Received: 30 January 2021 Accepted: 28 July 2021

DOI: 10.1002/2050-7038.13059

RESEARCH ARTICLE

LVRT capability enhancement of a grid connected three

phase PV system by ADRC and DSOGI FLL

Imad Aboudrar | Soumia El Hani | Hamza Mediouni | Nisrine Naseri |

Amina Daghouri

Energy Optimization, Diagnosis and

Control, Center for Research in
Engineering and Health Sciences and
Techniques, ENSAM, Mohammed V
University, Rabat, Morocco
Correspondence
Imad Aboudrar, Energy Optimization,
Diagnosis and Control, Center for
Research in Engineering and Health
Sciences and Techniques, ENSAM,
Mohammed V University, Rabat 10500,
Morocco.
Email: imad.aboudrar@um5s.net.ma
Handling Editor: Rizzo Santi
Summary
Low voltage ride-through is considered as one of the key technologies for the
operation of grid-connected photovoltaic power generation systems. At pre-
sent, the most used control methods are based mainly on PI controllers, and
their robustness results are still unsatisfactory. In contrast, this article intro-
duces a new robust control strategy that uses the compensation effect of “total
disturbance” before affecting the system; this control strategy is called Active
Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC) method. In addition, most of the con-
trollers use the standard SRF PLL to achieve the phase lock and grid synchro-
nization. However, when the grid voltage is distorted or other unbalanced, it is
necessary to use the positive sequence voltage component of the fundamental
wave as a reference, but the component of the negative sequence cannot be
effectively filtered because of its narrow bandwidth, and then, accurate phase
lock cannot be achieved, which may cause a failure. In this purpose, a Double
Second Order Generalized Integrator based Frequency Locked Loop (DSOGI-
FLL) is proposed and used to improve the system operating performance and
non-off-line capability. In order to confirm the robustness of the proposed con-
trol strategies, a multiple simulations tests were done by utilizing the Matlab/
Simulink software. The results have demonstrated the superiority of the pro-
posed methods and their robustness to symmetrical and unsymmetrical faults.

KEYWORDS
ADRC, DSOGI FLL, grid code, grid fault, LVRT, MPPT, PV

List of Symbols and Abbreviation: ADRC, active disturbance rejection control; ANF, adaptive notch filter; DDSRF, decoupled double synchronous
reference frame; DSOGI, double second-order generalized integrator; ESO, extended state observer; FLL, frequency-locked loop; GCs, grid codes; HV,
high voltage; HVRT, high voltage ride through; IPT, inverse park transform; LADRC, linear active disturbance rejection control; LG, two line to
ground; LV, low voltage; LVRT, low voltage ride through; MPP, maximum power point; MPPT, maximum power point tracking; MV, medium
voltage; NLSEF, nonlinear sate error feedback; P&O, perturb and observe; PCC, point of common coupling; PI, proportional integral; PNSC, positive
and negative sequence calculation; PVPGS, photovoltaic power generation systems; QSG, quadrature signal generator; SLG, single line to ground;
SOGI, second-order generalized integrator; SRF PLL, synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop; TD, tracking differentiator; VOC, voltage
oriented control.

Int Trans Electr Energ Syst. 2021;e13059. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/etep © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 1 of 27
https://doi.org/10.1002/2050-7038.13059
2 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

1 | INTRODUCTION

The traditional centralized power supply model is about increasing the number of plants to meet customers growing
demand for electricity, while prices for major energy sources, such as oil and coal, continue to rise.1 At the same time,
traditional power plants are facing the challenges and pressures of new energy generation technologies. The centralized
power supply model cannot meet the enormous demand for electricity in modern society, and the power supply model
has to be transformed.2 Under this demand, distributed power generation systems have received plenty of attention.3
As we all know, solar energy has become the most promising sources of energy recently, and it has been widely used in
production and life due to its own benefits,4 such as navigation signposts, streetlights, solar water heaters, and rooftop
energy demonstration projects. Compared with traditional fossil fuels, solar energy has been recognized as the safest,
cleanest, and has the most potential emerging for energy production.5
The penetration rate of photovoltaic energy production is increasing every year and its connection to the grid is
already an unavoidable trend.6 Today, grid-connected photovoltaic systems have become a hot research topic and its
low voltage ride through capability is the core technology of photovoltaic systems, which plays a decisive role in the safe
and stable operation of grid-connected systems.7 In the grid-connected Photovoltaic Power Generation Systems
(PVPGS), when a fault of short-circuit happens in the power grid, the grid-connected inverter usually disconnect from
operation in order to avoid its damage, which results in a high voltage and power fluctuations at the point of common
coupling (PCC).8 Therefore, the new grid codes require that the grid-connected power generation systems should be
connected and have a low voltage ride through capability, in addition, they need to deliver reactive power to support
the grid during the fault.9 When the electrical power grid is subjected to a voltage drop (Symmetrical or Asymmetrical),
the energy production of the PV inverter decreases instantaneously, causing the accumulation of energy in the DC bus,
and then, a problem of overvoltage and overcurrent, which seriously threatens the safety and the stable operation of
the PV inverter and the power grid itself. As a result, How to quickly and accurately achieve the phase-locking and
quickly detect the voltage drop in case of asymmetrical grid faults, and how to design a reasonable and robust control
strategy for carrying out the low voltage ride through of the PV inverter have become one of the hottest research topics.
The literature10 proposes the use of grid-connected inverters for controllable reactive power regulation, supporting the
grid-connected point voltage during faults and achieving LVRT. During the low voltage period, the literature,11 treats the
problem of voltage accumulation on the DC bus by abandoning the PV MPPT function. The literature,12 takes the open
control loop of the voltage and does not take effective regulation of the DC side voltage. The literature,13 introduces a con-
trol scheme that reduces the DC-side voltage through the unloading circuit during the grid voltage drop. On the basis of
this, some researchers propose a method combining reactive power control strategy and Crowbar circuit with unloading
load to realize LVRT.14 In the above literature, during the low voltage period, the overcurrent is suppressed by limiting
the maximum output current of the grid inverter, and the unloading circuit suppresses the DC Bus overvoltage.14
The grid-connected PV inverter is an important part of the PVPGS, and its performance affects directly the grid volt-
age power quality. When the grid voltage is in a three-phase imbalance, such as harmonic pollution, frequency distor-
tion, and sudden phase changes, a phase-locked loop PLL (phase-locked loop) is required to track the phase and
frequency of the grid voltage in real-time in order to reduce the impact on the power system.15 Therefore, the grid-
connected inverter system has strict requirements for LVRT technology. A phase-locked loop based on a synchronous
rotating frame (SRF-PLL) is commonly used in PVPGS inverter control systems.16 SRF-PLL achieves the purpose of
phase-locking by tracking the synchronous rotation coordinate system, and it can be well phase-locked under the ideal
grid voltage state. However, when the grid voltage is distorted or other unbalanced, it is necessary to use the positive
sequence voltage component of the fundamental wave as a reference, but the negative sequence component cannot be
effectively filtered due to its narrow bandwidth, and then, accurate phase lock cannot be achieved, which may cause a
failure.17 In response to the above problems, some researchers have made improvements on SRF-PLL and proposed the
Enhanced PLL (EPLL) and the Dual Enhanced PLL (DEPLL),18 which are based on a nonlinear adaptive filter and they
can be utilized for canceling the power, current, and voltage signals oscillations. Alternatively, in Literature,19 a
Decoupled Double SRF-PLL (DDSRF-PLL) is proposed, and it can achieve the phase-locking under the situation of the
imbalanced power grid, and also the separation of PNS components. However, its low-pass filter is more complicated
and affects the system response speed. In Lei et al.,20 the PLL based Double Second-Order Generalized Integrator
(DSOGI-PLL) is proposed, it generates the quadrature signals with a phase angle difference of 90
to achieve the phase-
sequence separation and also the phase lock. However, DSOGI-PLL has shortcomings such as slow dynamic response
in case of sudden frequency and phase changes. In view of this, this paper intends to add a Frequency-Locked Loop
(FLL) with a frequency adaptive link based on DSOGI.21 In addition, to the phase and frequency locking and to the
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 3 of 27

positive-negative component extraction, the choice of the controllers used to ensure the stable operation of PV inverters
is crucial and has to be made carefully. The grid-connected PVPGS often uses the traditional PID (including PI) or PID
improved controllers; which presents many defects: for example, the system output is compared with a given value as
an error, this technique produces a large initial error, which can easily cause overshoots.22 Furthermore, the integral
feedback link (I) makes the system slower and easier to oscillate; at the same time, PID controllers are simple linear
weighted controls, and Linear weighting is not certainly the optimal combination.23 As a result, these defects will cause
voltage or current overshoot in the system during power changes or in grid faults affecting the system performance,
and even triggering the protection devices to operate, and then, causing the system disconnection.24
In order to remedy the limitations of linear PID controllers, the researcher Jingqing Han has suggested a new
control approach named Active Disturbance Rejection Control (ADRC).25 The ADRC retrieves the perturbation infor-
mation directly from the input and output signals of the controlled plant, and eliminates it by the control amount in
real-time, or the disturbance signal is cleared before it affects the output signal. This “precautionary prevention” control
method is ahead of PID control, so it can be considered that PID control is passive and ADRC is active. If the error is
visually compared to “disease”, then PID control is treating “disease”, and ADRC starts from “sickness” (disturbance)
to prevent “disease”.26 At present, ADRC has been largely used in a different area, as wind generation systems, robotics,
and in drone control.27-30
Based on the above research, a mathematical model of the control loops for the PVPGS is established while taking
into account the current limitation, the DC bus parallel unloading circuit, and the injection of the reactive current upon
grid failures. The ADRC is used to replace the traditional PI controller in order to reduce the DC voltage spikes gener-
ated by the fault occurrence and recovery, and to get a faster dynamic response. The DSOGI-FLL is also used to replace
the traditional SRF-PLL, in order to ensure the Positive Negative Sequence extraction and ensuring the phase and fre-
quency locking. The corresponding structural block diagram of three-phase grid-connected PVPGS and the proposed
control strategy is then given in Figure 4. As a summarize of the following paper, it is divided into fifth sections, where
Section 1 gives an introduction about the article, Section 2 introduces the LVRT concept and requirements for PV sys-
tems, Section 3 details the DSOGI-FLL extraction method, Section 4 deals with the design of the ADRC control strategy,
and Section 5 presents the simulation results and discussions.

2 | LVRT CAPABILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR VARIOUS GRID CODES

In order to ensure a secure and reliable power supply with integrated photovoltaic power plants, large-scale photovol-
taic systems must meet certain requirements of connection to the power grid, which are commonly defined as Grid
Codes (GCs). To this end, a number of separate studies from various countries were investigated. In 2008, Germany
established the first special grid code for photovoltaic power plants integrated into the MV and HV power grids. These
requirements have been analyzed in some research papers.31,32 Other Countries, including China, Italy, South Africa,
Spain, Australia, and Malaysia have developed their own GCs. An outline of certain issues related to large-scale integra-
tion of PV plants into LV and MV grids is given in Shah et al..33 In Obi and Bass,34 Obi and Bass have studied the tech-
nical problems and trends linked to PV systems integration. The default graph for LVRT specifications is depicted in
Figure 1. The typical voltage curve at the common coupling point (CCP) is in Zone A, where the PVPGS is continuously
operating. If the voltage curve at the PCC is in Zone B, the PVPGS should be kept in operation for a certain time. Other-
wise, if the voltage curve is in Zone C, the PVPGS is allowed to be disconnected from the grid.
The voltage stability is supported by reactive power injection in case of grid faults. Figure 2 illustrates the
reactive current injection or absorption requirements for China, Germany, and South Africa grid codes. For the
case of Germany, each percent of voltage drop requires a 2% slope of the positive reactive current injection.
When the voltage sag value is higher than 50%, the injection of reactive current goes to 100% or more
depending on the inverter's rated current. Meanwhile, China needs a reactive current injection with a slope of
1.5% for voltage drops from 0.2 to 0.9 pu. If the voltage drop is greater than 0.8 pu, the reactive current injec-
tion is 105% of the average output current.35 Another fascinating aspect of China's grid code is that when there
is an overvoltage it does not require the absorption of reactive energy, and therefore the reactive current support
is 0 if the voltage is greater than 0.9 pu which is not the case for Germany and South Africa grid codes.
Figure 3, provides a summary of several criteria for connecting PVPGS to the power grid for some countries. These
comparisons are based on specific parameters like rated frequency, frequency boundaries, Low Voltage (LVRT), and
4 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

Voltage at PCC (V)

Vn
A
V2

V1

t1 t2 t3 t(s )

FIGURE 1 Basic curve for LVRT requirements

ΔIq/ In

Dead band 100

Absorbing Reactive Current
80
60
40
20
-80 -70 -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 ΔV/Vn
-20
-40
-60
-80
China
-100 South Africa
-105 Germany
Supplying Reactive Current

FIGURE 2 Reactive power support requirement for various grid codes

High Holtage (HVRT) Ride Through. It is noteworthy that the most stringent frequency boundaries relative to the rated
value are around 3.5 and 2.5 Hz.36

3 | GRID CON N E CT E D PVPG S M O DE L I NG AND A R C HI T UC T UR E

Figure 4 displays the two-stage PVPGS topology as well as the overall block control diagram. As illustrated, the system
includes a Photovoltaic array, a boost converter, a three-phase inverter and a 35 kV step-up transformer. In order to
demonstrate the control strategy, the model of PV system is given, in addition, the power model of the inverter in case
of unbalanced grid faults is clarified and established, the method for calculating the references currents of positive and
negative sequences are also demonstrated, the control scheme for the functioning of the LVRT is implemented and the
impedance of the discharge circuit resistance is determined.

3.1 | The equivalent model of the PV array

Researchers around the world have presented several models in the literature to reflect the characteristics of
photovoltaic cells for various operating conditions. Generally, there are two types of commonly used photovoltaic
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 5 of 27

Grid
Country Frequency Maximum LVRT HVRT
Rated
Grid Frequency Boundries Allowed
Within Fault After Fault During Voltage Swell
Code (GC) (Hz) (Hz) Time (Duration)
V1 (%) t2 (s) V2 (%) t3 (s) V (%) t (s)
fg > 51.5 Disconnection (Trip)
Germany Stay in Operation (No Trip)
50 47.5 < fg < 51.5 0 0.15 90 1.5 120 0.1
GC
fg < 47.5 Disconnection (Trip)

Italy GC 50 ND ND 0 0.2 85 1.5 125 0.1

fg > 51.5 Disconnection (Trip)

Spain 47.5 < fg < 51.5 Stay in Operation (No Trip)

GC 50 20 0.5 80 1.0 130 0.25
48 < fg < 47.5 3s
fg < 47.5 Disconnection (Trip)
fg > 52 2s
Australia 50 47.5 < fg < 52 Stay in Operation (No Trip) 0 0.45 80 0.45 130 0.06
GC
fg < 47.5 2s
fg > 50.2 2 min
49.5 < fg < 50.2 Stay in Operation (No Trip)
China 50 20 0.15 90 2 ND ND
GC 48 < fg < 49.5 10 min
fg < 48 Caracteristics of PV Inverter

fg > 52 Disconnection (Trip)

Malaysia 50 47 < fg < 52 Stay in Operation (No Trip) 0 0.15 90 1.5 120 Continuous
GC
fg < 47 Disconnection (Trip)
fg > 52 4s
51 < fg < 52 60 s
South 49 < fg < 51 Stay in Operation (No Trip)
Africa 50 0 0.15 85 2.0 120 0.15
GC 48 < fg < 49 60 s
47 < fg < 48 10 s
fg < 47 0.2 s

FIGURE 3 A summary of several criteria for connecting PVPGS to the power grid

cells models: analytical models and empirical models. The analytical models include the single-diode and the
double-diode models.37 This article uses the double diode model, and its equivalent scheme is depicted in
Figure 5.
The corresponding block diagram comprises two diodes ðD1, D2Þ characterizing the P  N junction, ðIphÞ rep-
resenting the photo-current, ðRsÞ reflecting the Joule effect losses, and ðRshÞ depicting the leakage current.37
The equivalent model is then given by the following equations:

I cell ¼ I ph  I D1  I D2  I sh ð1Þ


 
ðV cell þ Rs :I cell Þ
I D1 ¼ I sc1 exp 1 ð2Þ
a1 :V th


 
ðV cell þ Rs :I cell Þ
I D2 ¼ I sc2 exp 1 ð3Þ
a2 :V th

V cell þ Rs :I cell
I sh ¼ ð4Þ
Rsh
6 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

FIGURE 4 The scheme of two-stage photovoltaic power generation system and its control strategy

where I sc1 , I sc2 represents the diodes reverse saturation currents, a1 , a2 are the diodes ideality factor, and V th is the cell
thermal voltage which is given by: V th ¼ kT=q, k is the Boltzmann's coefficient ð1:38  1023 J=o KÞ, and lastly q
describes the charge of the electron ð1:602  1019 CÞ: .

3.2 | Mathematical model of grid inverter under asymmetrical grid failure

Asymmetrical current and voltage sequences such as PNS appears when the power network is affected by unbalanced
failure. Thanks to the PV inverter, there are practically no homopolar components. Accordingly, the expression of the
apparent power in case of unbalanced grid failure defined as cited below38:
  
S ¼ P þ jQ ¼ 1:5 vþ
dq e
jωt
þ v
dq e
jωt
iþ
dq e
jωt
þ i
dq e
jωt
ð5Þ

where vþ  þ 
dq , vdq , idq and idq are the voltage and current vectors which are given by (6).

8 þ
>
> v ¼ vþ þ
d þ jvq
> dq
>
< v ¼ v þ jv
dq d q
ð6Þ
>
> iþ þ þ
dq ¼ id þ jiq
>
>
: i ¼ i þ ji
dq d q

where the positive and negative voltage sequences in the d-q axis are:
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 7 of 27

FIGURE 5 Two-diodes PV cell model

2     3
2π 2π
2 þ3 6 cosðθÞ cos θ  3 cos θ þ 3 72 3
6 7
vd 6    7 vþ
6 þ 7 26 6 2π 2π 76 aþ 7
4 vq 5 ¼ 6 sinðθÞ sin θ  sin θ þ 74 v 5 ð7Þ
36 3 3 77 þ
b
0 6 1 7 vc
4 1 1 5
2
2 2
2    3
2π 2π
2 3 6 cosðθÞ cos θ  3 cos θ þ 72 3
6   
3
 7 v
vd 6 7 a
6  7 26 6 2π 2π 76  7
4 vq 5 ¼ 6 sinðθÞ sin θ  sin θ þ 74 v 5 ð8Þ
36 3 3 7 b
7 
0 6 1 7 vc
4 1 1 5
2
2 2

þ
where θ is the phase angle of the grid voltage acquired by DSOGI FLL as shown in Figure 4. And, vþ þ
a , vb , vc and
v  
a , vb , vc are the PNS voltages in the stationary reference coordinates.
The apparent power is splitted into active power P and reactive power Q by the following formula:

P ¼ P0 þ Pc2 cosð2ωt Þ þ Ps2 sinð2ωt Þ
ð9Þ
Q ¼ Q0 þ Qc2 cosð2ωt Þ þ Qs2 sinð2ωt Þ

where P0 and Q0 are the average component of the active and reactive powers, and Pc2 , Ps2 , Qc2 , Qs2 are the oscillating
components of those powers by the double-line-frequency.38 Their expressions are then given by:
8  
>
> P0 ¼ 1:5 vþ i þ
þ vþ þ
i þ v 
i þ v 
i
>
>
d d q q d d q q
>
>  
>
> Pc2 ¼ 1:5 vd i þ vq iq þ v id þ vþ
 þ  þ þ  
>
> q iq
>
> 
d d

>
>
>
< Ps2 ¼ 1:5 v þ  þ þ  þ 
q id  vd iq  vq id þ vd iq
  ð10Þ
>
> ¼ þ þ
 þ þ
þ  
  
> 0
> Q 1:5 v i v i v i v i
>
> 
q d d q q d d q

>
>
>
> Qc2 ¼ 1:5 v iþ  v iþ þ vþ i  vþ i
>
> q d d q q d d q
>
>  
>
: Q ¼ 1:5 vþ i þ vþ i  v iþ  v iþ
s2 d d q q d d q q

There is a multi-variable coupling in (10), which can be written as a matrix of 6  4 coefficients and it is not
reversible.
8 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

2 3
v
6 v q
7
vþ
d
2 6 þ
3 q 7
P0 6 vd v v d 7
6 vþ q 7 2 3
6Q 7 6 vþ 7 iþ
6 07 6 q d
þ 7 d
6 7 6 vþ vq 7 6 þ7
6 Pc2 7 3 6 v v d 7 6 iq 7
6 7¼ 6 d q
7 6 7 ð11Þ
6 P 7 2 6 v 7 6 i 7
6 s2 7 6 q v þ
d vq
þ 7
vd 7 4d5
6 7 6 
4 Qc2 5 6 vq
v
7 i
6 vþ 7 q
6 v d
q þ 7
vd 7
Qs2 6 d
4 v
q 5
vþ
d þ
vq

This expression contains six different parameters that are not simultaneously controlled as its degree of freedom is four.
The references of the current regulators can be deduced from this equation on the basis of the required power to be sup-
plied to the power grid for a PV inverter having a PNSC method.39
2 3
vþ vþ
q
6 d 7
2 3 6 E1 E2 7
iþ 6 7
d 6 vþ vd 7
þ
6 þ7 6 q
 7

6 iq 7 26 E2 7 P
6 7 ¼ 6 E1 7 ð12Þ
6 i 7 36   7 Q
4d5 6 K vd vq 7 ref
6 þK 7
i 6 E1 E2 7
q ref 6 v 7
4 q v 5
K K d
E1 E2

where,

 2   2 
vþ vq  K v
þ
þ v
2 2
E1 ¼ d þ d q ð13Þ

 2   2 
E2 ¼ vþ þ vþ v þ v
2 2
d q þ K d q ð14Þ

And K which is included in Equations (12), (13), and (14) is a factor with three potential true values, [0, 1, or 1]. As a
result, the control objectives can be classified into three different functions39:

• K = 0: eliminate the current of the negative sequence although the active and reactive powers will oscillate with the
double frequency.
• K = 1: eliminate the components of the active powers oscillating with the double frequency Pc2 and Ps2.
• K = 1: eliminate the components of the reactive powers oscillating with the double frequency Qc2 and Qs2.

The adopted control target in this paper consist in removing the current of the negative sequence to prevent the
current overshooting. Therefore, both reactive and active powers will oscillate according to the double-line
frequency.38

3.3 | Positive and negative sequence current references generation

The DSOGI FLL bloc is used to ensure the separation of the PNS. Hence, two control loops are utilized, one for the pos-
itive sequence current and the other one for the negative sequence. Each control loop guarantees that the inverter out-
put current components in the d  q frame tracks their desired references. The corresponding references are obtained
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 9 of 27

from Equation (12) while considering the control target by the value of K.39 Therefore, the positive current references
used in control (case K = 0) are given by:
2 3
vþ
d
vþ
q
" # 6  2  2 7
6 vþ 2
þ vþ vþ
2
þ vþ 7

iþ 26 d q d q 7 P
¼ 6 7
d
ð15Þ
iþ
q 36
6 vþ
q vd þ 7 Q
7 ref
ref 4  2  2 5
2 2
vþ
d þ vþq vþ
d þ vþ q

With the injection of negative sequence current, the inverter output current will reach its limits. Consequently, the ref-
erences of the negative current control loop are such that:
(
i
dref ¼ 0
ð16Þ
i
qref ¼ 0

Due to the voltage-oriented control strategy, vþ

q is set to zero, and then Equation (15) becomes:

8
>
> þ Pref
< idref ¼ 1:5vþ
>
d
ð17Þ
>
> iþ ¼  Q
>
: qref
ref
1:5vþ d

where Pref and Qref are references of active and reactive powers respectively. Their corresponding values are obtained
through the following analysis.
In terms of the overcurrent damage prevention, the injected reactive power into the grid should not exceed the sys-
tem rated capacity. In normal conditions, the apparent power of the photovoltaic power plant is higher compared to
the one obtained during a voltage sag fault; in this case, the power grid is not able to take over the power produced by
the system.38 As a result, in order to restrict the current to the maximum value that the inverter can withstand, a new
modified output apparent power is calculated and it is called as maximum rated power ðSmax Þ, it depends on the depth
of the voltage sag and it is defined as:

vþ
Smax ¼ 1:1 d
S ð18Þ
vd

where vþd =vd is the voltage sag depth and S is the system apparent, the coefficient is set to 1:1 depending on the ratio
between the rated and maximum current value of the inverter.
The reference of the reactive power to be injected into the grid is determined according to the Chinese grid code
and it can be calculated as follows:
8
< Qref ¼ 0
> ðV > 0:9Þ
Qref ¼ 1:5*S*ð0:9  V Þ ð0:2 < V < 0:9Þ ð19Þ
>
:
Qref ¼ 1:05*S ðV < 0:2Þ

where V is the lowest of the value per unit across the network phase voltages and expressed as:

V ¼ minfV sa V sb V sc g ð20Þ

Then, to avoid the inverter overcurrent damage, the reference of active power to be injected is calculated in such that:
10 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Pref ¼ Smax 2  Qref 2 ð21Þ

As the reference active power is limited and the hole active power cannot be injected into the grid during grid
faults, the excess of energy needs to be dissipated, if not, it will result in accumulation of energy in the DC
bus, and then, a problem of overvoltage, which seriously threatens the safety and stable operation of the PV
inverter. Therefore, when the grid suffers faults, a discharging circuit is added to the system in order to main-
tain the dc-link voltage, as a result, the excess of energy will be dissipated at R1 as depicted in Figure 4,38 it
corresponding value is calculated as:

V dc 2
R1 ¼ ð22Þ
SP

4 | M A T H E M A T I C A L A N A L Y S I S OF TH E P R O P O S E D S T R A T E G I E S

4.1 | Active disturbance rejection control

ADRC's control approach is a reliable control method developed by scientist Jinging HAN to address the limitations of
the traditional PID approach.25 To explain the concept of the ADRC approach, let us investigate a non-linear controlled
object with a single input and output, varying over time40:

_  , x n1 ,w,t Þ þ b:u
x n ¼ f ðx, x,
ð23Þ
x¼y

_ ……,x n are respectively the state of the object and its different order dynamics, w is the external per-
where x, x,
_
turbations, f ðx, x,……, x n1 , w, t Þ denotes all relevant internal and external (total) perturbations impacting the
controlled process, u and y are respectively the input and output of the process, and b is a process controlling
coefficient.
In general, the dynamic model of the overall process and the controlling coefficients are usually hard to be
established and to identify precisely. Numerous uncertainties exist; as a result, model-based control approaches and
techniques have faced major challenges and complexities in the field of engineering applications.25 The main strength
of the ADRC lies in the fact that no matter how unclear and uncertain the dynamic model of the process is, and how
much uncertainties the controlling coefficients presents, satisfactory control performances could be achieved. The fun-
damental design of the ADRC regulator is illustrated by the schematic layout in Figure 6. It comprises three main parts:
the TD (Tracking Differentiator), the ESO (Extended State Observer), and the NLSEF (Non Linear State Error Feed-
back) control law. Each of these three parts can take a variety of designs. For instance, if they include a non-linear link,
it is named nonlinear ADRC; on the contrary, if they are conceived as linear links, they are named linear ADRC.25 The
concepts of the three parts are outlined below.

FIGURE 6 Bloc diagram of n order nonlinear ADRC

ABOUDRAR ET AL. 11 of 27

4.1.1 | TD tracking differentiator

The main objective of the tracking differentiator is to set up the transition of a given signal according to the controlled object
input limits. While obtaining a smooth input, it also provides the differential signal of each order of this input. For n  order
uncertain systems, an n  order tracking differentiator is usually used, and its standard form is given as follows:
A typical design of nonlinear TD is given as25:
8
>
> v_ 1 ¼ v2
>
>
>
< v_ 2 ¼ v3
.. ð24Þ
>
> .
>
>  
>
: v_ n ¼ r n f v1  v, v2 , , vn
r r n1

where v is the TD input signal; vi ði ¼ 1, 2,   ,nÞ represents the output signal of TD, v1 is the tracking signal of v; r is
the rapidity coefficient, the bigger r is, the quicker v1 follows the signal v.

4.1.2 | ESO extended state observer

The ESO is the main component of the entire approach. It not only undertakes the task of estimating the state variables
of the system and their differential signals of various orders, but also accurately comprehends the overall disturbances
caused by changes in the internal parameters of the system and the external environment.
At this point, it is supposed that the entire process dynamic model is totally unknown, and the “overall perturba-
tion” f ð  Þ, is approximated in real-time by the extended state.
Supposing that x 1 ¼ x,  , x n ¼ x n1 ; let x nþ1 ¼ f ð  Þ be the extended state variables of the process, then the typical
design of an ESO is as follows41:
8
>
> e ¼ z1  y
>
>
>
> z_ ¼ z2  β01 g1 ðeÞ
>
> 1
>
>
< z_ 2 ¼ z3  β02 g2 ðeÞ
.. ð25Þ
>
> .
>
>
>
>
>
> z_ n ¼ znþ1  β0n gn ðeÞ þ b0 u
>
>
: z_
nþ1 ¼ β 0ðnþ1Þ gnþ1 ðeÞ

where zi ði ¼ 1, 2,   , n þ 1Þ are the estimated values of states x i ði ¼ 1, 2,   , nÞ and x nþ1 ¼ f ð  Þ the total distur-
bances; β0i ði ¼ 1, 2,   , n þ 1Þ is the observer adjustable gains, and gn ðeÞði ¼ 1, 2,  , n þ 1Þ is a nonlinear built-in
function.
According to some circumstances, the ESO can approximate the state of the object and the overall perturbation of
the process with some precision, which is:

z1 ! x 1 ,  , zn ! x n , znþ1 ! f ð  Þ ð26Þ

For the custom conception of the ESO, a variety of available observation and filter methods may be used for the particular
design of the ESO. The researcher Jingqing Han has selected gi ðeÞ as the typical function, having the following formula41:
8 a
< jej i sgnðεÞ jej > δ
gi ðeÞ ¼ falðe,ai , δÞ ¼ e ð27Þ
: 1ai jej ≤ δ
δ
12 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

where 0 < ai < 1, and δ > 0 are configurable factors; if ai ¼ 1 , gi ðeÞ ¼ e, The obtained result is a traditional Luenberger
observer, called the Linear ESO.

4.1.3 | NLSEF nonlinear state error feedback control law

The ESO acquires in real time the predicted amount of the overall perturbation. If this amount is canceled out in the
control law, the function of pertyrbation rejection is then achieved. Consequently, the control law is considered to be as
follows41:

u0  znþ1
u¼ ð28Þ
b0

where u0 is the initial amount of control. If the prediction error of znþ1 on the overall perturbation “f ð  Þ þ ðb  b0 Þu”
is removed, the process (23) is transformed to a “series of integrators”:

x n ¼ f ð  Þ þ ðb  b0 Þu  znþ1 þ u0 ≈ u0 ð29Þ

In this manner, the process which contains a large quantity of perturbations, uncertainties, and nonlinearities is consis-
tently transformed into a typical types of integrators, rendering the conception of the control scheme from complicated
to simple and has a wide applicability.
The control amount u0 has several applications,41 the following expression is a general Non Linear State Error Feed-
back (NLSEF) control for any order controlled process.

X
n
u0 ¼ ki fal ei , a0i , δ0 ð30Þ
i¼1

with ei ¼ vi  zi , ki is a proportional coefficient, a0i , δ0 are undefined constants, commonly selected as

0 < ai < 1 < a0i ði ¼ 1, 2,   , nÞ, Like this, the effect become smaller when it is near to the steady state, which improves
the control performances.41
If a0i ¼ 1ði ¼ 1, 2,   , nÞ, then, the control becomes linear. Its main benefit lies on that the parameter settling is sim-
pler and the control effect is relatively soft. In this paper, the Linear ADRC is adopted and utilized to ensure the extrac-
tion of the maximum PV power as well as to control the PV inverter.

4.2 | Designing of the linear ADRC

The linear ADRC control technology is a method proposed by Professor Gao Zhiqiang to select the parameters of the
ADRC regulator by taking into account the bandwidth. The basic idea is, the bandwidth is a performance index of the
response control system. The faster, the better the immunity, so when designing the controller and the ESO parameters,
the bandwidth can be used as the only tunable parameter of the system, and the remaining parameters are converted
into functions of the bandwidth.
To illustrate the principle of the linear ADRC,42 the system in Equation (23) is considered and rewritten in the fol-
lowing form (Known as the ADRC canonical form):

yðnÞ ¼ f ð  Þ þ b0 :u ð31Þ

Assuming f ð  Þ is differentiable while taking f_ ð  Þ ¼ h. The Equation (31) could be written as follows:
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 13 of 27


z_ ¼ Az þ Bu þ Eh
ð32Þ
y ¼ Cz

where:

z ¼ ½z 1   zn znþ1 T
z2
2 3
0 1 0   0
6 7
6 0 0 1   0 7
6 7
6. . . . 7
Aðnþ1,nþ1Þ ¼ 6 .. .. .. . . ... 7
6 7
6 7
6 0 0 0   1 7
4 5
0 0 0   0
Bðnþ1,1Þ ¼ ½1 0   b0 0T
Cðnþ1,1Þ ¼ ½1 0   0 0
E ðnþ1,1Þ ¼ ½0 0   0 1T

As a result, the ESO can be designed as a full-order Luenberger observer which given as follows:
(
^z_ ¼ A^z þ Bu þ Lðy  ^yÞ
ð33Þ
^y ¼ C^z

where the vector L represents the observer gains.

The error obtained by the observer is given by:

e ¼ z  ^z ð34Þ

its dynamics is then written as:

e_ ¼ ðA  LC Þe ð35Þ

with
2 3
β01 1 0   0
6 β 1   0 7
6 02 0 7
6 7
6 .. .. .. . . .. 7
A  LC ¼ 6 . . . . .7
6 7
6 β 0   1 7
4 0n 0 5
β0ðnþ1Þ 0 0   0

To obtain a good functioning of the observer (e ! 0 when t ! ∞), the L matrix gains should be chosen in the way
that ðA  LCÞ constitutes a Hurwitz matrix, which means that its polynomial characteristic poles of PESO ðsÞ all have
strictly negative parts.43

PESO ðsÞ ¼ detðsI nþ1  ðA  LCÞÞ ¼ snþ1 þ β01 sn þ β02 sn1 þ   þ β0n s þ β0ðnþ1Þ ð36Þ

Generally, the pole placement technique is used to determine the observer's gains. A balance must be struck between
the observer tracking speed and its noise measurement sensitivity. As the ESO become faster, the perturbation is
14 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

anticipated early and then removed by the controller. It is done by positioning the poles of the observer just to the left
of the controlled process in the P  plan. This results in the implementation of a significant bandwidth for ESO. Never-
theless, it must be mentioned that as the bandwidth increases, the system can be damaged by allowing the propagation
of noise.42
By considering all these conditions, the cut-off pulse of the ESO ωo is then selected in such that it has an appropriate
settling time, as a result, the ðn þ 1Þ poles are positioned at ωo .

PESO ðsÞ ¼ snþ1 þ β01 sn þ β02 sn1 þ    þ β0n s þ β0ðnþ1Þ ¼ ðs þ ωo Þnþ1 ð37Þ

The expression of the observer's coefficients is then given as follows:

ðn þ 1Þ!
β0i ¼ ωi ð38Þ
ðn þ 1  iÞ!i! o

As a result, when ðA  LC Þ is stable, ^z1 ,^z2 , … ,^zn will approach y and its derivatives, and ^znþ1 will approach the overall
perturbation f ð  Þ. Consequently, the final control amount can take into consideration those estimated disturbances
and reject them in real time.
If the final control law amount is taken as:

u0  ^znþ1
u¼ ð39Þ
b0

Then the system in Equation (31) becomes

yðnÞ ¼ f ð  Þ  ^znþ1 þ u0 ð40Þ

If ^znþ1 is a good estimation of f ð  Þ ð^znþ1 ≈ f ð  ÞÞ, an integral process of n-order is obtained.

yðnÞ ¼ u0 ð41Þ

Which could be then controlled by the control law given below:

 
u0 ¼ k1 ðr  yÞ þ k2 ðr_  y_ Þ þ … þ k n r ðn1Þ  yðn1Þ ð42Þ

r represents the reference signal.

As ^z1 , … , ^zn is a good approximation of y, … , yðn1Þ , the overall control amount is then expressed as:

k1 ðr  ^z1 Þ þ … þ kn r ðn1Þ  ^zn  ^znþ1

u¼ ¼ K 0 ð^r  ^zÞ ð43Þ
b0

where:

h iT
^r ¼ r r_ … r ðn1Þ 0

and
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 15 of 27

½k 1 k 2 … k n 1 
K0 ¼
b0

The linear ADRC can be then summarized and designed as follows:

(
^z_ ¼ A^z þ Bu þ L½y  C^z ¼ ðA  LC Þ^z þ Bu þ Ly
ð44Þ
u ¼ K 0 ½^r  ^z

Figure 7 displays the structure of a first order LADRC.

4.3 | Grid synchronization by DSOGI FLL

In the case of an unbalanced grid voltage state, the grid voltage does not have a constant amplitude and a constant rota-
tion frequency, and the PLL cannot be used to track the grid voltage directly. Normally, it is necessary to detect the
phase and frequency of the positive sequence components to replace the grid voltage.45 The positive sequence compo-
nent of the grid voltage can be expressed as:

2 3 2 3 2 3
vþ 1 a2 a va
6 þ 7 16 2 7 6
a
6 1 a 7 7
4 vb 5 ¼ 4 a
5 4 vb 5 ð45Þ
3
vþ
c a2 a 1 vc

Or a is a constant parameter and it is defined as: ¼ ej 3 .

2π

The positive voltage sequence component is obtained by applying the Clarke transformation.
2 3
" # 1 1 2 vþ 3
1  7 a


vþ
α 26 2 2 6 7 1 1 q vα
6 7 þ
¼ 4 pffiffiffi pffiffiffi 54 vb 5 ¼ ð46Þ
vþ
β 3 3 3 2 q 1 vβ
0  vþ
c
2 2
π
Among them, q ¼ ej2 is a phase shift operator lagging 90
from the initial phase. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce
a quadrature signal generator (QSG) to achieve a 90
phase shift. The commonly used methods includes, adaptive notch
filter (ANF) method, delayed T/4 method, and inverse Park Transform (IPT) method.46 However, these methods use
sine or cosine functions in the implementation process, which makes the algorithm structure complicated, and then,
not only increases the system response time, but also introduces noise errors. Meanwhile, the SOGI structure is simpler,
and its core is a phase shift circuit.47 Its corresponding structure is shown in Figure 8.
Input u in Figure 8 can corresponds to the rotated voltage (uα or uβ ). The outputs u0 and qu0 are a mutually orthogo-
nal voltages with a phase shift of 90 ∘ , εu is the error between the input signal u and the output signal u0 and ω0 is the
estimated angular frequency. Its corresponding transfer function is as follows:

FIGURE 7 Block diagram of a first order linear ADRC44

16 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

u0 ω0 s
GðsÞ ¼ ðsÞ ¼ 2 ð47Þ
kεu s þ ω0 2

u0 kω0 s
Dð s Þ ¼ ðsÞ ¼ 2 ð48Þ
u s þ kω0 s þ ω0 2

qu0 kω0 2
QðsÞ ¼ ðsÞ ¼ 2 ð49Þ
u s þ kω0 s þ ω0 2

GðsÞ is the system transfer function; DðsÞ and QðsÞ are the band-pass filter and low-pass filter transfer functions of the
quadrature output signal, respectively, whose bandwidth is independent of the input angular frequency and depends
only on parameter k, so SOGI is frequency adaptive and suitable for occasions with sudden frequency changes.48
When a voltage imbalance or a phase and frequency transitions occur, in order to track the phase and frequency
faster, the FLL link is introduced. SOGI-FLL can be used to process the voltage component uα or uβ . FLL is composed
of a SOGI and a frequency adaptive unit, and its structure is shown in Figure 9.
Compared with SOGI, after adding the FLL link, SOGI outputs the voltage error εu and the quadrature voltage qu0
to the FLL. The frequency error εf , is estimated by the controller and integrator output system with a gain of Γ and
the angular frequency ω0 is fed backed to SOGI to form a closed-loop control loop and in order to obtain an accurate
system frequency adaption. Adopting a closed-loop circuit can effectively eliminate the accumulation of angular fre-
quency, and continuously adjust ω0 , so that the error signal εf ¼ 0, thereby achieving frequency lock.48
The state space equation of SOGI FLL are given by:

 " #


x_ 1 kω0 ω0 2 x 1 kω0
x_ ¼ ¼ Ax þ Bu ¼ þ u ð50Þ
x_ 2 1 0 x2 0

FIGURE 8 Schematic diagram of SOGI structure

FIGURE 9 Schematic diagram of SOGI-FLL

ABOUDRAR ET AL. 17 of 27




u0 1 0 x1
y¼ ¼ Cx ¼ ð51Þ
qu0 0 ω0 x 2

where x and y represents the vector state and the output vector.
The dynamic if SOGI-FLL is given by:

ω_ 0 ¼ Γx 2 ω0 ðu  x 1 Þ ð52Þ

In a three-phase unbalanced power grid, the frequency of the positive and negative sequence components is the same,
and SOGI can only realize the filtering effect, and cannot achieve the decoupling between the positive and negative
sequence components.48 Therefore, it is necessary to form a double second-order generalized integrator (DSOGI) by
paralleling and expanding to realize the separation of positive and negative phase sequences. The grid voltage is trans-
formed into uα and uβ by Clarke transformation, and the orthogonal voltage signals are obtained after SOGI filtering.
Finally, a Positive/Negative Sequence Calculation (PNSC) method is used to achieve the separation. The structure of
DSOGI-FLL is shown in Figure 10. Its working characteristics are similar to DSOGI-PLL, and there are frequency feed-
back and phase feedback links, so DSOGI-FLL can be accurate in the case of sudden frequency and phase changes in
the grid voltage to track the frequency and phase of the grid voltage.

5 | C O N T R O L O F TH E T W O S T A G E PVP G S BY A D R C

5.1 | Designing of the ADRC control for the DC-DC converter

To ensure the good functioning of the PVPGS during the environmental conditions variations, a two stages MPPT con-
trol technique is proposed and adopted in this paper.49 As shown in Figure 11, firstly, a modified adaptive Perturb and
Observe (P&O) MPPT technique is utilized to produce the V mpp reference voltage. Then, an enhanced linear ADRC-
based Cascaded Loop is used to accurately track the optimal PV voltage and current, which ensures PV system maxi-
mum power extraction.

FIGURE 10 Schematic diagram of DSOGI-FLL based PNSC

18 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

5.1.1 | Modified adaptive perturb and observe based voltage MPPT

The objective of the optimum voltage-based MPPT is to produce the V mpp reference voltage corresponding to the Maxi-
mum Power Point. Therefore, a P&O-based Voltage MPPT49 approach is used because of its efficiency and robustness
as shown in Figure 12.

5.1.2 | ADRC designing for the V-MPPT

Owing to the almost zero variation of the PV voltage at MPP under ambient variable conditions, the Voltage-based
MPPT is recognized as a good choice. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of this approach relies on the concept of a voltage/
current regulation loop. Consequently, a robust linear ADRC-based V/I regulation loop is suggested and investigated to
follow the MPPT under varying environmental conditions.
The suggested approach aims to regulate through the external loop the V pv voltage at its reference provided by the
V-MPPT. For the design of the corresponding controller, the mathematical model of the DC-DC boost converter is con-
sidered. As a result, the dynamics of the V pv voltage is obtained and expressed as follows:

dV pv 1
¼ ic ð53Þ
dt C1

Equation (53), corresponds to the canonical form of ADRC, as a result the controller is designed as follows:
8
> f V pv ð  Þ ¼ C1 þ b0V pv
>
<
1
b0V pv ¼ ð54Þ
>
> C1
:
u ¼ ic

The inner control loop is utilized to control the inductor current. Its corresponding dynamic is given by:

dil 1
¼ vl ð55Þ
dt L

Therefore, the corresponding ADRC controller design is presented as follows.

vl
ipv il D

Lpv
Ta (°C)
ic c

vpv C1 vdc
S DC

ipv vpv D*
ipv
PWM
vm*
vpv* -
+ il* vl*
MPPT ++ ADRC - ++ ADRC -++
ic* c -

il vdc
MPPT Control

FIGURE 11 Linear ADRC control design for the DC-DC converter

ABOUDRAR ET AL. 19 of 27

Start

Measurement of :
ipv (k) vpv (k)
ipv (k-1) vpv (k-1)

Calculation of :
vpv = vpv (k) - vpv (k-1)
ppv = ppv (k) - ppv (k-1)

Yes ppv > 0 No

vpv > 0 vpv > 0

Yes No Yes No

Vref+inc Vref-inc Vref+inc

To ADRC Controller

FIGURE 12 PandO-based V-MPPT

8
> 1
>
> f ð  Þ ¼  þ b0il
< il L
1 ð56Þ
>
> b0il ¼
>
: L
u ¼ vl

5.2 | Linear ARDC designing for the inverter control

The main objective is to control the currents on the grid side and to maintain the DC bus voltage constant and thus pro-
viding the active and reactive power control in the connection point. The VOC (Voltage Oriented Control) method is
applied so that the grid side voltage is oriented on the d-axis ( vsd ¼ V s and vsq ¼ 0). By imposing a zero reactive power
reference in normal operation, the unitary power factor can be obtained.50 The functional diagram of the implemented
control approach is displayed in Figure 4.

5.2.1 | Control of grid side currents

During normal grid operation, the model of the grid currents flowing in the filter Rf ,Lf in the d-q reference frame
are expressed by:
20 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

digd Rf 1 1
¼  igd þ vsd  ωg igq  vfd ð57Þ
dt Lf Lf Lf

digq Rf 1 1
¼  igq þ vsq þ ωg igd  vfq ð58Þ
dt Lf Lf Lf

where vfd , vfq and vsd , vsq are inverter output voltages and grid voltages, ωg is the angular grid frequency.50
In case of unbalanced grid faults conditions, the Equations (57) and (58) are rewritten in such that:
8
>
> di þ
< Lf gdq ¼ Rf igdq þ  ωg igdq þ þ vsdq þ  vfdq þ
dt ð59Þ

>
>L di
: f
gdq
¼ Rf igdq  þ ωg igdq  þ vsdq   vfdq 
dt

By separating the positive and negative sequences, Equation (59) becomes with an arrangement in the ADRC canoni-
cal form:
2 3 2 3 2 3t 2 3
iþ
gd fþ
gd ð  Þ bþ
0_gd uþ
gd
6 þ7 6 þ 7 6 þ 76 þ7
d6 i 7 6 7 6 7 6u 7
6 gq 7 ¼ 6 f gq ð  Þ 7 þ 6 b0_gq 7 6 gq 7 ð60Þ
6
dt 4 igd 5 4 f gd ð  Þ 5 4 b0_gd 7
 7 6  7 6  6 7
5 4 ugd 5
i
gq f
gq ð  Þ b
0_gq u
gq

With:
2   3
þ þ þ þ þ
2 3 Rf i gd  ω g i gd þ v sd  1 þ Lf b v fd
fþ 6 0_gd
7
gd ð  Þ 6   7
6 þ 7 6 Rf igq þ þ ωg igq þ þ vsq þ  1 þ Lf bþ vfq þ 7
6 f gq ð  Þ 7 1 6 0_gq 7
6 7 6   7
6 f  ð  Þ 7 ¼ Lf 6  7
4 gd 5 6 Rf igd  þ ωg igd  þ vsd   1 þ Lf b0_gd vfd  7
6 7

f gq ð  Þ 4   5
    
Rf igq þ ωg igq  vsq  1 þ Lf b0_gq vfq

And:
2 3 2 32 3t
uþ
gd vþ
fd bþ
0_gd
6 þ 7 6 þ7 6 þ 7

6 ugq 7 6 vfq 7 6 b0_gq 7 1 1 1 1
6 7 ¼ 6 7, 6 7
6 u 7 6 v 7 6 b 7 ¼ Lf Lf Lf Lf
4 gd 5 4 fd 5 4 0_gd 5
u
gq v
fq b
0_gq

5.2.2 | Control of DC link Vdc

The power over the DC bus Capacitor C can be written by:

Pdc ¼ V dc ipv  ig ð61Þ

And we have:
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 21 of 27

F I G U R E 1 3 Single line grid fault: A, Grid voltages; B, PNSC extraction; C, PV power; D, Injected active power; E, Injected reactive
power; F, d-axis current; G, q-axis current; H, DC bus voltage; I, Grid currents

dV dc 1
¼ ipv  ig ð62Þ
dt C

Or,

dV dc
Pdc ¼ CV dc ð63Þ
dt

The exchanged powers on the DC link can be given by the following expression:
22 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

F I G U R E 1 4 Two Line to ground grid fault: (A) Grid Voltages, (B) PNSC extraction, (C) PV Power, (D) Injected Active power,
(E) Injected Reactive power, (F) d-axis current, (G) q-axis current, (H) DC bus Voltage, (I) Grid currents

Pdc ¼ Ppv  Pg ð64Þ

where Ppv , Pg are respectively the PV system and grid powers.

Considering the Equations (61) to (64), The DC link voltage is given by:

dV dc 3
CV dc ¼ V dc ipv  V s igq ð65Þ
dt 2

Or:
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 23 of 27

F I G U R E 1 5 Three line to ground grid fault: A, grid voltages; B, PNSC extraction; C, PV power; D, Injected active power; E, Injected
reactive power; F, d-axis current; G, q-axis current; H, DC bus voltage; I, Grid currents

dV 2dc 2V dc 3V s
¼ ipv  igq ð66Þ
dt C C

We put X ¼ U 2dc , we have:

pffiffiffiffi
dX 2 X 3V s
¼ ipv  igq ð67Þ
dt C C

As a result, the ADRC canonical form is obtained:

24 of 27 ABOUDRAR ET AL.

dX
¼ f X ð  Þ þ bc0 uX ð68Þ
dt

Or:
8 pffiffiffiffi  
>
> 2 X 3V s
<f Xð  Þ ¼ ipv  þ bc0 igq
C C ð69Þ
>
>
: bc0 ¼ 3V s ; uX ¼ igq
C

During normal grid operation conditions, by means of the external control loop, the DC bus voltage V dc is maintained
constant and produces the reference igd_ref for the internal current control loop,50 while the reference current igq_ref is
obtained from the desired grid side reactive power to be injected or absorbed.

6 | R ESULTS A ND DISCUSSIONS

The full model of the two-stage PVPGS plant illustrated in Figure 4 has been established using the Matlab/Simulink
software where the main objective is to validate the proposed LVRT control strategies. The system is connected to MV
grid via a step-up transformer, with a nominal power of 100KW . The current and voltage instantaneous values are mea-
sured after the coupling filter. The Chinese grid code is used to satisfy the LVRT requirements while keeping the PV
inverter connected and ensuring the injection of the required reactive power amount as depicted in Section 2. The sim-
ulations parameters that are used in this study are shown in the Appendix.
To verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy, the simulation tests are done for both symmetrical (bal-
anced) and unsymmetrical (unbalanced) grid voltage drop faults. Three simulations scenarios are chosen. In the first
one, a 70% Single Line to Ground (SLG) fault is applied between t 1 ¼ 0:4s as the set point and t 2 ¼ 0:7s as the recovery
point. In the second scenario, a 50% Two Line to Ground (2LG) fault is introduced and in the third scenario, a 40% bal-
anced three-phase fault is implemented. The obtained results of the proposed control strategy for the three scenarios
are illustrated in the following figures.
In Figure 13, an unbalanced SLG fault that leads the affected phase voltage at PCC to drop to 30% within 300ms is
depicted. As it can be seen before faults occurrence, the system works at maximum power extraction and in a unitary
power factor, or all the extracted power from the PV is injected to the grid and the reactive power is set to zero. During
the fault, it can be seen in Figure 13B that DSOGI FLL method detects and separate the positive and negative sequences
of voltage in less than one period of time and then ensure a reliable control target. In addition, it can be observed that
the injection of the active power has been limited and reduced while supporting the grid with the required reactive
power. Furthermore, it can be noticed that the negative sequence currents are regulated to zero and the positive
sequence currents are regulated to their references by the ADRC controllers. In addition, the DC bus voltage was kept
constant and the grid currents are limited to the nominal values. When the fault occurs, it results in an excess of power
and therefore an accumulation of voltage in the DC bus. This accumulation is compensated by the ADRC regulator
with the change of its command, which in this case is the reference current of the d-axis idgref of the internal loop of the
current. Therefore, we obtain an increase of the current up to a value higher than the one supported by the inverter,
which will normally trigger the protection system and consequently the disconnection of the system. On the simulation
results, we can see that before the fault occurs, the system works in the maximum power extraction mode and the
power factor is fixed as a unit, on the other hand when the fault is detected, the excess power is dissipated in the dis-
charge circuit. The DC bus capacitor voltage is not experiencing the double line frequency because the discharging cir-
cuit is triggered in while exceeding a certain value of voltage.
In Figure 14, an unsymmetrical 2LG fault is introduced and the response of the proposed control strategy is shown,
in this case the voltage is dropping to 50% from its nominal value for 300ms. Like the previous test, it can be noticed
that the proposed strategy ensures the safe operation of the PV inverter while meeting the grid code requirements and
injecting the necessary amount of reactive power.
In Figure 15, the case of a three-phase balanced grid fault is shown, where the grid voltage drops to 60% of its nomi-
nal value. The corresponding results demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. The results shows
ABOUDRAR ET AL. 25 of 27

that once the fault is cleared, the system restores its pre-fault values in less than 100ms. As a conclusion, the displayed
results have demonstrated the ability of the proposed LVRT control strategy at different types of faults while withstand-
ing the grid faults and supporting its voltage recovery by injection of reactive power.

7 | C ON C L U S I ON

This research article focuses on studying the LVRT control approach potential of a two-stage photovoltaic power gener-
ation system working under grid fault conditions. The mathematical modeling and design have been discussed and a
new robust control strategy is proposed, which combines the Linear Active Disturbance Rejection Control and the
DSOGI FLL. The Linear ADRC is used to control the grid currents and to keep the DC link voltage constant, while the
DSOGI FLL is used to ensure the grid phase and frequency locking in one hand, and in the other hand the extraction
of positive and negative sequences in case of unbalanced grid faults. The obtained results have demonstrated that the
proposed control strategy allows to the PVPGS to ride through all forms of grid faults while injecting the required reac-
tive power according to Chinese grid code requirements.

P EE R R EV IE W
The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1002/2050-7038.13059.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data sharing not applicable—Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in
this study.

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How to cite this article: Aboudrar I, El Hani S, Mediouni H, Naseri N, Daghouri A. LVRT capability
enhancement of a grid connected three phase PV system by ADRC and DSOGI FLL. Int Trans Electr Energ Syst.
2021;e13059. https://doi.org/10.1002/2050-7038.13059

A P P END I X A .: SECTION IN APPENDIX

The used parameters for the PV system

• The rated power of the PV array system: P ¼ 100kW.
• The rated power of the PV panel: P ¼ 255W.
• The PV panel open circuit voltage: Voc ¼ 37:94V.
• The PV panel short circuit current: Isc ¼ 8:76A.
• The PV panel MPP voltage: Vmpp ¼ 30:71.
• The PV panel MPP current: Impp ¼ 8:37A.
• The number per string of connected panels in series: Ns ¼ 10.
• The number of the PV strings: Np ¼ 39.

The used parameters for the grid side

• The reference of the DC bus voltage V dc ¼ 900V.
• The capacitor of the DC bus C ¼ 3000e6 F.
• The filter resistance Rf ¼ 0:0001Ω.
• The filter inductance Lf ¼ 3e3 H.

ADRC controller parameters

• PV voltage loop ( KpVpv ¼ 60; β01Vpv ¼ 480; β02Vpv ¼ 57600).
• PV current loop ( KpiL ¼ 300; β01iL ¼ 2400; β02iL ¼ 1440000).
• DC link voltage loop ( KpVdc ¼ 60; β01Vdc ¼ 480; β02Vdc ¼ 57600).
• Grid filter current loop ( Kpig ¼ 300; β01ig ¼ 2400; β02ig ¼ 1440000).