and loads, furthermore, reduces the distribution
and transmission bottlenecks [1].
A wide range of prime mover technologies can be used for
DER: some of them are traditional technologies such gas
turbines and internal combustion engines; some of them are
emerging technologies such as fuel cells and wind power.
Most of the emerging technologies, for example, wind power
and photovoltaic systems, must have inverters to convert the
prime mover’s output power before they generate the power to
the grid, which means the control of the inverter is very
important in the application of DER.
One of the basic objectives for the distributed technology is
to realize numbers of DER being used in the distribution
system; it leads to a technical difficult: the control of a
significant number of the distributed energy resources. In order
to expand the application of DER, improve the stability of the
grid, a better way is to rebuild all the DER and associated
loads as a subsystem or a “microgrid” [2].
According to the CERTS microgrid concept, a microgrid
system has three basic components [1] [2]:
i) An unlimited quantity of distributed microsources
into the microsystem.
ii) Sensitive loads with special requirements, like the
high stability of power supply and so on.
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iii) Only one static switch between the microgrid and
main grid, and this switch can disconnect the
sensitive loads from the grid once it is necessary.
Along with the application of the new energy technology
and the complicated requirements of microgrid loads, power
electronic equipments are more and more widely used in
microgrid system, most of the microsources are inverters
instead of synchronous generators. The microsources should
not only provide the power but also control the AC voltage
amplitude and frequency in island mode. Therefore the
microsources work as AC voltage sources, instead of AC
current sources. Furthermore, it is possible for the AC voltage
sources to realize the switch from grid-connected mode to
island mode without restart process, providing a better power
supply for the microgrid loads.
As the parallel of voltage sources is more difficult than the
parallel of current sources, some people have used the voltage
and frequency droop control to solve this problem [4-8]. This
control method is not a new idea; it has been widely used in
the generator governors [3]. By using these voltage and
frequency droop control characteristics, all generators in the
electrical power system can share the load automatically even
without communications, which is called primary frequency
regulation. From this point, lots of people have tried to make
the voltage and frequency droop control characteristics into the
control of inverters, which can provide a right way to parallel
the microsources [8-15].
Compare with [8-15] ，this paper provides another method
on the voltage and frequency droop control, and
experimentations on a 25kVA three phase inverter can be
shown to prove the performance of this method.
II. THEORY
Fig.1 shows the topological circuit of the microsource. The
output voltage of the inverter involves full of harmonic,
therefore a LC filter ( LF and CF ) is necessary. The transformer
is used to provide electrical isolation and the neutral point for
the AC load bus.
By using voltage sensors and current sensors, the controller
can get the waveforms of the load bus voltage Vabc (t ) and the
microsource output current I abc (t ) . The phase locking loop
K
(PLL) block outputs the load bus voltage vector V ’s phase
angle ∠θV and fundamental frequency fV . By using Vabc (t ) ,
I abc (t ) and ∠θV , the controller can get the load bus voltage
 K K
vector V ’s amplitude V and the microsource output current jX d
K
vector I . G
Ignore the capacitive filter and stray resistance between the G I G PL +Q L j
inverter and the load bus, assume that there is only an E V
inductance X d between the inverter output and load bus.
(a)
X d = ω 0 L∑ = ω 0 ( LF + Lδ ) = 2πfV ( LF + Lδ ) (1) G
E G
Notice that ω0 is the fundamental angular frequency of the
G jX d I ϕ
δ V
load bus voltage, L∑ is the sum of the filter inductance LF and ϕ G
I
the transformer leak inductance Lδ .
Fig.2 (a) shows the simplified model of the microsource, all (b)
the vectors and their associated reference direction can be seen Fig.2 Phase diagram for the microsource
in it. Fig.2 (b) is the vector diagram of the microsource. According to the associated reference direction shown in
Assume the injected active power ( PL ) and reactive power Fig.2 (a): PL > 0 means the microsource is injecting active
( QL ) by the microsource are described as (3) and (4): power to the load bus, PL < 0 means the microsource is
K K absorbing active power from the load bus; QL > 0 means the
S = V × I * = PL + QL j (2) microsource is injecting inductive reactive power to the load
bus; QL < 0 means the microsource is injecting capacitive
PL = VI cosϕ (3)
reactive power to the load bus.
QL = VI sin ϕ (4) When power angle δ is small(less than 0.1rad), it can be
Notice that cos ϕ is the power factor, ϕ = ∠θV − ∠θ I ; δ assumed that: sin δ ≈ δ and cos δ ≈ 1 , which means (9) and
(10) can be simplified:
is the power angle, δ = ∠θ E − ∠θV .
EV EV EV
Using geometry knowledge, equation (5) and (6) can be got: PL = sin δ ≈ δ= (θ E − θV ) (11)
Xd Xd Xd
X d I cosϕ = E sin δ (5)
EV V2 V
QL = cosδ − ≈ (E − V ) (12)
X d I sin ϕ + V = E cos δ (6) Xd Xd Xd
Thus (5) and (6) can be rewritten as (7) and (8): G
The controller can measure the load bus voltage V , and
K
1 (7) control the inverter output voltage E . Thus (11) means the
I cos ϕ = E sin δ
Xd injected active power PL by the microsource is proportional to
the power angle δ , the controller can control PL by changing
1 (8) K
I sin ϕ = ( E cos δ − V ) inverter output voltage vector E ’s phase angle ∠θ E ; equation
Xd
With (7) and (8), (3) and (4) are rewritten as: (12) means the injected reactive power QL is proportional to
K K
1 the amplitude difference of E and V , the controller can
PL = VI cos ϕ = EV sin δ (9) K
Xd control QL by changing the amplitude of E . Equation (11) and
(12) are the basic equations of the voltage and frequency droop
1
QL = VI sinϕ = (EV cosδ − V 2 ) (10) control method.
Xd
III. CONTROL METHOD
Assume the load bus voltage is balanced, and the “q axis” in
the dq synchronously rotating frame is coaxial with the load
K K K K
bus voltage vector V , then Vd = 0 , Vq = V and the transform
K
function is described in (13). The controller can use Vq as the
K
controlled variable, instead of V , shown in Fig.3.

Fig.1 Microsource topological graph

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 Pref = F ( fV ) = m1 ( fV − f MAX ) (15)
G Equation (16) in the “Q versus V Droop Characteristic”
Vq
module is used to calculate the reactive power reference Qref :
ω 0t
m2 is the ratio of the voltage droop control characteristic
( m2 = − VMAX − VMIN ), VMAX is the maximum of V , QMAX is
2QMAX
the maximum of microsource output reactive power.
Fig.3 Frames in the microsource controller Qref = F (| V |) = m2 (VMAX − | V |) (16)
⎡ 1 1⎤
⎢ 1 − − ⎥ Notice that m1 , m2 , f MAX , VMAX are the set points of
⎡Vq ⎤ ⎡1 cosθV − sin θV ⎤ ⎢ 2 2 ⎡Va ⎤
⎥
⎢ ⎥ 2⎢ ⎥ ⎢ 3 3 ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ (13) microsource droop control characteristics, which are
V =
⎢ d⎥ 3⎢ 0 sin θ cos θ 0 − Vb
2 ⎥⎢ ⎥
V V ⎥ unchangeable in the microsource controller.
⎢ 2
⎢V0 ⎥ ⎣⎢0 0 0 ⎦⎥ ⎢ 1 1 1 ⎥ ⎣⎢Vc ⎦⎥ Using these droop control characteristics, as Pref is the
⎣ ⎦
⎢2 2 2 ⎥⎦
⎣ function of fV , Qref is the function of V , the microsource can
Fig. 4 shows the overview of this control method. The load calculate its requested power by using only the local
bus voltage frequency fV is sensed by the Phase Locking information: the load bus voltage amplitude and frequency,
instead of the communications with other microsources or the
Loop (PLL), and the load bus voltage amplitude V is
microgrid central control system. The microsources can realize
calculated by the rotating frame transforming block. The active the “plug-and-play” concept: some of the microsources can be
power reference Pref is given by the “P versus f Droop connected to the load bus, provide power, and share the load
Characteristic” module. The reactive power reference Qref is automatically without noticing the microgrid central control
system.
given by the “Q versus V Droop Characteristic” module. The
“Frequency Control” module is used to output the phase angle
K B. Frequency Control Module
∠θ E of the inverter output voltage E , while the “Voltage
According to (11), the injected active power PL by the
Control” module is used to output the amplitude | E | .The
K microsource is proportional to the power angle δ , the
PWM block can transform vector E into the PWM gate pulses controller can control PL by changing inverter output voltage
which are used to control the IGBTs in the inverter. K
Equation (14) is used to calculate the instantaneous power vector E ’s phase angle ∠θ E . The “Frequency Control”
injected by the microsource. method is used to calculate the desired phase angle ∠θ E of
G
Pfb = 1.5(Vq I q + Vd I d ) the inverter output E . The inputs of this module are reference
{ (14)
Q fb = 1.5(Vq I d − Vd I q ) power Pref , measured power Pfb and load bus frequency fV ; the
G
A. Droop Control Characteristics ∠θ E of the inverter output E .
output is the desired phase angle
Equation (15) in the “P versus f Droop Characteristic” The inverter output frequency f E is given as (17). Notice
module is used to calculate the active power reference Pref : m1
that the regulated component Δf is the function of the power
is the ratio of the frequency droop control characteristic error ΔP , and k f is the control factor. Through the integration
( m = − f MAX − f MIN ), f MAX is the maximum of fV , PMAX is
1 block, the controller can get the desired phase angle ∠θ of
PMAX G E

the maximum of microsource output active power. the inverter output E .

fV
f E = f V + Δf = f V + k f ΔP (17)
fV Pref θE
θV C. Voltage Control Module
Vabc abc VdVq Pfb
E According to (12), the injected reactive power QL is
I abc dq I d I q Q fb K K
proportional to the amplitude difference of E and V , the
K
V Qref controller can control QL by changing the amplitude of E .
E This “Voltage Control” module is used to calculate the desired
Vn inverter output voltage amplitude E . The inputs are desired
Fig.4 Overview of the control method

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power Qref , measured power Q fb , rated load bus voltage Vn ;
the output is the desired inverter output voltage amplitude E .
The regulated component ΔV is generated from the error
power ΔQ through a PI controller. E is the summation of
rated voltage Vn and ΔV .
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to test this control method, an experimental circuit
is designed in Fig.5. Two microsources and an electrical load
are paralleled to the load bus. The grid connects to the load bus
through a switch, which is used to switch the load bus from
grid-connected mode to island mode.
The droop control characteristics of two microsources are
the same, shown in Fig.6. There is no communication between
the microsources. Turn on the switch between the grid and the
load bus, as the grid frequency is 50Hz, the set point of the
microsources is PO1 .
When the load bus transfers into island mode by turning off
the switch between the grid and the load bus, the grid current
Iga is cut off. The power set point of the microsources changes
from PO1 to PO 2 , thus the microsources have to feed the load
independently. As the power set point PO 2 is not a stable state
according to the “P versus f Droop Characteristic” of the
microsources in Fig.6, the microsources have to control the
load bus frequency to change gradually from point PO 2 to
point PO 3 .
Fig.7 is the waveforms when the load bus transfers from
grid-connected mode to island mode. The moment marked by
the arrow is the moment the load bus islanding.
Before the islanding, the switch in Fig.5 is on, and the load
bus is grid-connected. I ma1 is microsource1’s output current,
I ma 2 is microsource2’s output current. From the waveforms in
Fig.7, it can be got that the sum of I ma1 and I ma 2 is bigger than
the load current I la , which means the load bus is injecting
power to the grid, and the switch current I ga > 0 .
Load bus
Inverter1 LF1 ABCN
Ima1
CF1
Inverter2 LF2
Ima2
CF2
Iga Switch
Ila
Load
Fig.5 Experimental circuit
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fV
PO1 PO 2
50Hz
PO 3
o P
Fig.6 Frequency droop control characteristic
Turn off the switch, the load bus transfers from grid-
connected mode to island mode. Notice that during the
islanding moment (marked by the arrow in Fig.7), load bus
voltage V AB is still a sine waveform, which means the
microsources can still provide voltage for the load, without
restart process.
In the island mode, as the “P versus f Droop Characteristic”
of the microsource1 and microsource2 is the same, the
microsource1’s output current I ma1 is the same as
microsource1’s output current I ma 2 ,(shown in Fig.7) which can
prove the performance on load share of microsource1 and
microsource2.
Fig.8 is the waveforms when the load bus works in island
mode. Microsource1 and microsource2 work as voltage
sources, and each of them shares half of the load automatically
by using the droop control method.
The experiments can prove that this droop control method
can realize the microsource to run stably not only in grid-
connected mode, but also in island mode. There is no
communication between the microsources; the microsources
share the load automatically by only the local information.
Besides, the microsources can island without restart process,
which can provide a better power supply for the microgrid load.
In island mode, the microsources can change the load bus
frequency and voltage automatically according to the droop
control characteristics.
Fig.7 Waveforms during the transformation from grid-connected mode to
island mode (CH1:VAB, 100V/div; CH2: Ima1, 10A/div; CH3: Ima2, 10A/div;
CH4:Ila, 10A/div)
U
V Grid
W
N
Fig.8 Waveforms in island mode (CH1:VAB,100V/div; CH2:Ima1, 10A/div;
CH3: Ima2, 10A/div; CH4:Ila, 10A/div)
 V. CONCLUSION
This paper provides a droop control method for
microsources, which works as AC voltage sources, instead of
AC current sources: the microsources generate the power to
the grid in a dispatched power mode, but control the frequency
and meet the load during island section. By using the voltage
and frequency droop control method, the microsources can
realize the “plug-and-play” concept: share the load
automatically by using only the local information, i.e. the
voltage, frequency, instead of the communications with other
microsources or the microgrid central control system. The
microgrid should realize the uninterrupted power supply for
the loads: the microgrid can island from the grid during some
grid events, i.e. the voltage collapse, frequency droop. The
analysis and experiments can prove that this method can
realize the microsource to transform from grid-connected
mode to island mode without restart process, and keep on
working stably in both modes.
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