8108 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO.
8, AUGUST 2023
Analysis of a Multifunctional Inverter
Active-Filtering Function Influence on the
Small-Signal Stability of Inverter-Based
Islanded AC Microgrids
Sebastián de Jesús Manrique Machado , Sérgio Augusto Oliveira da Silva , Member, IEEE,
José Roberto Boffino de Almeida Monteiro , Member, IEEE, Leonardo Poltronieri Sampaio ,
and Azauri Albano de Oliveira Jr.
Abstract—This article deals with the small-signal analy-
sis of islanded ac microgrids, considering the coexistence
of voltage-controlled converters operating under droop
control law and current-controlled converters (CCC) op-
erating as multifunctional inverters. Thus, the CCCs can
deliver power from a nondispatchable energy source and,
depending on the operation mode, they can perform the
active filtering function (AFF), which consists of injecting
the harmonic currents associated with the local nonlinear
loads (NLL) resulting in a microgrid power quality improve-
ment. However, the transient characteristics following a lo-
cal NLL step highly depend on the CCC operation mode.
When AFF is disabled, the CCC output is almost not af-
fected by the local NLL step. Instead, the harmonic extrac-
tion algorithm dynamics affect the CCC output when AFF is
enabled. As a result, the overall system dynamic behavior
is significantly affected, since microgrids are low-inertia
and small power systems. A generic small-signal model is
derived to study these effects, and its accuracy is then val-
idated through simulated and experimental results. It was
found through time-domain and frequency-domain sensi-
tivity analyses that the AFF significantly affects the CCC
phase-locked loop and the dynamic interactions between
the microgrid network and the inverter’s internal control
loops.
Index Terms—AC microgrids, active filtering, droop con-
trol, phase-locked loop (PLL), power quality (PQ), stability
analysis, state-space modeling, virtual impedance.
Manuscript received 17 March 2022; revised 16 June 2022 and 15
September 2022; accepted 28 October 2022. Date of publication 21
November 2022; date of current version 15 March 2023. (Corresponding
author: Sebastián de Jesús Manrique Machado.)
Sebastián de Jesús Manrique Machado is with the Electrical Engi-
neering Department, Federal University of Technology—Paraná, Apu-
carana 86812-460, Brazil (e-mail: sebastiand@utfpr.edu.br).
Sérgio Augusto Oliveira da Silva and Leonardo Poltronieri Sam-
paio are with the Electrical Engineering Department, Federal University
of Technology—Paraná, Cornélio Procópio 863000-000, Brazil (e-mail:
augus@utfpr.edu.br; sampaio@utfpr.edu.br).
José Roberto Boffino de Almeida Monteiro and Azauri Albano de
Oliveira Jr. are with the Electrical and Computing Engineering Depart-
ment, São Carlos Engineering School, University of São Paulo, São
Carlos 13566-590, Brazil (e-mail: jrm@sc.usp.br; azauri@sc.usp.br).
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2022.3222630.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2022.3222630
0278-0046 © 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. Motivations
Policies aiming for sustainability and the decarbonization of
human activity have promoted a large deployment of distributed
generation (DG) based on renewable energy sources into the
utility network in recent years [1]. However, the intermittent
nature and the inertia lack associated with power electronics-
based DG challenge the power system operation and stability
[2], [3], [4], [5]. In order to overcome such challenges, the
microgrid concept proposes the coordinated operation of DG
and other subsystems, such as energy storage systems (ESSs),
smart loads, smart meters, among others; in order to act as a
single controllable entity with respect to the grid [6].
However, microgrids also should be able to operate in is-
landed mode. In this case, the system stability is critical due to
microgrids’ small-scale and low-inertia nature. Hence, it is es-
sential to understand the dynamic interactions among microgrid
subsystems which is not an easy task since: microgrids present
complex multi-timescale coupling among various control loops
of multiple subsystems [7]; and the system dynamic behavior is
highly dependent on the operational condition and the operation
mode of the different microgrid subsystems.
Particularly, in this article, the influence of the multifunctional
inverter operation mode on the small-signal stability of inverter-
based islanded ac microgrids is studied in detail.
B. Literature Review
In the last years, several efforts have been conducted to model
and understand the different dynamic interactions among the
microgrid subsystems while considering different scenarios. In
particular, in the field of small-signal modeling, a significant
effort has been focused on microgrids considering only voltage-
controlled converters (VCCs), also known as grid-forming in-
verters [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17]. In
other cases, the coexistence of VCC and synchronous machines
have been studied [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], as well as the
influence of different kinds of loads [23], [24], [25], and the
effect of the distribution network dynamics [26], [27], [28], [29].
 MANRIQUE MACHADO et al.: ANALYSIS OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL INVERTER ACTIVE-FILTERING FUNCTION INFLUENCE
Despite all such efforts, microgrid studies considering the
coexistence of VCC and current-controlled converters (CCCs)
are still limited. CCCs have been used for the integration of
nondispatchable DGs. Hence, from the practical point of view,
the coexistence of VCCs and grid-feeding CCCs has become a
frequent scenario in microgrid systems. The small-signal stabil-
ity of such microgrids has been studied in [30], [31], [32], [33],
[34], [35]. However, CCCs can also perform active filtering func-
tions (AFFs) in order to deal with power quality (PQ) concerns
related to the presence of nonlinear loads (NLLs). These kinds
of converters have been called multifunctional inverters in the
literature [36], [37], [38]. Their use in the microgrid context
has been reported in [39], and their small-signal stability in
grid-connected applications has been explored in [40]. However,
there is still a lack of study on the multifunctional inverter AFF
influence on the small-signal stability of inverter-based islanded
ac microgrids.
C. Contributions
In order to address such lack, some considerations have been
made in the article: a laboratory-scale microgrid has been built
regarding two VCC and one multifunctional CCC; although
there are several harmonic current extraction techniques for the
AFF, the conventional low-pass filter (LPF) in the synchronous
reference frame (SRF) technique has been considered in this ar-
ticle [41]; and finally, the PQ problems associated to the NLL are
addressed by avoiding the harmonic disturbance spreading along
the microgrid through the AFF of the multifunctional inverter
and no by implementing harmonic current sharing techniques
among DGs.
From the analyses performed, it is possible to understand how
the multifunctional inverter AFF affects the dynamic interac-
tions between the network and the inverters’ internal control
loops, contributing to increasing the damping of the micro-
grid when local NLL transients occur. This effect is explained
through the time-domain and frequency-domain analyses con-
ducted. Furthermore, it is discussed the multifunctional in-
verter’s phase-locked loop (PLL) influence on low-frequency
(LF) microgrid stability, its relationship with the AFF, and its
time-scale coupling with VCC’s droop controllers. Finally, this
article provides general guidelines for designing the multifunc-
tional inverter’s PLL controller to ensure a good microgrid
dynamic performance.
II. MICROGRID MODELING OVERVIEW
The developed microgrid model is based on [9], [30]. Thus,
this section presents an overview of the developed microgrid
small-signal model with a special focus on the modifications
and equations included to represent the CCC AFF.
A. Grid-Forming Inverter Including Virtual Impedance
Fig. 1 depicts the general structure of a grid-forming inverter,
which is composed of a dc/ac pulsewidth modulated (PWM)
converter and an inductive-capacitive (LC) LPF. This inverter
regulates the microgrid voltage and frequency while sharing
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8109
Fig. 1. Internal control loops of DG operating as grid-forming inverter.
the loads. For this purpose, the conventional droop control for
inductive networks [9] and the virtual impedance presented in
[42] are used to compute the output voltage reference (vo∗dq ).
i
Such voltage reference is tracked using a standard dual loop
controller in the SRF comprised of an inner proportional-integral
(PI) current control loop (PIi ) and an outer PI voltage loop (PIv )
with feed-forward compensation (kf fi ).
The VCC small-signal model in this article is based on the
model developed in [9]. Thus, the closed-loop small-signal state-
space model of an individual VCC can be expressed as follows:
 
Δẋvcci = Avcci Δxvcci + Bvccioi ΔioDQi
+ Bvccωcomi [Δωcom ] , (1)
 
ΔvoDQi = Cvcci Δxvcci , [Δωi∗ ] = CvccPωi Δxvcci , (2)

where the state variables vector of the VCC model cor-
responds to Δxvcci = Δδi , ΔPAVi , ΔQAVi , Δφdqi , Δγdqi ,
     
Droop control PI controllers
T
iLdq , vodq , ΔioDQi refers to the VCC output currents, and
 i i
LC filter
Δωcom corresponds to the common-reference frame frequency.
It is important to highlight some differences in the VCC model
in (1) and (2) with respect to the VCC model in [9].
1) The virtual impedance strategy proposed in [42] was
considered in the model.
2) In [9], an LCL filter was considered so the VCC output
currents (io ) were considered as the output variables of
the model, and the output voltages (vo ) were computed
by using a virtual resistor. This could lead to some inac-
curacies [13]. Instead, according to (2), in the modeling
approach of this article the VCC output voltages, were
considered as the output variables and no virtual resistor
was used.
B. Current-Controlled Multifunctional Inverter
Fig. 2 depicts a general schematic of a current-controlled
multifunctional inverter. The power stage is composed of a PWM
inverter and an LC filter. In this case, the LC filter capacitor has
a small value, and it is used to create a virtual neutral to measure
the phase to neutral voltage. Also, the local NLL is included,
 8110 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 8, AUGUST 2023

this purpose, it is used a first-order LPF to compute iLLAVdq

k
(AFF LPF in Fig. 2). Hence the state and the output equations
are given as follows:
ι̇LLAVdq = ωfhAFF iLLdqk − iLLAVdq (5)
k k

i∗Ldq = kafk iLLdqk − iLLAVdq + i∗AVdq (6)

k k k

where ωfhAFF denotes the LPF cutoff frequency.

Hence, including (3)–(6) in the model proposed in [30], the
state and output equations of the CCC can be written as:

Δẋccck = Accck Δxccck + Bccciok ΔioDQk
Fig. 2. Internal control loops of DG operating as a multifunctional 
inverter.
+ Birefk ΔiLAV refdq + Bcccωcomk [Δωcom ]
k
(7)
and it is connected through a coupling inductor (Lc ). In the 
control stage, an SRF PLL is employed to estimate the voltage ΔvoDQk = Cccck Δxccck (8)
frequency (ω̂k ) and voltage amplitude, as well as the instanta- where the state variables vector of the CCC model is Δ xccck =
neous voltage phase-angle (θ̂k ), which is needed to perform the  T
DQ transformations. The current reference (i∗Ldq ) is computed Δα , Δi AVdq , Δγdqk , iLdqk , vodqk , ΔiLLdqk , ΔioDQk
k k  LL   k         
by adding the local load harmonics (iLLhdq ) and a continuous PLL
AFF PI cont. LC filter NLL
k
part (i∗AVdq ), which refers to the desired fundamental active and are the currents delivered to the microgrid and ΔiLAV refdq are
k
k
reactive power injection (see Fig. 2). In order to study the AFF the average reference currents of the CCC.
effect generically, the gain kafk has been added, which allows the It is important to notice that ioDQk is bidirectional since the
investigation of the microgrid dynamic performance when AFF local load power can be higher than the generated power (see
is disabled (kaf = 0), partially enabled (0 < kaf < 1), and fully Fig. 2).
enabled (kaf = 1). Furthermore from the practical point of view,
this parameter can be used to manage the power processed by C. Combined Model of “n” Inverters
the multifunctional inverter to keep the active power generation
The combined model of the inverters is obtained straight-
as high as possible while avoiding converter overloading [37].
forwardly since VCC and CCC were modeled using the same
Finally, a conventional PI controller (PIck ) is used to track the
modeling strategy, where the capacitor voltages are the output
current reference. Notice that the subscript “k” is used to denote
variables, and the currents delivered to the microgrid are the
variables and parameters of multifunctional inverters.
input variables. Thus, the combined model regarding both VCCs
The CCC small-signal model in this article is based on the
and CCCs is described by
model developed in [30]. However, in order to include the
multifunctional inverter’s AFF, both the NLL and the harmonic ΔẋinvT = AinvT ΔxinvT + BinvioT ΔioDQT
extraction technique must be modeled. 
The NLL is represented inside the multifunctional converter + BirefT ΔiLAV refdq (9)
k
model since the local NLL harmonic currents are measured and
compensated in the CCC local reference frame. Hence, the NLL ΔvoDQT = CinvT ΔxinvT , [Δωcom ] = CinvωT ΔxinvT
is modeled as an RL branch representing the coupling inductor (10)
and the fundamental power associated with the NLL which where
results in
1 ΔxinvT = [Δxinv1 , Δxinv2 , . . . , Δxinvn ]T
ιLL˙dqk = vodqk − RLLk iLLdqk ± ωk iLLqdk . (3)  T
LLLk ΔioDQT = ΔioDQ1 , ΔioDQ2 , . . . , ΔioDQn (11)
 T
Furthermore, the LC filter model also must to take into account ΔvoDQT = ΔvoDQ1 , ΔvoDQ2 , . . . , ΔvoDQn
the NLL current (iLLdqk ). Hence, the state equation associated ⎡ ⎤
Ainv1 + Binvωcom1 CinvPω1 . . . 0
to the capacitor changes as follows: ⎢ .. .. .. ⎥
AinvT = ⎣ . . . ⎦
1
v̇odqk = iLdqk − iodqk − iLLdqk ± ωk voqdk . (4) Binvωcomn CinvPω1 . . . Ainvn
C fk
(12)
On the other hand, the harmonic current extraction technique  
is represented as follows. As can be seen in Fig. 2, the local load BinvioT = diag Binvio1 , . . . , Binvion
harmonic components are extracted by subtracting the continu- BirefT = [0, . . . , Birefk , . . . , 0]T (13)
ous part (iLLAVdq ) to the total local load current (iLLdqk ). For CinvT = diag (Cinv1 , . . . , Cinvn ) .
k

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 MANRIQUE MACHADO et al.: ANALYSIS OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL INVERTER ACTIVE-FILTERING FUNCTION INFLUENCE 8111

Notice that subscripts “inv,” must be changed for “vcc” or

“ccc” in vectors and matrixes denoting individual inverter mod-
els according to the kind of converter present in each microgrid
bus bar. Furthermore, notice that matrixes and vectors concate-
nations are denoted in bold letters in this article. Also, the BirefT
matrix is used to receive an input that can be used to model the
CCCs generation changes.

D. Network Modeling
The distribution lines between the nodes “i” and “j”, and the
loads are modeled as lumped RL equivalent circuits as proposed
in [9]. Thus, the combined “m” lines and linear loads models
yields
ΔẊnetT = AnetT ΔXnetT + B1netT ΔvoDQT
+ B2netT [Δωcom ] , (14)
where ΔXnetT = [ΔiDQ1 , . . . , ΔiDQij , . . . , ΔiDQm ]T ; and Fig. 3. Implemented microgrid prototype for experimental validation.
AnetT , B1netT and B2netT are defined as
AnetT = diag(Anet1 , . . . , Anetm )2m×2m ,

B1netT = [B1net1 , . . . , B1netm ]T

2m×2n ,

B2netT = [B2net1 , . . . , B2netm ]T

2m×1 . (15)
Finally, the inverters output currents (ΔioDQT ) are computed
using the current Kirchhoff law leading to
ΔioDQT = CnetT ΔXnetT . (16)

E. Microgrid Closed Loop Model

The microgrid closed-loop model can be obtained from (9),
(10), (14), and (16) resulting in

Δẋµg = Aµg Δxµg + Birefμg ΔiLAV refdq (17) Fig. 4. Implemented microgrid single-line diagram.
k

where Δ xµg = [ΔxinvT , ΔXnetT ]T , Birefμg =

T
[BirefT , 0] and Aµg is defined as follows:
 
AinvT BinvioT CnetT
Aµg = . verter, the load step, and the Yogokawa WT3000 trigger. Finally,
B1netT CinvT + B2netT CinvωT AnetT
(18)
III. EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Fig. 3 presents the microgrid experimental prototype whose
corresponding single-line diagram is presented in Fig. 4. All
the microgrid inverters are based on Semikron IGBT modules
SKM100GB12V.
The microgrid consists of a radial 3 bus bar system composed
of two grid-forming inverters and one multifunctional inverter
located in bus bar 2. Also, connected to this bus bar, there is an
NLL composed of a three-phase noncontrolled rectifier feeding
a dc resistive load. Finally, connected to bar 3, there is a linear
load with a delta connection.
The digital signal controller (DSC) TI TMS320F28335 was
used to implement the inverter’s control functions. The wave-
forms were captured using a Yokogawa WT3000, and the in-
verter’s fundamental frequency was saved in each internal DSC
memory using a sampling frequency of 1 kHz. For this purpose, a
digital pulse was used to synchronize the data logging of each in-
Table I gives all the parameter values used in the experimental
tests.
IV. FIDELITY ASSESSMENT OF THE MODEL
The main objective of this section is to assess the accuracy
of the developed model, the microgrid’s operation, and the PQ
improvement provided by the multifunctional inverter. For this
purpose, some selected experimental and simulated results are
presented. In the simulation results, the discretization effects and
all the control loops were considered, however, the semiconduc-
tor’s switching was disregarded. Also, it is important to highlight
that MPPT associated with the multifunctional inverter was not
considered in the results. Instead, it was considered a constant
∗
average current reference (IAV dqk
).
Both Figs. 5 and 6 present the transients of the voltages (voj ),
the currents (ioj ), and the local frequency (ωj ) observed at the
“j” microgrid bus bar due to a change in the three-phase rectifier

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 8112 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 8, AUGUST 2023

Fig. 5. Load step of the local NLL in bus bar 2 with kaf = 0. (a) Experimental voltage (vo1 ) and current (io1 ). (b) Experimental voltage (vo2 )
and current (io2 ). (c) Experimental voltage (vo3 ) and current (io3 ) (50 ms/div, 47 V/div, 3 A/div). (d)–(f) Frequency at each DG: comparison of
experimental, simulated, and the results predicted by the small-signal model.

Fig. 6. Load step of the local NLL in bus bar 2 with kaf = 1. (a) Experimental voltage (vo1 ) and current (io1 ). (b) Experimental voltage (vo2 ) and
current (io2 ). (c) Experimental voltage (vo3 ) and current (io3 ) (50 ms/div, 47 V/div, 3 A/div). (d)–(f) Frequency at each bus bar: comparison of
experimental, simulated, and the results predicted by the small-signal model.

load resistance from 100 to 33 Ω. However, the multifunctional
inverter AFF was disabled (kaf = 0) in Fig. 5, while in Fig. 6,
the AFF was fully enabled (kaf = 1). As noticed in Figs. 5(b)
and 6(b), in both cases, before the NLL step, the quantities vo2
and io2 are in phase, which means the power generated by CCC
(around 1.12 kW) is greater than the power demanded by the
local load (see Fig. 4).
Particularly, for the first case, highly distorted currents are
observed in Fig. 5(a)–(c) since the AFF is disabled (kaf = 0).
For this reason, the observed current total harmonic distortions
(THDi ) are up to 36%. Furthermore, after the load step, the phase
of io2 is instantaneously inverted and the currents supplied by
the VCCs increase fast, as can be verified in Fig. 5(a) and (c).
This indicates that the microgrid power flow changes quickly
after the NLL step.
Also, in Fig. 5(a) and (c), it can be noticed that at the initial
instants, the current, and consequently output power of the VCC
at bus bar 1 increases faster than the current of the VCC at bus
bar 3. Since droop control produces local frequency deviations
proportionally to the local output power, this means that the
VCC at bus bar 1 decreases faster its local frequency than the
VCC at bus bar 2, as can be observed in Fig. 5(d) and (f). Thus,

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 MANRIQUE MACHADO et al.: ANALYSIS OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL INVERTER ACTIVE-FILTERING FUNCTION INFLUENCE
TABLE I
MICROGRID AND INVERTER’S PARAMETERS
this leads to a local frequency undershoot in bus bar 1 [see
Fig. 5(d)]. Then, the droop control acts, and the steady-state is
reached. In Fig. 5(d)–(f), it is observed that the model presents a
high fidelity, and no significant deviations are observed when
the model predictions are compared with the simulated and
the experimental results. In particular, the experimental PLL
estimated frequency presents some noise [see Fig. 5(e); it is
important to notice that the y-axis scale is small]. This occurs
because the switching frequencies and the low-order harmonics
associated with the NLL degrade the PLL performance. In fact,
this constitutes a practical limitation to the PLL bandwidth since
a high bandwidth can lead to dangerous noisy propagation along
the control system.
Unlike the observed in Fig. 5, current THDs significantly
decrease when AFF is enabled in Fig. 6, highlighting the rel-
evance of AFF from the PQ point of view. Furthermore, it is
observed that in this case, io2 phase inversion occurs with slower
dynamics, as can be observed in Fig. 6(b).
This effect occurs because iLLAVdq does not change imme-
k
diately due to the AFF LPF dynamics (See Fig. 2). Hence, just
after the load step, the output of the harmonic extraction block
(ILLhdq ) will be equal to the measured local NLL (ILLdq2 ).
2
This means that both fundamental and harmonic components of
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8113
TABLE II
STATIC RESULTS AFTER THE NLL STEP. SUMMARY OF THE MEASUREMENTS
OBTAINED FROM YOKOGAWA WT3000
the local NLL current are added to the reference current (i∗Ldq ).
2
Since the CCC control acts to track this reference, the VCCs do
not perceive the NLL step at the initial instant. Then, as the output
of the harmonic extraction block changes, the load is released
slowly to the microgrid according to the AFF LPF dynamics,
as can be verified in Fig. 6(b). Hence, the VCCs output powers
change slowly, as can be confirmed in Fig. 6(a) and (c). This
indicates that, in this case, the power flow along the microgrid
changes slowly during the NLL step. Thereby, VCCs droop con-
trollers can share the load without transient over/undershoots. In
this way, it can be observed how the AFF increases the microgrid
damping.
Finally, in this case, the response predicted by the de-
veloped model also exhibits low deviations compared to the
simulation and experimental results, as can be verified in
Fig. 6(d)–(f). Thus, according to the results in Figs. 5 and 6,
it can be affirmed that the developed small-signal model can
represent the microgrid dynamics properly in both operation
modes.
Furthermore, Table II gives the static results obtained from
the Yogokawa WT 3000 for the same cases presented in
Figs. 5 and 6. It can be noticed that both voltage and cur-
rent THDs significantly decrease when AFF is enabled (kaf =
1). However, due to the limited bandwidth of the multifunc-
tional inverter controller, it can be noticed that some har-
monic currents continue to circulate through both VCCs even
when kaf = 1.
Finally, it is essential to highlight that the analysis done con-
cerning the effects of the AFF is restricted to the techniques using
the conventional LPF in SRF for harmonic current extraction.
However, different harmonic current extraction techniques could
lead to particular dynamic interactions in the microgrid which
can be studied following the same modeling strategy presented
in this article.
 8114
Fig. 7. Sensitivity analysis of kaf . kaf = 1 means full harmonic com-
pensation; kaf = 0 means harmonic compensation disabled.
Fig. 8. Sensitivity analysis of the cutoff frequency (ωfAFF ) of the multi-
functional inverter AFF LPF.
V. SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS
This section presents different sensitivity analyses of the main
parameters affecting the microgrid dynamic performance, focus-
ing on the multifunctional inverter parameters and its operation
modes.
A. Active Power Filter Parameters
The gain kaf in the multifunctional inverter control allows
partial harmonic compensation. It was verified in the last section
that this parameter significantly affects the microgrid dynamic
performance and damping when a local NLL step occurs. Thus,
Fig. 7 presents the system eigenvalues for different values of
kaf . As can be observed, this parameter mainly affects a group
of complex conjugated poles in the medium to high-frequency
region. Furthermore, as kaf increases, the damping of all of
these complex conjugated poles also increases, and their natural
frequency decreases. Since the eigenvalues related to the net-
work and the converter’s internal control loops are located in
this frequency region, this indicates that the AFF significantly
affects the interactions between these subsystems. This occurs
because, as discussed before, the AFF directly affects how fast
or slow the power flow along the microgrid will change after a
local NLL step, which is at the same time a disturbance for the
LC converter’s power filters and consequently for the internal
inverters’ control loops. Thus, this also helps to explain why
better-damped responses are observed in the microgrid when
the AFF is enabled.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 8, AUGUST 2023
Fig. 9. Sensitivity analysis of the proportional gain of the PLL (kpPLL ).
(a) kaf = 0. (b) kaf = 1.
Fig. 8 presents the sensitivity analysis of the frequency cutoff
associated with the AFF LPF (ωfAFF ). It is essential to highlight
that the AFF LPF must be designed to obtain a high attenuation
for negative sequence current components due to unbalanced
loads (120 Hz in SRF). Hence, Fig. 8 considers a parametric
variation from 5 to 25 rad/s. As expected, this parameter affects
the poles located in the LF region. In a general perspective, the
poles tend to go to higher frequency regions as ωfAFF increases.
However, new complex conjugated poles can appear when ωfAFF
increases too much, since in this case, the local NLL is released
faster, and consequently, greater power and frequency differ-
ences can arise during the transient periods between the VCCs,
causing transient under/overshoots.
B. PLL Parameters
The PLL must be designed with low bandwidth to avoid ex-
cessive noise propagation through the CCC controllers. Hence,
the PLL is expected to play an essential role in the microgrid
LF stability. Fig. 8 presents the sensitivity analysis for the PLL
proportional gain for both cases: kaf = 0 and kaf = 1. It is
well-known that the PLL bandwidth increases as kpPLL increase.
Thus, in both cases presented in Fig. 9, it is observed that as kpPLL
increases, there are real poles that tend to HF regions because of
the PLL’s higher bandwidth. However, one real pole also tends
to the half-right plane, which indicates that the system could
become unstable if kpPLL increases too much. On the other hand,
by comparing Fig. 9(a) and (b) it is possible to notice that the
trajectory of the complex conjugated poles is affected by the
CCC operation mode. Hence, when kaf = 1 [see Fig. 9(b)], as
kpPLL increases, the damping of the complex conjugated poles
also increases, but, in this case, such poles move towards the
region of around 9 rad/s, where it is located the pole associated
 MANRIQUE MACHADO et al.: ANALYSIS OF A MULTIFUNCTIONAL INVERTER ACTIVE-FILTERING FUNCTION INFLUENCE
Fig. 10. Sensitivity analysis of the integral gain of the PLL (kiPLL ). (a)
kaf = 0. (b) kaf = 1.
with the AFF LPF (see Table I). This does not occur in Fig. 9(a)
since the AFF LPF does not affect the microgrid dynamic
behavior when the AFF is disabled (see Fig. 2).
Finally, by considering the previous discussions, it can be
noticed that the design of kpPLL is a tradeoff between the damping
of such poles and the allowable PLL bandwidth.
Fig. 10 presents the sensitivity analysis for the PLL integral
gain for both cases kaf = 0 and kaf = 1. It is well-known that
the PLL phase margin decreases as kiPLL increase. According
to the results in Fig. 10, in both cases, the damping of the
two complex conjugated poles in the LF region decreases as
kiPLL increases. As this is the primary effect of kiPLL , the PLL
integral gain should be designed to obtain the maximum damp-
ing of such complex conjugated eigenvalues. Finally, in this
case, the AFF also affects the pole’s trajectory in a similar way
as observed in the previous case. Thus, as kiPLL decreases the
complex conjugated poles move towards regions near 9 rad/s
when kaf = 1 [see Fig. 10(b)].
C. Droop Control Parameters
The influence of the main droop control parameters (kpi , kqi ,
ωfi ) has been extensively studied in previous papers that only
consider VCCs [8], [9], [10], [11]. In this article, it was verified
that the behavior of the eigenvalues for this kind of sensitivity
analysis continues to be similar to that reported in such works,
and the effect of kaf is almost negligible. For instance, Figs. 11
and 12 present the sensitivity analysis obtained for kpi and
kqi , respectively, where it is observed a similar behavior to the
reported in the works mentioned above. However, it is essential
to highlight that in this case, new poles associated with the
Authorized licensed use limited to: M S RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. Downloaded on October 20,2023 at 05:31:08 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
8115
Fig. 11. Sensitivity analysis of the ω − P droop coefficient (kp ).
Fig. 12. Sensitivity analysis of the E − Q droop coefficient (kq ).
harmonic extraction LPF and the PLL are in the same region.
Thus, these poles exhibit a strong timescale coupling with the
poles associated with VCCs droop controllers. Then, the design
procedure must simultaneously take care of such parameters to
ensure a suitable microgrid’s overall dynamic performance.
VI. CONCLUSION
This article successfully studied the effects of the multifunc-
tional inverter’s AFF on the dynamic performance of inverter-
based islanded ac microgrids. To this end, a generic micro-
grid small-signal model involving VCCs and multifunctional
inverters was derived and validated through both experimental
and simulated results. According to the analyses presented, the
multifunctional inverter operation mode significantly affects the
dynamic interactions between the network and the inverters’
control loops since it determines the speed of the power flow
changes along the microgrid after a local NLL step. This was
studied from both the time domain perspective and from the
frequency domain point of view. Such analyzes demonstrated
that as kaf increases, the damping of a group of complex
conjugated eigenvalues in the medium to the high-frequency
region increases too.
Furthermore, the multifunctional inverter’s PLL-sensitive
analysis demonstrated that the trajectory of the complex con-
jugated LF eigenvalues is affected by the AFF. In addition, the
PLL, the AFF LPF, and VCCs droop parameters influence the
eigenvalues in the same LF region, which produces a strong
timescale coupling among such control loops. Hence, some
 8116 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 8, AUGUST 2023
design recommendations to ensure stable and well-damped re-
sponses were presented and discussed.
Finally, the results in this article demonstrate the essential role
of AFF from the PQ point of view, since this function avoids
the spreading of the NLL’s harmonic disturbances along the
microgrid. Future research could include the effects of multiple
multifunctional inverters in the microgrid and the effects asso-
ciated with different harmonic current extraction techniques for
the AFF.
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Sebastián de Jesús Manrique Machado was
born in Medellin, Colombia, in 1990. He re-
ceived the B.S. degree from the Pontifical Bo-
livarian University, Medellín, Colombia, in 2013;
the M.S. degree from State University of Lon-
drina, Londrina, Brazil in 2016, and the Ph.D.
degree from the School of Engineering of Sao
Carlos, University of São Paulo, São Carlos,
Brazil in 2021, all in electrical engineering.
He was a Disturbance Analyst of the Colom-
bian independent system operator in 2013.
Since 2016, he has been with the Electrical Engineering Department,
Federal University of Technology—Paraná, Apucarana, Brazil, where
he is a Professor of electrical engineering. His main research interests
include distributed generation, microgrids, power systems, and power
quality.
Sérgio Augusto Oliveira da Silva (Member,
IEEE) received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in
electrical engineering from the Federal Univer-
sity of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil, in
1987 and 1989, respectively, and the Ph.D.
degree in electrical engineering from the Fed-
eral University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte,
Brazil, in 2001.
Since 1993, he has been with the Electrical
Engineering Department, Federal University of
Technology, Cornélio Procópio, Brazil, where he
is currently a Professor of electrical engineering and Coordinator with
the Laboratory of Power Electronics, Power Quality and Renewable
Energies. His research interests include power electronics applications
involving UPS systems, active power-line conditioners, distributed gen-
eration systems, microgrids, control systems, and power quality.
Dr. da Silva is a Member of Brazilian Power Electronics Society.
Authorized licensed use limited to: M S RAMAIAH INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY. Downloaded on October 20,2023 at 05:31:08 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
8117
José Roberto Boffino de Almeida Monteiro
(Member, IEEE) received the Bachelor’s, Mas-
ter’s, and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineer-
ing from the School of Engineering of São Car-
los, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil,
in 1994, 1997, and 2002, respectively.
He is currently a Professor with the Depart-
ment of Electrical Engineering, School of Engi-
neering of São Carlos, USP, where he teaches
power electronics and electric machines. His
main research interests include electric ma-
chines, permanent magnet machines, power electronics, and control.
Leonardo Poltronieri Sampaio was born in
São José do Rio Preto, Brazil, in 1983. He
received the B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph. D. degrees
in electrical engineering from São Paulo State
University, Ilha Solteira, Brazil, in 2008, 2010
and 2013, respectively.
Since 2012, he has been with the Electrical
Engineering Department, Federal University of
Technology, Cornélio Procópio, Brazil, where he
is currently a Professor of electrical engineer-
ing. His interests include computer program-
ming, education in power electronics, e-learning, education tools, dc–dc
converters, inverters, renewable and alternative energy sources, photo-
voltaic systems, and power electronic converters.
Azauri Albano de Oliveira Jr. was born in
1955. He received the B.S and M.S. degrees
in 1977 and 1984, respectively, from the São
Carlos Engineering School (EESC), University
of São Paulo (USP), São Carlos, Brazil, where
he received the Ph.D. degree from the Polytech-
nic School in 1991, all in electrical engineering.
Since 1978, he has been with the Depart-
ment of Electrical and Computing Engineering,
EESC, USP, where he is currently a Professor
of electrical engineering. His research interests
include power electronics, electric machinery drives, wireless power
transfer, and engineering education.