3520 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO.

4, APRIL 2018

Power Management for a Hybrid AC/DC Microgrid

With Multiple Subgrids
Yanghong Xia , Student Member, IEEE, Wei Wei, Miao Yu , Member, IEEE, Xiaoming Wang ,
and Yonggang Peng , Member, IEEE

Abstract—This paper proposes a new topology of a hybrid ac/dc

microgrid, where there are multiple subgrids connected to the
common bus by bidirectional ac/dc converters (BADCs) and bidi-
rectional dc/dc converters (BDDCs) in the system. The rated ac
frequencies in different ac subgrids and the rated dc voltages in
different dc subgrids can be different for different applications.
All the storages in the system are concentrated to form a stor-
age subgrid for convenient management and high efficiency, which
maintains the common bus voltage. To ensure the hybrid microgrid
operates well, a proper power management method is necessary to
control the power flow among multiple subgrids. This paper pro-
poses a decentralized power management method for the hybrid
microgrid to make the interacted subgrids operate in coordina-
tion and support each other. First, taking the characteristics of the
common bus configuration into consideration, a Pd c − vd2 c droop
control strategy is proposed to maintain the common bus voltage
and to realize power sharing among storages in the storage sub-
grid. Second, as the interaction among multiple subgrids is more
Fig. 1. Topology of the hybrid ac/dc microgrid.
complicated compared to the conventional hybrid, a coordinated
power control strategy based on the common bus voltage, ac sub-
grid frequency, and dc subgrid voltage is designed for the BADCs
and BDDCs to realize the power interaction among different sub- multiple ac and dc subgrids, in which the ac or dc distributed
grids. Furthermore, the proposed strategy takes the capacities and generations (DGs) and loads are located in the ac subgrids or dc
load types of each subgrid into consideration; hence, it is still suit- subgrids, respectively. Hence, the hybrid microgrid can exploit
able when the capacities of subgrids are mismatched and it can the prominent features of both ac and dc microgrids. However,
ensure the power quality of the subgrids with high proportion of
critical loads. The effectiveness of the proposed power management
compared to the pure ac or dc microgrids, the power man-
method is verified by the real-time hardware-in-loop tests. agement for the hybrid microgrid is more complex because of
the coexistence and interaction of ac and dc subgrids. Without
Index Terms—Coordinated control, hybrid ac/dc microgrid, a proper power management strategy, the stable and reliable
multiple subgrids, power management.
operation of the hybrid microgrid will be degraded. Hence,
I. INTRODUCTION the design of power management is the main challenge for
exploiting the advantages of the hybrid microgrid.
HE hybrid ac/dc microgrids have been grasping more and
T more attention with their high reliability and high flexibil-
ity when the renewable energy sources are integrated into the
For different applications, the configuration of hybrid micro-
grids can be different. The conventional hybrid microgrid usu-
ally contains one ac subgrid and one dc subgrid; hence, there
power system [1], [2]. The hybrid microgrid contains one or
is only one kind of rated ac frequency and rated dc voltage in
the system, which cannot meet the demands of various types of
Manuscript received November 22, 2016; revised February 9, 2017 and April modern loads, thus limiting the application of the hybrid mi-
18, 2017; accepted May 8, 2017. Date of publication May 17, 2017; date of cur-
rent version January 3, 2018. This work was supported in part by the National crogrid. Focusing on this problem, this paper proposes a new
Key Research and Development Program under Grant 2016YFB0900503, in part topology of a hybrid microgrid as shown in Fig. 1, where there
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51377142 are multiple ac and dc subgrids with different rated ac frequen-
and Grant 61603333, in part by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foun-
dation of China under Grant LY16E070002, and in part by the Fundamental Re- cies and rated dc voltages. On the other hand, for the convenient
search Funds for the Central Universities of China under Grant 2016QNA4017. management and high efficiency, all the storages in the system
Recommended for publication by Associate Editor Giovanna Oriti. are concentrated to form a storage subgrid. The storage subgrid
(Corresponding author: Miao Yu.)
The authors are with the College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang Univer- maintains the dc voltage of the common bus, to which different
sity, Hangzhou 310027, China (e-mail: royxiayh@126.com; wwei@zju.edu.cn; ac and dc subgrids are connected by bidirectional ac/dc convert-
zjuyumiao@gmail.com; wxm_15@zju.edu.cn; pengyg@zju.edu.cn). ers (BADCs) and bidirectional dc/dc converters (BDDCs), re-
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. spectively. Compared to the conventional hybrid microgrid, the
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2017.2705133 amount of the subgrids has been increased, then the interaction
0885-8993 © 2017 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS
among the subgrids is more complicated and the system re-
liability is more challenged. Thus, the power management of
controlling the power flow among multiple subgrids is more
difficult.
Because the storage subgrid maintains the common bus volt-
age, its stable and reliable operation is extremely important for
the whole hybrid microgrid. The storage subgrid usually con-
tains multiple storages; a coordinated control strategy is needed
to realize the power sharing. A master–slave control method
based on the fast communication techniques has been studied
in [3] and [4]. But this kind of approach needs critical com-
munication device and the system is difficult to ride through
communicational malfunctions, hence the reliability of the sys-
tem is degraded. To increase the reliability of the system, the
decentralized control methods of the idc − vdc droop and its
modified versions are widely researched [5]–[11]. The funda-
mental principle of the droop control is introduced in detail
and some improvement measures are made to improve the per-
formance of the droop control in [5]. To realize the seamless
switching, a distributed control strategy based on the droop con-
trol is proposed in [6], in which the control method is unified in
different modes. The limitations of idc − vdc droop is analyzed
in [7], then the accuracy of dc current sharing is improved and
the deviation of dc voltage is eliminated by an average volt-
age and an average current signal based on the low-bandwidth
communication (LBC) system, but the time-delay effect of LBC
is not well analyzed. Xia et al. [8] proposed a unified control
method for the grid-connected and the islanded dc microgrid
based on the LBC. The proposed control method can realize
accurate dc current sharing and can directly restore the average
dc bus voltage. In addition, the time-delay effect of LBC is ana-
lyzed. Furthermore, the drawbacks of the conventional idc − vdc
droop are also overcome by the distributed secondary control in
[9] and [10]. But the aforementioned control strategies do not
consider the influence of constant power loads (CPLs). When
the system contains the CPLs, the steady relationship between
the output current and the output voltage is nonlinear, thus the
performance of the system will be degraded if the conventional
idc − vdc droop is adopted [11].
Another crucial problem of the hybrid microgrid is the power
management among multiple subgrids. If the power interaction
among these subgrids works properly, then the subgrids can
support each other and thus the reliability of the system can
be enhanced. The subgrids are connected to the common bus
by the BADCs and BDDCs, which provide the voltage support
for the corresponding subgrids. The interlinking converters of
BADCs and BDDCs take the role of supplier to one subgrid and
act as a load to the other subgrids. Therefore, the interaction
of theses subgrids is very complicated. For the conventional
hybrid microgrid with only one dc subgrid and one ac subgrid
connected by the BADC, there have been several power manage-
ment strategies among these two ac and dc subgrids [12]–[20].
Nejabatkhah and Li [12] summarize some power management
strategies of hybrid microgrids and propose the development
trends of hybrid microgrids. A power management strategy is
designed to realize proper power interaction based on the nor-
malized ac frequency and dc voltage in [13], which makes the
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3521
relative changes of the frequency and voltage equal. From the
point of view of power balance, an ac–dc droop control method
based on the characteristics of ω − Pac and Vdc 2
− Pdc is devel-
oped for the BADC in the hybrid microgrid to control the power
flow between the ac subgrid and dc subgrid in [14]. Through the
proposed control method, the two subgrids can be treated as a
unified system and the sources in the hybrid microgrid can share
the load power in coordination. In [15], a new BADC topology
whose dc link contains storages in the hybrid microgrid is pro-
posed and an autonomous power control strategy is designed
for this kind of BADC to make the two subgrids support each
other. Taking the distributed storages (DSs) into consideration, a
distributed power control and management method is proposed
for a three-port hybrid microgrid that includes ac, dc, and DS
subgrids [16]. The proposed method includes three levels: local
power sharing, global power sharing, and storage power sharing,
which can reduce the loss of unnecessary power exchange and
prolong storage lifetime. Similar with the control of pure ac or
dc microgrid, a typical hierarchical control system is developed
for the hybrid microgrid in [17]. Furthermore, some intelligent
control methods are also applied in power management of the
hybrid microgrid. A fuzzy control method for the power man-
agement of battery banks in a hybrid microgrid is proposed in
[20] to realize state of charge (SOC) control and to extend the
battery lifetime.
However, the aforementioned power management methods
have inherent limitations when they are applied in the studied
hybrid microgrid with multiple subgrids studied in this paper.
First, the aforementioned methods are mainly applicable for the
hybrid microgrid in which the capacities of two subgrids are
symmetrical. If the capacities of two subgrids are mismatched,
the contribution from the weak side to stabilize the power
fluctuation of the system is very limited, which degrades the
performance of the power management and may cause power
oscillations between the two subgrids. Hence, the power in-
teraction strategy should take the capacities of subgrids into
consideration to accommodate subgrids with different capac-
ities. Second, the aforementioned methods only consider the
circumstance of one ac subgrid and one dc subgrid. But the
studied hybrid microgrid contains multiple ac and dc subgrids,
the interaction among the multiple subgrids is more compli-
cated, which includes the interaction among ac and dc subgrids,
ac and ac subgrids, and dc and dc subgrids. Therefore, for the
coordinated operation of different subgrids in the studied hy-
brid microgrid, a new power management method is necessary
to control the power flow among these subgrids.
Focusing on these problems, this paper proposes a decen-
tralized power management method for the hybrid microgrid
with multiple subgrids. The proposed approach can make the
subgrids operate in coordination and support each other when
the power of the system is fluctuated. Then, the reliability of
the hybrid microgrid can be ensured. Concretely, the power
management method realizes the coordinated operation of the
hybrid microgrid in two aspects. First, as shown in Fig. 1, all
the subgrids are connected to the common bus through BADCs
and BDDCs, which provide voltage support and balance the
power for the subgrids. Hence, the external characteristics of
3522
these BADCs and BDDCs can be considered as the combination
of CPLs and passive loads (such as the resistive loads). Taking
these characteristics into consideration, a droop control strat-
egy based on Pdc − vdc 2
is proposed for the storages located in
the storage subgrid to realize power sharing and to maintain
the common bus voltage in coordination. The proposed control
strategy is decentralized; hence, the reliability of the system
can be improved. Furthermore, compared to the conventional
idc − vdc droop, both the steady and dynamic relationships be-
2
tween Pdc and vdc are linear while the relationship between idc
and vdc is nonlinear when the system contains CPLs. Therefore,
the proposed Pdc − vdc 2
droop strategy can enhance the perfor-
mance of the storage subgrid and maintain the stable common
bus voltage. Second, to realize power interaction among differ-
ent subgrids, a decentralized coordinated power control strategy
based on the common bus voltage, ac subgrid frequency, and dc
subgrid voltage is designed for BADCs and BDDCs considering
the capacities and load types of subgrids.
The proposed control strategy is simple in form, yet it can re-
alize proper power management for multiple subgrids although
the interaction among subgrids is very complicated. Through the
coordinated control strategy, the subgrids can support each other
and share the power fluctuation of the system in coordination.
Furthermore, the proposed coordinated power control strategy
considers the capacities and load types of subgrids; it is still
suitable when the capacities of subgrids are mismatched and it
can ensure the power quality of the subgrids with high propor-
tion of critical loads. The comparison between this proposed
power management method and the existing power manage-
ment method for the hybrid ac/dc microgrid is shown in Table I.
The effectiveness of the proposed power management method
is verified by the real-time hardware-in-loop (HIL) tests based
on the RTLAB and STM32F407 MCUs.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In
Section II, the topology of the proposed hybrid microgrid is
introduced in detail. In Section III, Pdc − vdc 2
droop strategy is
proposed and its advantages are analyzed. At the same time,
the droop control for ac and dc subgrids is presented. Then, the
coordinated power control strategy for BADCs and BDDCs is
discussed in Section IV. In Section V, the performance of the
proposed power management method is demonstrated through
HIL tests. At last, the conclusion is drawn in Section VI.
II. PROPOSED HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID TOPOLOGY
The proposed topology of the hybrid ac/dc microgrid is shown
in Fig. 1. There are multiple ac and dc subgrids with different
rated ac frequencies and rated dc voltages in the hybrid mi-
crogrid. The typical ac frequency in North America is 60 Hz
and the typical ac frequency in China is 50 Hz; thus, some
loads made in one place may be unadapted to another place if
they are sensitive to the ac frequency when only one kind of
ac frequency exists in the system. Also, the high-frequency ac
system is widely used in practice with its high efficiency and
low harmonic distortion such as to drive high-frequency induc-
tion motors for compressors, high-pressure pumps, and so on
[21]–[24]. On the other hand, different dc loads such as LED
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, APRIL 2018
lighting, electric vehicle, and so on require different voltage
levels. Hence, if the hybrid microgrid contains only one ac fre-
quency and only one dc voltage, the scope of application will be
limited. The proposed hybrid microgrid can be compatible with
multiple rated ac frequencies and dc voltages, so it can solve
this problem well.
In the hybrid microgrid, the ac subgrids contain many ac DGs,
such as photovoltaic generation (PV), wind turbine, and so on,
which transform renewable energy sources into ac electrical
energy, while the dc subgrids contain many dc DGs, such as PV
and so on, which transform renewable energy sources into dc
electrical energy. The ac subgrid with the same rated frequency
as the utility is connected to utility through the point of common
coupling (PCC).
For the convenient management, all the storages are concen-
trated to form a storage subgrid, which maintains the voltage of
the common bus. On the other hand, compared to the DSs lo-
cated in ac and dc subgrids, the centralized storage subgrid can
decrease conversation stages when the power of storages is con-
trolled to flow from one subgrid to another subgrid. Hence, the
efficiency can be improved. Furthermore, for the DSs, the com-
mon bus voltage needs to be stabilized by BADCs and BDDCs,
which will make the control strategies of BADCs and BDDCs
complicated. But for the centralized storage subgrid, the com-
mon bus voltage is maintained by the storages themselves, then
the functions of BADCs/BDDCs and storages can be decoupled
and the control strategies can be easier. All the ac and dc sub-
grids are connected to the common bus through BADCs and
BDDCs, which provide voltage support for the corresponding
subgrids. Furthermore, through the common bus, all subgrids
are connected with each other.
The intermittent DGs in ac and dc subgrids such as PV, wind
turbine, and so on operate in the maximum power point tracking
(MPPT) mode. The BADCs and BDDCs which provide volt-
age support for ac and dc subgrids are controlled by the droop
strategy, then the ac frequency and dc voltage can indicate the
power of the corresponding subgrid is in shortage or in surplus.
The hybrid microgrid can operate in the grid-connected mode or
the islanded mode by closing or opening PCC. Compared to the
grid-connected mode, the power management in the islanded
mode is more challenging, which is the main research focus of
this paper.
III. DROOP CONTROL FOR SUBGRIDS
As mentioned above, the intermittent DGs in ac and dc sub-
grids operate in MPPT mode and many published literature
have studied the MPPT control methods in detail [25]–[28].
The control for intermittent DGs is not the key point of this
paper as some conventional strategies can be adopted. This sec-
tion mainly analyzes the droop control strategies for different
subgrids.
A. Droop Control for Storage Subgrid
The storage subgrid is mainly to maintain the common bus
voltage and to balance the power of the system in the islanded
mode. The typical structure of a storage located in the storage
XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS 3523

TABLE I
COMPARISON OF POWER MANAGEMENT METHODS FOR HYBRID MICROGRIDS

Main Strategies Main Features

Power Based on Based on Power Quality SOC Control Consider Accommodate

Management Normalized Power Control of Storages Load Types Multiple
Methods Voltage and Balance and Subgrid Subgrids
Frequency Capacity

Ref. [13]  
Ref. [14]  
Ref. [15]   
Ref. [16]   
The Proposed    
Method

considered as the combination of CPLs and passive loads. As

shown in Fig. 2(b), when the storage provides power for CPLs,
the relationship between the output dc current idc and the output
dc voltage vdc can be derived as
⎧
⎪ dvdc
⎨Cs = iin − idc
dt (1)
⎪
⎩ idc = vdc + Pc
Rload vdc
where Cs is the capacitance of the capacitive filter, iin is the
input current, Rload is the resistance of the passive load, and
Pc is the rated power of the CPL. From (1), it can be seen
that the relationship between idc and vdc is nonlinear. Hence,
the performance of power regulation will be degraded if the
conventional idc − vdc droop strategy is adopted.
However, if we take the power balance shown in Fig. 2(b)
into consideration, the following equation can be derived:
⎧
⎪
⎪ 1 dv 2
⎨ Cs dc = Pin − Pdc
2 dt (2)
⎪
⎪ v2
⎩Pdc = dc + Pc
Rload
where Pin is the input power and Pdc is the output power.
From (2), it can be concluded that the relationship between
Pdc and vdc2
is linear. Then, a new Pdc − vdc 2
droop strategy
can be designed, which will enhance the performance of the
system. The proposed droop strategy consists of two loops. The
Fig. 2. Structure and control for the storage. (a) Structure and control strategy. 2
(b) Simplified circuit diagram when the CPL is connected to the storage.
inner loop is mainly to control vdc to track the reference value
generated by the outer loop, while the outer loop is composed
by the Pdc − vdc 2
droop strategy which realizes power sharing
and generates reference value for the inner loop. The whole
subgrid is shown in Fig. 2(a), in which the battery is connected to control strategy is presented in Fig. 2(a), where the rated output
the common bus through a bidirectional boost dc/dc converter. dc power is set zero.
Usually, there are multiple storages to share the large power flow First, we introduce the inner loop. To adapt to the proposed
and a power management method is strongly needed to realize Pdc − vdc2
droop strategy, the average model of the switch cycle
the power sharing among storages. For the sake of reliability of boost converter is established as follows if the loss of the
and economy (saving the cost of communication devices), the switch tubes and inductive filter is ignored:
dc droop is usually adopted to realize the power sharing. On ⎧
⎪ 1 dv 2
the other hand, all the subgrids are connected to the common ⎨ Cs dc = Vs · i1 − Pdc
bus through the BADCs and BDDCs, which provide voltage 2 dt (3)
support and balance the power for the subgrids. In the subgrids, ⎪
⎩L di1 + R · i = V − v
s s 1 s 1
the DGs operate in the MPPT mode; thus, they can be viewed dt
as a constant power source in a short time scale. Hence, the where Ls and Rs are the inductance and parasitic resistance of
external characteristics of these BADCs and BDDCs can be the inductive filter, respectively, Vs is the voltage of the battery

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3524 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, APRIL 2018

Fig. 3. Schematic of the proposed droop control. (a) Simplified circuit diagram
of the kth storage. (b) Proposed P d c − v d2 c droop curve for the kth storage.

which can be approximately viewed as a constant, v1 is the

output voltage of the switch tube, and i1 is the output current of Fig. 4. Structure and control for the BADC.
the battery.
Based on (3), a control strategy for the inner loop is designed
as shown in Fig. 2(a). First, a voltage controller consisting of B. Droop Control for AC and DC Subgrids
a proportional-integral (PI) controller can eliminate the static The ac and dc subgrids contain intermittent DGs which oper-
errors. Then, a current controller consisting of a proportional ate in the MPPT mode to provide power support for the system.
(P) controller is adopted to increase the system damping and The BADCs and BDDCs provide voltage support for the ac sub-
improve the system stability. grids and dc subgrids. There have been a lot of control methods
Then, we analyze the performance of the outer loop namely for the pure ac or dc microgrids in many published literature
the Pdc − vdc2
droop. The droop curve is shown in Fig. 3(b); the [5]–[11], [29]–[32]. In this paper, the conventional droop con-
control law can be expressed as trol is adopted for the BADCs and BDDCs, which will benefit
∗2
 ∗
 the design of coordinated power control among multiple sub-
dc,k = V cb − rk Pdc,k − Pdc,k
v ref 2
(4)
grids because the changes of ac frequency and dc voltage can
∗ ref represent the changes of power.
where k represents the kth storage, rk , Pdc,k , Pdc,k , and vdc,k are
the droop coefficient, output dc power, rated output dc power, The typical structure and the corresponding control strategy
and reference value of the output dc voltage for the inner loop for BADCs are presented in Fig. 4. The dc side of the BADC
∗ is connected to the common bus and the ac side is connected
of the kth storage, respectively, and Vcb is the rated common bus
voltage. to the ac bus through an LC filter. The whole control strategy
Viewing the inner loop as “1,” that is, vdc,k = vdc,k ref
, then consists of two loops. The inner loop is mainly to control the
considering Fig. 3(a) and (4), it can be concluded that output voltage vo to track the reference value generated by the
outer loop. The outer loop is mainly composed by the P − f
Pdc,k = and Q − V droop to generate reference value for the inner loop;

the control law can be expressed as
V ∗cb 2 + rk Pdc,k
∗
− rk Pdc,k − vdc,k vcb
vdc,k · idc,k = (5) f ref = (f ∗ + δf ) + m (P ∗ − P )
Rline,k (9)
V ref = V ∗ + n (Q∗ − Q)
that is,

where f ref and V ref are the reference output frequency and
V ∗cb 2 + rk Pdc,k
∗
− vdc,k vcb
Pdc,k = (6) voltage for the inner loop. f ∗ , V ∗ , m, n, P ∗ , Q∗ , P , and Q
Rline,k + rk are the rated frequency and voltage, droop coefficients, rated
where vcb is the common bus voltage and Rline,k is the line active power and reactive power, actual active power and re-
resistance. If rk  Rline,k and let H = (V ∗cb 2 + rk Pdc,k
∗
), then active power, respectively. f ∗ can be different in different ac
(6) can be written as subgrids for different applications. δf is the result of the co-
ordinated power control among multiple subgrids. From (9), it
rk H
Pdc,k − = −vdc,k . (7) can be concluded that if the active power of the ac microgrid is
vcb vcb in shortage (or in surplus), the frequency of the microgrid will
Combining (4) and (7), Pdc,k can be solved as become lower (or higher) correspondingly. Hence, the coordi-
nated power control among multiple subgrids can be designed
H − vcb
2
Pdc,k = . (8) based on this.
rk The typical structure and the corresponding control strategy
∗
Usually Pdc,k and rk are set to match with each other accord- for BDDCs are presented in Fig. 5. Usually, the dc bus voltage
ing to the capacity of the storage, so H is the same for all the is lower than the common bus voltage, so the BDDC is a buck
storages. From (8), it can be concluded that if rk  Rline,k , the converter. The high-voltage side is connected to the common bus
output dc power Pdc,k is approximately inversely proportional and the low-voltage side is connected to the dc bus through an
to the droop coefficient rk . LC filter. The whole control strategy consists of two loops. The

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XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS 3525

Fig. 6. Coordinated power control strategy for BADCs and BDDCs. (a) Con-
trol strategy for the jth BADC. (b) Control strategy for the kth BDDC.

dc subgrids can be changed through regulating the correspond-

ing ac frequencies and dc voltages. Therefore, considering the
relative changes of frequency and voltage, a coordinated power
control strategy can be designed for BADCs and BDDCs based
Fig. 5. Structure and control for the BDDC. on the common bus voltage, ac frequencies, and dc voltages as
shown in Fig. 6. The control law can be expressed as
⎧ 
inner loop is mainly to control the output voltage vdc to track the ⎪
⎪ ki,j ∗
vcb − Vcb fj − fj∗
⎪δfj = kp,j +
⎪ − λj · m ax
reference value generated by the outer loop. The outer loop is ⎨ s m ax − V m in
Vcb fj − fjm in
cb
mainly composed by the idc − vdc droop to generate reference 
⎪
⎪ ki,k ∗
vcb − Vcb ∗
vdc,k − Vdc,k
value for the inner loop; the control law can be expressed as ⎪
⎪ − λk · m ax
⎩δvk = kp,k + s m ax − V m in
∗
Vcb cb Vdc,k − Vdc,km in
ref
vdc = (Vdc + δv) − r · idc (10)
(11)
ref where δfj and δvk are the results of the coordinated control that
where vdc
is the reference output dc voltage for the inner loop.
∗ are sent to the BADC of the jth ac subgrid and the BDDC of
Vdc , r, and idc are the rated dc voltage, droop coefficient, and
∗ the kth dc subgrid, respectively. kp,j is the proportional coeffi-
actual output dc current, respectively. Vdc can be different in dif-
ferent dc subgrids for different applications. δv is the result of cient and ki,j is the integral coefficient of the PI controller. vcb ,
∗ m ax m in
the coordinated power control among multiple subgrids. From Vcb , Vcb , and Vcb are the actual common bus voltage, the
(10), it can be concluded that if the power of the dc microgrid rated common bus voltage, the maximum and minimum of the
is in shortage (or in surplus), the voltage of the microgrid will allowable variation range of the common bus voltage. fj , fj∗ ,
become lower (or higher) correspondingly. Hence, the coordi- fjm ax , and fjm in are the actual frequency, the rated frequency,
nated power control among multiple subgrids can be designed the maximum and minimum of the allowable variation range of
based on this. the frequency in the jth ac subgrid. λj is the correction coeffi-
cient with consideration of capacity and load types of the jth ac
IV. COORDINATED POWER CONTROL AMONG subgrid. The meanings of the parameters of the control for the
MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS kth dc subgrid are similar.
In Section III, the power management and control method for On the other hand, the capacities and load types of the ac
the single subgrid has been introduced. In this section, the power and dc subgrids have significant influence on the effects of the
management strategy at the subgrid level is analyzed. There coordinated power control. If one subgrid capacity is greater
are multiple subgrids in the hybrid ac/dc microgrid, and the than the others, the contribution from the weak subgrid is very
interaction among these subgrids is complicated. Hence, there a limited; thus, the strong subgrid should absorb or release more
coordinated power control strategy is necessary to control the power. In addition, some loads are sensitive to the electric pa-
power flow and to realize proper power interaction among these rameters (e.g., ac frequency and dc voltage), which are called
subgrids. That is, when the power is fluctuated no matter in critical loads in this paper. The subgrid with higher proportion
ac subgrids or dc subgrids, all the subgrids need to share the of critical loads should not change its electric parameters dras-
fluctuation in coordination. Then, the subgrids can support each tically. In this paper, the correction coefficient λ is proposed to
other and the performance of the whole system can be enhanced. solve these problems. Based on the above-mentioned analysis,
As introduced in Section III, the subgrids are controlled based the correction coefficient of the jth subgrid (no matter ac or dc
on the droop strategy; hence, if the power is in shortage (or in subgrid) can be set as
surplus) in ac or dc subgrids, the ac frequencies or the dc voltages −1
Pjsum Pjcri
will become lower (or higher). Simultaneously, BADCs or BD- λj = · (12)
P sum Pjsum
DCs will absorb power from the common bus (or release power
to the common bus); thus, the common bus voltage will become where Pjsum and Pjcri are the total capacity and critical loads
lower (or higher). That is, the ac frequencies or dc voltages can capacity of the jth subgrid, respectively, and P sum is the total
represent the changes of power inside ac or dc subgrids, while capacity of the whole hybrid microgrid. From (12), it can be
the common bus voltage can represent the changes of power of concluded if the capacity is smaller and the proportion of critical
the whole hybrid microgrid system. Furthermore, the power of loads is larger, the correction coefficient of the subgrid is larger,
ac loads is related to the ac frequency and the power of dc loads then the changes of ac frequency or dc voltage of this subgrid
is related to the dc voltage; hence, the power of ac subgrids and will be smaller according to the control law of (11).

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3526 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, APRIL 2018

Fig. 7. Control effects of the coordinated power control.

From (11) and Fig. 6, it can be concluded that ac frequencies

and dc voltages decrease or increase at the same time. That
is, the power of all the ac subgrids and dc subgrids changes
in synchronization and all the subgrids can share the power
fluctuation in coordination. Furthermore, when the system is in
the steady state, the following equation can be obtained:

∗
vcb − Vcb f1 − f1∗
= λ1 ·
Vcb − Vcb
m ax m in f1m ax − f1m in
f2 − f2∗
= λ2 · = ...
f2m ax − f2m in
∗ ∗
vdc,k − Vdc,k vdc,k +1 − Vdc,k +1
= λk · m ax − V m in
= λk + 1 · = ....
+1 − Vdc,k +1
Vdc,k m ax
Vdc,k m in
dc,k
(13)

That is, through the proposed coordinated power control strat-

egy, the corrected relative changes of the ac frequencies and the
dc voltages can be equal, which can be illustrated by Fig. 7.
Assuming the load-damping constant of the jth subgrid is Dj ,
that is, when the ac frequency (or dc voltage) decreases 1 Hz
(or 1 V), the load power decreases Dj W. Combining (13), the
power sharing equation of the coordinated power control among
multiple subgrids can be derived as

ΔP1 /D1 ΔP2 /D2 Fig. 8. Studied system and HIL tests setup. (a) Studied hybrid ac/dc microgrid.
λ1 · = λ2 · m ax = ... (b) HIL tests setup.
− f1m in
f1m ax f2 − f2m in
ΔPk /Dk ΔPk + 1 /Dk + 1
= λk · m ax = λk + 1 · m ax = ... V. HARDWARE-IN-LOOP TESTS
Vdc,k − Vdc,k
m in Vdc,k +1 − Vdc,k
m in
+1
(14) To evaluate the performance of the proposed control method,
where ΔPj (j = 1, 2, . . . , k, k + 1, . . .) is the power a hybrid ac/dc microgrid with multiple subgrids system depicted
changes caused by the coordinated power control of the jth in Fig. 8(a) has been studied. The studied system contains two ac
subgrid in the steady state. Note that ΔPj is only the power subgrids, two dc subgrids, and one storage subgrid. The ac or dc
changes caused by the coordinated power control and ΔPj does loads and DGs (mainly PV) are located in the ac or dc subgrids,
not include the initiative changes of DGs and loads. respectively. There are two storages in the storage subgrid to
Furthermore, the feedback variables are located at the BADCs provide voltage support for the common bus. Compared to the
and BDDCs, so the proposed coordinated power control strategy grid-connected mode, the autonomous operation in the islanded
can be realized in the decentralized way, which can improve the mode is more challenging, so we mainly conduct the HIL tests
reliability of the system. in the islanded mode. The HIL tests are conducted using the

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XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS 3527

TABLE II TABLE III

PARAMETERS OF STORAGES PARAMETERS OF BDDCS

Electrical Parameters Value Electrical Parameters Value

Battery voltage V s = 600 V Rated common bus voltage V c∗b = 1000 V

Rated common bus voltage V c∗b = 1000 V Rated dc voltage V d∗c , 3 = 500 V
Inductive filter L s = 1.5 mH V d∗c , 4 = 800 V
R s = 1.0 mΩ LC filter L d = 2.0 mH
Capacitive filter C s = 8.0 mF R d = 1.0 mΩ
Line resistance R l i n e 1 = 10 mΩ C d = 8.0 mF
R l i n e 2 = 7 mΩ Line resistance R l i n e = 10 mΩ
Controller Parameters Value Controller Parameters Value
Droop controller V c∗b = 1000 V Coordinated power controller λ3 = 1.41
r 1 = 0.8 V2 /W λ4 = 0.9
r 2 = 0.8 V2 /W k P = 1.5 V
Voltage controller (PI) k P = 0.0007 A/V2 k I = 150 V/s
k I = 0.07 A/V2 s Droop controller V d∗c , 3 = 500 V
Current controller (P) k P = 8.0 V/A V d∗c , 4 = 800 V
r 3 = 0.7 V/A
r 4 = 0.7 V/A
Voltage controller (PI) k P = 0.6 A/V
RTLAB and STM32F407 MCUs. The equipment of the HIL k I = 50.0 A/Vs
Current controller (P) k P = 3.0 V/A
tests is shown in Fig. 8(b).
The rated ac voltage of the subgrid1 is that the voltage mag-
nitude is 311 V and the frequency is 50 Hz. The allowable TABLE IV
variation range of the frequency is ±0.5 Hz. The rated load PARAMETERS OF BADCS
power is 60 kW + j16 kVar and the critical load power is
40 kW. The load-damping constant is 50 kW/Hz, that is, if the Electrical Parameters Value
frequency decreases 1 Hz, the load power decreases 50 kW. The Rated common bus voltage V cb∗ = 1000 V
DG1 operates in the MPPT mode and its rated output power is Rated ac voltage V M = 311 V
Rated ac frequency f 1∗ = 50 Hz, f 2∗ = 60 Hz
40 kW. The rated ac voltage of the subgrid2 is that the voltage LC filter L a = 2.5 mH, R a = 1.0 mΩ
magnitude is 311 V and the frequency is 60 Hz. The allowable C a = 2.0 mF
variation range of the frequency is ±0.6 Hz. The rated load Line impedance Z line = 0.8 mH + 1 mΩ

power is 120 kW + j24 kVar and the critical load is 30 kW. The Controller Parameters Value

load-damping constant is 50 kW/Hz, too. The DG2 operates in Coordinated power controller λ1 = 4.0, λ2 = 0.75
k P = 0.03 Hz
the MPPT mode and its rated output power is 80 kW. k I = 3.0 Hz/s
The rated dc voltage of the subgrid3 is 500 V. The allowable Droop controller V 1∗, 2 = 311 V
variation range of the dc voltage is ±25 V. The rated load power f 1 = 50 Hz, f 2∗ = 60 Hz
∗

is 80 kW and the critical load power is 20 kW. The load-damping
constant is 1 kW/V, that is, if the dc voltage decreases 1 V, the
load power decreases 1 kW. The DG3 operates in the MPPT
mode and its rated output power is 60 kW. The rated dc voltage
of the subgrid4 is 800 V. The allowable variation range of the dc
voltage is ±40 V. The rated load power is 100 kW and the critical
load power is 25 kW. The load-damping constant is 1 kW/V, too.
The DG4 operates in the MPPT mode and its rated output power
is 80 kW.
The storage subgrid contains two storages to maintain the
dc voltage of the common bus, whose rated voltage is 1000 V.
The rated voltage of the battery is 600 V, which is converted to
1000 V by the bidirectional boost dc/dc converter. The power
sharing between the two storages is 1:1. The allowable variation
range of the common bus voltage is ±50 V. The parameters of
storages, BDDCs, and BADCs are introduced in detail as shown
in Tables II–IV.
Fig. 9 shows the dynamics of the hybrid microgrid with the
proposed coordinated power control when operation states of
the ac subgrid2 are changed. As the figure shows, there are
three states. The whole system operates in the islanded mode
and the state I is the rated state. In state II, the load2 increases
P 1∗ = 20 kW, P 2∗ = 40 kW
Q ∗1 = 10 kVar, Q ∗2 = 20 kVar
m 1 , 2 = 5.0 z/MW
n 1 , 2 = 0.1 V/kVar
Voltage controller (PI) k P = 0.8 A/V
k I = 100.0 A/Vs
Current controller (P) k P = 4.0 V/A
from 120 to 200 kW under the rated ac frequency and voltage,
while the output power of DG2 increases from 80 to 180 kW
in state III. The operation states of the other subgrids are not
changed.
Fig. 9(a) shows the changes of the ac frequencies and
dc voltages, where Δf1 = f1 − f1∗ , Δf2 = f2 − f2∗ , Δvdc,3 =
∗ ∗
vdc,3 − Vdc,3 , and Δvdc,4 = vdc,4 − Vdc,4 . f1 , f2 , vdc,3 , and
vdc,4 are the actual ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of sub-
grid1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, while f1∗ , f2∗ , Vdc,3
∗ ∗
, and Vdc,4 are the
rated ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3, 4,
respectively. As shown in the figure, the ac frequencies and dc
voltages are changed in coordination, which shows all the ac and
dc subgrids can support each other. In state II, the load power of
subgrid2 (load2) increases, so all the ac frequencies and dc volt-
ages decrease. In state III, the output power of DG2 increases,

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3528
Fig. 9. Dynamics of the system with coordinated power control when the
operation states of ac subgrid2 are changed, state I: rated mode, state II: load2
increases, and state III: DG2 increases. (a) AC frequencies and dc voltages.
(b) Output power of BDDCs and BADCs. (c) Common bus voltage and output
power of storages.
so all the ac frequencies and dc voltages increase. Because the
correction coefficients λ of different subgrids are different, the
relative changes of ac frequencies and dc voltages in the differ-
ent subgrids are different. Obviously, λ1 > λ2 , which shows the
subgrid1 has smaller capacity or higher proportion of critical
loads, so the relative changes of f1 are smaller than the relative
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, APRIL 2018
changes of f2 . λ3 > λ4 , which shows the subgrid3 has smaller
capacity or higher proportion of critical loads, so the relative
changes of vdc,3 are smaller than the relative changes of vdc,4 .
These results clearly verify the theoretical analysis.
Fig. 9(b) shows the output power changes of the BADCs and
BDDCs, where ΔP1 = P1 − 20 kW, ΔP3 = P3 − 20 kW, and
ΔP4 = P4 − 20 kW. P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 are the actual output
power of BADC1, 2 and BDDC3, 4, respectively. And the power
from the common bus to the subgrid is positive. From the figure,
it can be concluded that the power interaction among all the ac
and dc subgrids is well achieved. Taking the state II for example,
when the load power of subgrid2 (load2) increases, the subgrid2
is in the overloading status. The other subgrids decrease their
power consumption initiatively through decreasing the dc volt-
ages and ac frequencies. We can see that the output power of
BADC1, BDDC3, and BDDC4 decreases by about 3, 4, and
10 kW, respectively, according to the corresponding correction
coefficients λ. On the other hand, because f2 is smaller than the
rated value, so the increments of the output power of BADC2
are smaller than 80 kW and they are about 60 kW (the load2
increases from 120 to 200 kW under the rated ac frequency and
voltage). The analysis of state III when the output power of DG2
increases is similar.
Fig. 9(c) shows the common bus voltage changes and out-
∗
put power changes of the storages, where Δvcb = vcb − Vcb .
∗
vcb and Vcb are the actual common bus voltage and the rated
common bus voltage, respectively. Ps,1 and Ps,2 are the out-
put power of storage1 and storage2, respectively. It can be seen
that Δvcb is maintained within 0 to –10 V, which locates in
the allowable variation range. In state I, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2 ≈ 30 kW,
in state II, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2 ≈50 kW, and in state III, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2
≈ 24 kW. Hence, the power sharing of two storages can be al-
most maintained at 1:1 through the proposed Pdc − vdc 2
droop.
Fig. 10 shows the dynamics of the hybrid microgrid without
the coordinated power control when operation states of the ac
subgrid2 are changed. As the figure shows, there are three states.
The whole system operates in the islanded mode and the state
I is the rated state. In state II, the load2 increases from 120 to
200 kW under the rated ac frequency and voltage, while the
output power of DG2 increases from 80 to 180 kW in state
III. The operation states of the other subgrids are not changed.
These three operation states are designed the same as those of
Fig. 9 for the convenient comparison.
Fig. 10(a) shows the changes of the ac frequencies and
dc voltages, where Δf1 = f1 − f1∗ , Δf2 = f2 − f2∗ , Δvdc,3 =
∗ ∗
vdc,3 − Vdc,3 , and Δvdc,4 = vdc,4 − Vdc,4 . f1 , f2 , vdc,3 , and
vdc,4 are the actual ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of sub-
grid1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, while f1∗ , f2∗ , Vdc,3
∗ ∗
, and Vdc,4 are the
rated ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3, 4, re-
spectively. It can be seen that the dc voltages and ac frequencies
are not changed in coordination without the proposed coordi-
nated power control. When the power of subgrid2 is fluctuated,
only f2 is changed drastically and other frequencies and dc volt-
ages remain unchanged. That is, the other ac and dc subgrids
do not support the subgrid2. Therefore, the variation range of
f2 becomes larger. In state II, Δf2 decreases by about 0.24 Hz
while Δf2 decreases by about 0.16 Hz in Fig. 9(a). In state III,
XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS 3529

Fig. 10. Dynamics of the system without coordinated power control when the
operation states of ac subgrid2 are changed, state I: rated mode, state II: load2
increases, and state III: DG2 increases. (a) AC frequencies and dc voltages.
(b) Output power of BDDCs and BADCs.

Δf2 increases by about 0.3 Hz while Δf2 increases by about

0.20 Hz in Fig. 9(a).
Fig. 10(b) shows the output power changes of the BADCs
and BDDCs, where ΔP1 = P1 − 20 kW, ΔP3 = P3 − 20 kW,
and ΔP4 = P4 − 20 kW. P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 are the actual
output power of BADC1, 2 and BDDC3, 4, respectively. When
the power of subgrid2 is fluctuated, only the output power of
BADC2 is changed drastically and the output power of other
BADCs and BDDCs remains unchanged. Compared to Fig. 9(b),
it can be seen that the power interaction among multiple subgrids
cannot be realized without the coordinated power control and
the subgrids cannot support each other.
To further verify the effectiveness of the proposed power
management method, the dynamics of the hybrid microgrid are
tested when operation states of the dc subgrid3 are changed.
Fig. 11 shows the results with the proposed coordinated power
control and Fig. 12 shows the results without the proposed co-
ordinated power control. As the figure shows, there are three
states. The whole system operates in the islanded mode and the
state I is the rated state. In state II, the load3 increases from 80
to 160 kW under the rated dc voltage, while the output power
Fig. 11. Dynamics of the system with coordinated power control when the
operation states of dc subgrid3 are changed, state I: rated mode, state II: load3
increases, and state III: DG3 increases. (a) AC frequencies and dc voltages.
(b) Output power of BDDCs and BADCs. (c) Common bus voltage and output
power of storages.
of DG3 increases from 60 to 180 kW in state III. The operation
states of the other subgrids are not changed.
Fig. 11(a) shows the changes of the ac frequencies and dc volt-
ages, where Δf1 = f1 − f1∗ , Δf2 = f2 − f2∗ , Δvdc,3 = vdc,3 −
∗ ∗
Vdc,3 , and Δvdc,4 = vdc,4 − Vdc,4 . f1 , f2 , vdc,3 , and vdc,4 are
the actual ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3,
4, respectively, while f1∗ , f2∗ , Vdc,3
∗
, and Vdc,4∗
are the rated ac
frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3, 4, respectively.

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3530
Fig. 12. Dynamics of the system without coordinated power control when the
operation states of dc subgrid3 are changed, state I: rated mode, state II: load3
increases, and state III: DG3 increases. (a) AC frequencies and dc voltages.
(b) Output power of BDDCs and BADCs.
As shown in the figure, the ac frequencies and dc voltages are
changed in coordination, which shows all the ac and dc subgrids
can support each other. In state II, the load power of subgrid3
(load3) increases, so all the ac frequencies and dc voltages de-
crease. In state III, the output power of DG3 increases, so all
the ac frequencies and dc voltages increase. All the ac frequen-
cies and dc voltages are within the allowable variation range,
that is, Δf1 ∈ (−0.13 Hz, 0 Hz), Δf2 ∈ (−0.45 Hz, −0.1 Hz),
Δvdc,3 ∈ (−20 V, 10 V), and Δvdc,4 ∈ (−22 V, −5 V). Be-
cause the correction coefficients λ of different subgrids are
different, the relative changes of ac frequencies and dc volt-
ages in the different subgrids are different, which is similar to
the analysis in Fig. 9(a). These results can meet the theoretical
analysis well and further verify the effectiveness of the proposed
power management method.
Fig. 11(b) shows the output power changes of the BADCs and
BDDCs, where ΔP1 = P1 − 20 kW, ΔP2 = P2 − 20 kW,
and ΔP4 = P4 − 20 kW. P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 are the actual
output power of BADC1, 2 and BDDC3, 4, respectively. And
the power from the common bus to the subgrid is positive. From
the figure, it can be concluded that the power interaction among
all the ac and dc subgrids is well achieved. Taking the state II for
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 33, NO. 4, APRIL 2018
example, the load power of subgrid3 (load3) increases, the sub-
grid3 is in the overloading status. The other subgrids decrease
their power consumption initiatively through decreasing the dc
voltages and ac frequencies. We can see that the output power
of BADC1, BDDC2, and BDDC4 decreases by about 4, 8, and
12 kW, respectively, according to the corresponding correction
coefficients λ. On the other hand, because vdc,3 is smaller than
the rated value, so the increments of the output power of BADC3
are smaller than 80 kW and they are about 70 kW (the load3
increases from 80 to 160 kW under the rated dc voltage). The
analysis of state III when the output power of DG3 increases is
similar.
Fig. 11(c) shows the common bus voltage changes and out-
∗
put power changes of the storages, where Δvcb = vcb − Vcb .
∗
vcb and Vcb are the actual common bus voltage and the rated
common bus voltage, respectively. Ps,1 and Ps,2 are the output
power of storage1 and storage2, respectively. It can be seen that
Δvcb is maintained within 4 to –12 V, which locates in the allow-
able variation range. In state I, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2 ≈ 30 kW, in state
II, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2 ≈ 55 kW, in state III, Ps,1 ≈ Ps,2 ≈ 18 kW.
Hence, the power sharing of two storages can be almost main-
tained at 1:1 through the proposed Pdc − vdc 2
droop.
Fig. 12 shows the dynamics of the hybrid microgrid without
the coordinated power control when operation states of the dc
subgrid3 are changed. As the figure shows, there are three states.
The whole system operates in the islanded mode and the state I is
the rated state. In state II, the load3 increases from 80 to 160 kW
under the rated dc voltage, while the output power of DG3
increases from 60 to 180 kW in state III. The operation states of
the other subgrids are not changed. These three operation states
are designed the same as those of Fig. 11 for the convenient
comparison.
Fig. 12(a) shows the changes of the ac frequencies and
dc voltages, where Δf1 = f1 − f1∗ , Δf2 = f2 − f2∗ , Δvdc,3 =
∗ ∗
vdc,3 − Vdc,3 , and Δvdc,4 = vdc,4 − Vdc,4 . f1 , f2 , vdc,3 , and
vdc,4 are the actual ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of sub-
grid1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, while f1∗ , f2∗ , Vdc,3
∗ ∗
, and Vdc,4 are the
rated ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3, 4,
respectively. It can be seen that the dc voltages and ac frequen-
cies are not changed in coordination if the proposed coordinated
power control is disabled. When the power of subgrid3 is fluc-
tuated, only vdc,3 is changed drastically and other frequencies
and dc voltages remain unchanged. That is, the other ac and dc
subgrids do not support the subgrid3. Therefore, the variation
range of vdc,3 becomes larger. In state II, Δvdc,3 decreases by
about 48 V which is beyond the allowable variation range of
vdc,3 (±25 V). In state III, Δvdc,3 increases by about 60 V. The
quality of the dc voltage is much worse than that of Fig. 11(a)
where the coordinated power control is enabled.
Fig. 12(b) shows the output power changes of the BADCs and
BDDCs, where ΔP1 = P1 − 20 kW, ΔP2 = P2 − 20 kW, and
ΔP4 = P4 − 20 kW. P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 are the actual output
power of BADC1 ,2 and BDDC3, 4, respectively. And the power
from the common bus to the subgrid is positive. When the power
of subgrid3 is fluctuated, only the output power of BDDC3 is
changed drastically and the output power of other BADCs and
BDDCs remains unchanged. Compared to Fig. 11(b), it can
XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS
Fig. 13. Dynamics of the system when there are sudden fault shutdowns of
critical devices, state I: rated mode, state II: BDDC3 shuts down, and state
III: BADC2 shuts down. (a) Output power of BDDCs and BADCs. (b) AC
frequencies and dc voltages. (c) Common bus voltage and output power of
storages.
be seen that the power interaction among multiple subgrids
cannot be realized without the coordinated power control and
the subgrids cannot support each other well.
Furthermore, to illustrate the reliability of the proposed power
management method, the dynamics of the hybrid microgrid are
tested when there are sudden fault shutdowns of critical devices.
As Fig. 13 shows, there are three states. The whole system
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3531
operates in the islanded mode and the state I is the rated state.
In state II, there is a sudden fault shutdown of BDDC3 and it is
switched out, while in state III, there is a sudden fault shutdown
of BADC2 and it is switched out. The operation states of the
other subgrids are not changed.
Fig. 13(a) shows the output power changes of the BADCs and
BDDCs, where P1 , P2 , P3 , and P4 are the actual output power of
BADC1, 2 and BDDC3, 4, respectively. And the power from the
common bus to the subgrid is positive. From the figures, it can
be seen that the normal subgrids can still operate stably although
there are fault shutdowns of critical devices in other subgrids. In
state I, all the subgrids absorb power from the common bus. In
state II, BDDC3 shuts down and subgrid3 is switched out, the
output power of BDDC3 becomes 0, then the load power de-
mand of the storage subgrid suddenly decreases and the power
of the hybrid microgrid system is surplus. The other three nor-
mal subgrids (subgrid1, 2, 4) increase their power consumption
initiatively through increasing the dc voltages and ac frequen-
cies to share this power fluctuation in coordination. Because the
correction coefficients λ and load-damping constants of differ-
ent subgrids are different, the output power changes of BADC1,
2 and BDDC4 are different. The analysis of state III is similar
to that of state II.
Fig. 13(b) shows the changes of the ac frequencies and
dc voltages, where Δf1 = f1 − f1∗ , Δf2 = f2 − f2∗ , Δvdc,3 =
∗ ∗
vdc,3 − Vdc,3 , and Δvdc,4 = vdc,4 − Vdc,4 . f1 , f2 , vdc,3 , and
vdc,4 are the actual ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of sub-
grid1, 2, 3, 4, respectively, while f1∗ , f2∗ , Vdc,3
∗ ∗
, and Vdc,4 are
the rated ac frequencies and dc bus voltages of subgrid1, 2, 3,
4, respectively. As shown in the figure, the ac frequencies and
dc voltages of the normal subgrids are changed in coordination
although there are fault shutdowns of critical devices in other
subgrids, which shows all the ac and dc subgrids can support
each other. On the other hand, because the correction coeffi-
cients λ of different subgrids are different, the relative changes
of ac frequencies and dc voltages in the different subgrids are
different.
Fig. 13(c) shows the common bus voltage changes and output
∗
power changes of the storages, where Δvcb = vcb − Vcb . vcb
∗
and Vcb are the actual and the rated common bus voltage,
respectively. Ps,1 and Ps,2 are the output power of storage1
and storage2, respectively. From the figures, it can be seen that
the common bus and storage subgrid are still stable although
there are fault shutdowns of critical devices. Δvcb increases
and Ps,1 , Ps,2 decrease following the shutdowns of BDDC3
and BADC2 in sequence, because the load power demand of the
storage subgrid decreases due to the disconnection of subgrid2
and subgrid3.
From above-mentioned results, it can be concluded that the
proposed power management method can still work well under
extreme conditions, which can illustrate its high reliability.
VI. CONCLUSION
A new topology of a hybrid ac/dc microgrid with multiple
subgrids is proposed and a decentralized power management
method is designed for this kind of hybrid microgrid in this
3532
paper. The proposed decentralized power management method
can make the interacted subgrids operate in coordination and
support each other. First, taking the characteristics of the com-
mon bus configuration into consideration, a P_dc-v_dcˆ2 droop
control strategy is proposed to maintain the common bus volt-
age and to realize power sharing among storages in the storage
subgrid. Second, as the interaction among multiple subgrids is
more complicated compared to the conventional hybrid, a coor-
dinated power control strategy based on the common bus volt-
age, ac subgrid frequency, and dc subgrid voltage is designed for
the BADCs and BDDCs to realize the power interaction among
different subgrids. Furthermore, the proposed strategy takes the
capacities and load types of each subgrid into consideration;
hence, it is still suitable when the capacities of subgrids are
mismatched and it can ensure the power quality of the subgrids
with high proportion of critical loads. Furthermore, the corre-
sponding HIL tests are conducted to verify the effectiveness of
the proposed power management.
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Yanghong Xia (S’16) was born in Hubei, China, in
1991. He received the B.S. degree in automation from
the College of Automation, Huazhong University of
Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, in 2014. He
is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in the
College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang Univer-
sity, Hangzhou, China.
His current research interests include nonlinear
control, distributed generations, and microgrid.
XIA et al.: POWER MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID AC/DC MICROGRID WITH MULTIPLE SUBGRIDS
Wei Wei received the B.Eng. degree in automation,
M.Eng. degree in control theory and control engineer-
ing, and D.Eng. degree in power electronics and elec-
tric drives all from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
China, in 1983, 1986, and 1994, respectively.
Since 1986, he has been in the College of Elec-
trical Engineering, Zhejiang University, where he is
currently a Professor. His current research interests
include intelligent control, the development of novel
technology of renewable energy, and smart grid.
Miao Yu (M’16) received the B.S. degree in automa-
tion in 2007 and the Ph.D. degree in control science
and engineering in 2012 from the College of Elec-
trical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou,
China.
From 2013 to 2015, he was working with Aalto
University, Espoo, Finland, as a Postdoctoral Re-
searcher. Since 2016, he has been working in the
College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang Univer-
sity as a Lecturer. He has authored or coauthored
more than 30 technical papers in journal and confer-
ences. His current research interests include control strategies in microgrid and
renewable power generation.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Hanyang University. Downloaded on February 04,2023 at 07:47:58 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
3533
Xiaoming Wang was born in Yunnan, China, in 1993.
He received the B.S. degree in automation in 2015
from the College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang
University, Hangzhou, China, where he is currently
working toward the Ph.D. degree.
His current research interests include modeling,
control, and stability of distributed power system.
Yonggang Peng (M’16) received the B.Eng. degree
in automation, and M.Eng. and D.Eng. degrees in
control theory and control engineering all from Zhe-
jiang University, Hangzhou, China, in 2001, 2004,
and 2008, respectively.
He is currently a Professor in the College of Elec-
trical Engineering, Zhejiang University. His research
interests include distributed generations, microgrid,
and intelligent control.