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A Control Methodology of Three Phase Grid

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 A Control Methodology of Three Phase Grid Connected
PV System
Ahmed Refaat, Ahmed Kalas and Ahmed Daoud
Department of Electrical Power Engineering
Port Said University
Port Said, Egypt 42523
Ahmed_refaat_1984@yahoo.com, Kalas_14@yahoo.com
and Ahmed.Ali.daoud@gmail.com
Abstract - This paper proposes a control methodology of
three phase grid connected PV system and its control schemes for
applications in distributed generation (DG) systems. The system
utilizes a two stage energy conversion power conditioning unit
(PCU) topology composed of a DC-DC boost converter and two
level-three phase voltage source inverter (VSI). The DC-DC
converter is used to extract maximum power from the PV array
and boost its output voltage. An incremental conductance
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique is proposed
with direct control method in which duty cycle is adjusted to
achieve the maximum power point (MPP). The VSI is used for
converting the maximum power extracted by DC-DC converter
to AC power using a full decoupled current control strategy in
rotating d-q synchronous reference frame. Simulation results on
MATLAB/Simulink software are carried out to confirm the
system operation. Finally, a case study is conducted to
demonstrate the effect of MPPT efficiency, interfacing
transformer primary voltage and DC link voltage on the entire
PV system efficiency.
Index Terms- Grid connected distributed generation (DG),
PV power systems, MPPT tracking, current control VSI,
Efficiency.
I. INTRODUCTION
With exhaustion of natural resources and accelerated
demand of conventional energy, the problems of energy
shortage and environmental pollution in the world have
become of much importance that forced the planners and
policy makers to look for alternative resources. The
deregulation of electricity markets and requirement to reduce
greenhouse gas emission from the conventional electric power
generation make the distributed generation (DG) renewable
energy systems gain a great opportunity as a new means of
power generation that meet the accelerated demand for electric
energy[1, 2].
Among all the various DG technologies, solar
photovoltaic systems are rapidly growing in electricity
markets due to the declining cost of PV modules, increasing
efficiency of PV cells, manufacturing- technology
enhancements and economics of scale [2, 3]. However, the
increasing penetration levels of PV systems into the grid have
given rise to potential problems relating to power quality (i.e.
low power factor, harmonic distortion, etc.).
IEEE standard 929-2000 for utility interface of PV
systems recommended that most PV inverters designed for
utility- interconnected service operate close to unity power
factor with total harmonic current distortion not more than 5%
at rated inverter power output [4].
Fahmy Bendary
Department of Electrical Power Engineering
Banha University
Cairo, Egypt 42523
Fahmybendary10@yahoo.com
The successful use of solar PV systems depends on their
performance or efficiency as well as other factors like power
quality, stability and reliability. Furthermore, from investment
point of view, the estimation of the payback time and
profitability of the grid connected PV systems requires
information about its performance [5]. In that way, many
researches and development programs have been carried out to
improve and optimize the applications of solar PV systems.
This paper aims at evaluating the performance of 500 KW
grid connected PV system when it is used as a DG system.
The main objectives are to achieve maximum power output
from the PV array and inject a high quality AC current into the
grid to meet the standard IEEE 929-2000. It also concerns
evaluation of system efciency according to MPPT efficiency
and total conversion efficiency.
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of the grid connected
PV system. The power circuit consists of a 500 KW PV array,
DC-DC boost converter, two level three phase voltage
source inverter (VSI), LC filter, PV interfacing transformer
and simple distribution network. The utility grid is modeled
by thevenin equivalent circuit as three phase voltage source
and series impedances. A static resistive load and dynamic
inductive load are connected between the PV system and the
utility grid to represent some loads in the distribution network.
It is significant to note that, the PV interfacing
transformer has several advantages such as: 1) provides a
galvanic isolation between the PV system and the distribution
network, which prevents to inject DC current into the grid, 2)
provides taps to match the inverter output voltage with the
grid, and 3) participate in harmonics filtering, where LCL
filter is formed if the leakage inductance of the transformer is
referred to primary side (PV array side) [3]. On the other
hand, the PV system size, weight and cost are increased as
well as the efficiency is reduced by (1%-2.5%) with respect to
transformer less PV system [5, 6].
For control schemes, two control circuits are employed
for grid connected PV system. The first control circuit
regulates the DC-DC converter to extract maximum output
power from the PV array. The second control circuit is a
current controlled sinusoidal PWM in d-q synchronous frame,
 Fig. 1. The schematic diagram of the grid connected PV system showing its control blocks.
which maintains the DC link voltage of the inverter at a
constant reference value as well as controls the active and
reactive currents injected into the grid.
The PV cell is represented by single exponential model
(aka one diode model) as described in literature [7] and the
corresponding characteristics of the 500 KW PV array at
different irradiation levels are shown in fig. 2.
A. Control of DC-DC Boost Converter
From fig. 2(b), the PV array power is indeed a non-linear
function of the operating array voltage and this function has a
maximum power point (MPP) to a particular value of voltage.
Therefore, PV systems are usually equipped with MPP-
trackers that use electrical rules to follow the MPPs under
different environmental conditions.
(a) The I-V characteristics.
(b) The P-V characteristics.
Fig. 2. The characteristics of PV array at different irradiation levels.
The DC-DC converter is controlled by incremental
conductance (IC) technique in order to achieve the MPP. The
IC method is based on the observation that the slope of the PV
array curve is zero at the MPP ( ), positive on
the left of the MPP and negative on the right. Since, (
), it yields [8]:
{ (1)
Thus, the MPP can be tracked by comparing the
incremental conductance ( ) to the instantaneous
conductance ( ) as shown in the flowchart in fig. 3.
An effective way of performing the IC technique is to use
the incremental conductance and the instantaneous
conductance to generate an error signal as proposed in
literatures [8, 9]:
(2)
From (1), we know that goes to zero at the MPP.
Therefore, a simple proportional integral (PI) controller is
used to regulate the PWM control signal of the DC-DC
converter until ( ) is satisfied as shown in fig. 1.
The duty cycle (D) of the boost converter is given in (3),
where is the DC link voltage. In this system, the DC link
voltage must be maintained at constant reference value.
Therefore, there is a fixed relationship between and D
[10].
( ) (3)
When the MPP tracker detects that it needs to
decrease so D should be increased; and vice versa. In
other words, the PV array output voltage can be adjusted at
MPP voltage by regulating the duty cycle of the DC-DC
converter.

Fig. 3. The flowchart of the IC method.
B. Control of Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
A current controlled PWM (CCPWM) technique is used
to control the VSI. The main purpose of the control strategy is
to regulate the current output from the inverter to track a
specified reference signal. The CCPWM technique employs
multi loops control. The outer loop regulates the DC link
voltage to a constant reference value, while the inner loops
control the active and reactive currents in d-q synchronous
reference frame that aligned to the grid voltage vector. The
determination of the grid voltage vector angle is done by a
phase-locked loop (PLL) algorithm.
The DC link voltage can be kept at a constant reference
value by regulating the active current injected in the inverter.
When DC link voltage is lower than the reference value ( ),
the regulator reduces the active current in the inverter ( )
thus, the capacitor current ( ) increase as well as the DC link
voltage ( ), and vice versa [10].
Consequently, the PI controller output of the DC link
voltage dynamics can be used as the reference of active
current component ( ). The reference command active
current can be described as:
( ) ( ) (4)
Where and are the PI controller constants.
At point of common coupling (PCC), the voltage and
current vectors are sensed and transformed in d-q reference
frame. According to the d-q synchronous reference frame
structure, the voltage and current vectors become DC
quantities, thus adopting PI controller can achieve reference
current tracking with zero steady-state error.
The grid voltage vector is used in a feed forward loop to
compensate for the grid harmonics [2]. The voltage and
power equations by the inverter in d-q synchronous reference
frame can be described as:
{ (5)
{ (6)
Where and are the d-q reference voltages, and are
the d-q voltages at PCC, and are the d-q currents,
( ) is the equivalent resistance of the control loop,
( ) is the equivalent inductance of the control
loop, and are the filter resistance and inductance,
and are the transformer resistance and inductance referred
to primary side.
Equations (5) show that it is a strong coupling system.
Therefore, the interference between d and q axis is eliminated
by adopting decoupled control, the command voltage
equations become:
( ) ( )
{ (7)
( ) ( )
In order to control the active and reactive power injected
in the grid, the phase-locked loop is adjusted so the q-axis
component of the grid voltage vector ( ) equal to zero. The
power equations become [3]:
{ (8)
Thus, the active and reactive power can be controlled
independently by controlling the direct and quadrature current.
For unity power factor, it is required that the q-axis current
component ( ) equal to zero, thus the reference command
reactive current ( ) is set to zero. Eventually, the command
voltages are transformed back to abc frame and normalized
with respect to the DC link voltage to be used as the
modulating control signals in sinusoidal PWM (SPWM)
technique. These signals are compared with a high frequency
carrier signal to generate the inverter switches trigger pulses
[3]. The SPWM technique can be described as the follows:
{ (9)
( )
Where and are the frequency modulation
index, the amplitude modulation index, the carrier switching
frequency, the fundamental frequency and the maximum
amplitude of line voltage, respectively.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
The grid connected PV system in fig. 1 is simulated by
using MATLAB/Simulink software environment in order to
validate the control methodology discussed earlier. The most
important parameters of the system are given in Table I. For
all simulations, the temperature is assumed constant at
and all AC voltages and currents are in per-unit on 500KVA
and 11KV at feeder circuits.
 TABLE I. PARAMETERS FOR SIMULATION closely. Simulation results about decoupled active power and
PV array type SPR-305-WHT Solar Panel , SunPower reactive power control have also been provided in fig. 4(d).
No. of Series modules 10 Modules
No. of Parallel strings 164 Strings The total harmonic distortion of the current (THDC) at PCC in
Array output power at MPP 500.2 KW time domain and frequency domain are shown in fig. 4(e, f).
Array output voltage at MPP 0.547 KV
DC-DC converter In order to investigate the effectiveness of the control
Switching frequency 5 KHz algorithms, a dynamic simulation is done with solar irradiance
Output voltage at MPP 1.1 KV
Switching frequency of VSI 99 50 Hz is suddenly dropped from to at 0.6 sec
PV interfacing transformer as shown in fig. 5(a). Simulation results under transient
KVA rating 500 KVA condition are shown in fig. 5(b) through fig. 5(j).
Transformation ratio 0.6 / 11 KV
Per unit impedance (2 + j 10) % Fig. 5(b, c) show the behavior of the PV array output
Grid voltage 120 KV
Grid frequency 50 Hz current and terminal voltage during simulation run. As can be
Grid impedance (0.9 + j 6.3) seen, the effect of solar irradiance on the array terminal
Grid transformer voltage is small compared to its effect on output current. This
KVA rating 35 MVA was expected where the I-V characteristics of the PV array in
Transformation ratio 120 / 11 KV
Per unit impedance (0.53 + j 16) % fig. 2(a) confirm this result.
Under steady-state condition, (i.e. constant solar
The dynamic behaviors of three phase grid voltage and
irradiance ), some simulation results have
grid current at PCC are shown in fig. 5(d, e). As also
been chosen to illustrate the system response at standard test
expected, the grid voltage waveform does not change during
condition (STC). The three phase grid voltage and grid
the transient since it is set by the AC network, whilst the grid
current waveforms at PCC are shown in fig. 4(a, b). As can be
current amplitude decreases in response due to the sudden
seen, the system response under STC is very good where the
change of the PV generated power. Fig. 5(f) illustrates the
steady-state condition is reached in few AC periods. The
phase displacement between phase current and phase voltage
injected current components in d-q reference frame are shown
at PCC (the same for other phases), where the grid current is
in fig. 4(c) where both components track their references
in phase with the grid voltage (i.e. unity power factor).

(a) The three phase grid voltage waveform at PCC. (b) The three phase grid current waveform at PCC.

(c) The direct and quadrature components of the injected current. (d) The powers transferred from the PV system to the grid at PCC.

(e) The total harmonic current distortion in time domain at PCC. (f) The total harmonic current distortion in frequency domain at PCC.

Fig. 4. Simulation results of the grid connected PV system under STC.

 The change of direct and quadrature current components
under transient condition are provided in fig. 5(g). The active
and reactive powers transferred to the grid at PCC are shown
in fig. 4(d). The active power is initially at 484 KW before
dropping to 282 KW after solar irradiance changed. Fig. 5(i)
shows the response of the DC link voltage which maintained
constant at 1.1 KV by DC link controller.
(a) The solar irradiance profile during the simulation run.
(C) The PV array voltage.
(e) The three phase grid current waveform at PCC.
(g) The direct and quadrature components of the injected current.
(i) The DC link capacitor voltage.
Fig. 5. Simulation results of the grid connected PV system under transient condition.
Further under transient condition, the grid current
waveforms are usually distorted leads to more THD at PCC.
The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) analysis results in fig. 5(j)
shows that THD of the injected current does not exceed the
limit set by IEEE standard 929-2000. Simulation results
under transient condition indicate fast performance of MPPT
technique and very good response of the CCPWM technique.
(b) The PV array current.
(d) The three phase grid voltage waveform at PCC.
(f) Dynamic response of phase current and phase voltage.
(h) The powers transferred from the PV system to the grid at PCC.
(j) The grid current spectrum at PCC.
 IV. PV SYSTEM EFFICIENCY

A. MMPT Efficiency

MPPT is an electrical method created for the purpose of

increasing the PV system efficiency and helps a PV array to
always operate at the MPP under any operating condition.
Performance of MPPT algorithm can be analyzed under static
and dynamic conditions. The static MPPT efficiency is the
ability of MPPT algorithm to find and hold the MPP under (a) The static MPPT efficiency at different irradiation levels.
steady-state conditions (i.e. constant solar irradiation and cell
temperature), while the dynamic MPPT efficiency is the
ability of the MPPT algorithm to follow the MPP under
variable conditions [5]. The static and dynamic efficiencies
can be calculated as:

( )
{ (10)
( )
Where and are the DC link power and the tracking
period, respectively.
The static MPPT efficiency is simulated at different
irradiation levels (i.e. different MPP power levels) and the
results are plotted in fig. 6(a). In order to show the dynamic
MPPT performance, a trapezoidal solar irradiance profile is
applied as shown in fig. 6(b) and the corresponding simulation
result is shown fig. 6(c). Simulation results under static and
dynamic conditions indicate that, MPPT efficiency is slightly
decreased at high power levels due to power losses in
semiconductor switches.
B. Total Conversion Efficiency
Static conversion efficiency characterizes losses occurred
by the conversion of the DC current into AC current which
includes the inverter and transformer losses. The static
conversion efficiency is defined as the ratio of the power
injected into the grid to the DC link power [11]:
( ) (11)
The total conversion efficiency is a direct indication of
the quality of the power conditioning units (PCUs), which has
a higher relevance for practical energy yield than static
conversion efficiency. The total conversion efficiency can be
calculated as:
( ) (12)
Beside several advantages of PV interfacing transformer;
as mentioned earlier, it can be considered one of the greatest
factors that affected total conversion efficiency. To
demonstrate the dependence of total conversion efficiency on
transformer primary voltage, some simulations are carried out
with the primary voltage of the PV side of the transformer is
changed in the range (200V:600V) and the secondary voltage
of the distribution side is constant at 11 KV. The primary
voltage is increased by 25 V in each simulation.
(b) Trapezoidal irradiance profile for dynamic MPPT performance.
(c) The dynamic MPPT efficiency during the simulation run.
Fig. 6. Simulation results of MPPT efficiency under static and dynamic
conditions.
In all simulations, the solar irradiance is assumed constant
at and the DC link voltage is regulated at constant
level of 1.1KV. It is worth mentioning that, the PV inverter
operates in linear range at 600 V where modulation index does
not exceed 0.907. Fig. 7(a, b) show that, the higher primary
voltage of the transformer, the higher modulation index and
total conversion efficiency. In the matter of fact, increasing of
total conversion efficiency is due to decreasing of inverter
current which decreases the switching losses and conduction
losses of the PV inverter.
Another significant factor that affected total conversion
efficiency is the DC link voltage. Fig. 8(a) shows that, the
lower DC link voltage, the higher modulation index and total
conversion efficiency. However, there is a trade-off between
transformer primary voltage and DC link voltage as shown in
fig. 8(b). Practically, some general examples that describe the
effect of DC link voltage on total conversion efficiency can be
found in literatures [5, 6, 12].
V. CONCLUSION
This paper proposed a control methodology for three
phase grid connected PV systems. A DC-DC converter was
used to boost the output voltage of the PV array and perform
MPPT by using IC technique. In order to inject a high quality
AC current into the grid, a three phase - two level VSI was

(a) Total conversion efficiency versus transformer primary voltage.
(b) Total conversion efficiency versus modulation index.
Fig. 7. Efficiency variation at different transformer primary voltage.
(a) Total conversion efficiency at constant transformer primary voltage.
(b) Total conversion efficiency at variable transformer primary voltage.
Fig. 8. Efficiency variation at different DC link voltage.
controlled in the d-q reference frame by using CCPWM
technique. Computer simulation has been carried out by using
MATLAB/Simulink software environment to confirm the
system operation. Simulation results show that, the control
techniques offer an excellent steady-state response with zero
steady-state error, fast dynamic response and low total
harmonic current distortion. Furthermore, the current injected
into the grid was in phase with the grid voltage (i.e. unity
power factor). As a result, the system performance met the
standard IEEE 929-2000. Finally, a case study was conducted
to demonstrate some factors that affected PV system
efficiency. From simulation results, the proposed MPPT
technique offers a high MPPT efficiency. However, the
MPPT efficiency produces a reduction of total conversion
efficiency with respect to the available power. Also, the total
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conversion efficiency of the PV system is greatly affected by
the choice of transformer primary voltage and DC link
voltage. As the transformer primary voltage increased the
total conversion efficiency increased. On the other hand, there
is no general rule about the dependency of total conversion
efficiency on DC link voltage. Thus, PV planners and
simulation programmers should take these factors into account
to design more efficient PV systems.
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