IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 21, NO.

1, MARCH 2006 171

Performance Assessment of Active Frequency

Drifting Islanding Detection Methods
Luiz A. C. Lopes, Member, IEEE, and Huili Sun

AbstractIslanding detection is a mandatory feature for grid-

connected inverters. The effectiveness of passive islanding detection
methods (IDMs) is usually demonstrated by means of nondetection
zones (NDZs) represented in a power mismatch space (P versus
Q). Active frequency drifting IDMs have been shown to provide
improved performance but their theoretical NDZ cannot be de-
scribed in the P versus Q space for a general RLC load. This
paper shows that a load parameter space based on the values of the
quality factor and resonant frequency of the local load (Qf versus
f0 ) can be used in these cases. It employs a single curve to represent
the NDZ of frequency drifting IDMs for any RLC loads. Equations
that represent NDZs of three common active IDMs in the Qf versus
f0 load parameter space are derived and it is shown that the slip
mode frequency shift and the Sandia frequency shift IDMs can be
designed to guarantee islanding detection for equivalent RLC loads
with a quality factor smaller than a design value. The accuracy of
the NDZs is verified with simulation and experimental results.
Index TermsDispersed storage and generation, islanding, in-
verters, photovoltaic power systems, protection, safety.
I. INTRODUCTION
NE OF THE main issues related to the integration of dis-
O tributed generation (DG) in the utility grid is safety. The
protection schemes of distribution systems are usually designed
under the assumption that power flows from the substations to
the end users. If a fault takes place and a breaker opens, all
circuits downstream would be deenergized. However, this is
not the case when DG is used. Thus, it is possible that an is-
land with power generation and consumption is created and this
raises concerns with respect to equipment and personnel safety.
Therefore, all DG equipment is required to present an effective
islanding detection method (IDM) [1].
Inverter-based DG usually operates with current control and
unity power factor and employs IDMs that are based on the
measurements of local parameters. Under islanding conditions,
the magnitude and frequency of the voltage at the point of com-
mon coupling (PCC) tend to drift from the rated grid values.
It has been shown that the larger the power imbalance, P
and Q, in local generation and consumption in the islanded
system prior to grid disconnection, the larger are the variations
in the voltage and frequency of the voltage at the PCC. There-
Manuscript received January 28, 2005; revised May 23, 2005. This work was
supported in part by an NSERC discovery grant and in part by the Faculty of
Engineering and Computer Science of Concordia University. Paper no. TEC-
00024-2005.
L. A. C. Lopes is with the Department of Electrical and Computer En-
gineering, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8 Canada (e-mail:
lalopes@ece.concordia.ca).
H. Sun is with SNC-Lavalin ATP Transmission, Calgary, AB T2P 2M4
Canada (e-mail: huili sun@hotmail.com).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TEC.2005.859981
Fig. 1. Circuit used for assessing anti-islanding features of grid-connected
inverters [1].
fore, standard under- and over frequency protection (UFP-OFP)
and under- and overvoltage protection (UVP-OVP) are effec-
tive in preventing islanding in systems with large enough power
imbalances. Conversely, islanding tends to occur for systems
with small power imbalances. The effectiveness of this passive
(monitoring only) IDM can be represented by a nondetection
zone (NDZ) defined in a power imbalance or mismatch space
(P versus Q) [2]. Reducing the setting of the UFP-OFP and
UVP-OVP for reducing the NDZ is not an option because it
causes nuisance tripping [3].
A number of active IDMs have been shown to have improved
performance by injecting some sort of disturbance in the sys-
tem that causes an abnormal condition under islanding con-
ditions [3][5]. According to the IEEE Standard 9292000, a
nonislanding inverter is one that ceases to energize the utility
line under certain conditions using the test circuit with a paral-
lel RLC load as shown in Fig. 1. Many common active IDMs
can be classified as frequency drifting methods because they
attempt to cause a frequency drift during islanding conditions
so that the UFP-OFP trips. According to [6] the use of NDZs in
the power mismatch P versus Q space is not adequate for
assessing the performance of this type of active IDM because
for a given reactive power mismatch different combinations of
L and C are possible. Some of these combinations result in is-
landing whereas others do not. Alternatively, one can calculate
an NDZ for frequency drifting active IDMs in a Cnorm versus L
load parameter space [6]. One problem with the Cnorm versus
L load parameter space is that one needs to plot one NDZ curve
for each value considered for the load resistor. Besides, it is not
easy to identify the effect of the quality factor (Qf ) of the RLC
load on the islanding detection.
This paper discusses an alternative load parameter space
based on the quality factor and resonant frequency of the load
(Qf versus f0 ). In this space, one curve can be used to represent

0885-8969/$20.00 2006 IEEE

172 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 21, NO. 1, MARCH 2006

the NDZ of all possible combinations of RLC loads. Another

curve needs to be drawn only to verify the effect of changing
the control parameter of the active IDM, say m for slip mode
frequency shift (SMS). The assessment of the performance of a
given IDM applied to a given load can be done by inspection.
One can easily verify that a given IDM design meets the design
specifications and identify the cases where it fails.
This paper is organized into seven sections. Section II presents
the relevant equations of parallel RLC loads that will be used
throughout the paper. Section III describes the principles behind
the calculation of the NDZ of IDMs in load parameter spaces.
Section IV presents the derivation of the equations that represent
the NDZs of three common types of frequency drifting active
IDMs in the Qf versus f0 space. The theoretical results are
verified with simulation and experimental results in Sections V Fig. 2. Variation of the load angle of a RLC load with frequency for different
and VI, respectively. Conclusions are stated in Section VII. values of resonant frequency (f0 ) and quality factor (Q f ).

II. PARALLEL RLC LOAD FREQUENCY CHARACTERISTICS that a load with f0 < fg is net capacitive at the grid frequency
because the current leads the voltage (load > 0 ). Conversely,
The values of the frequency and magnitude of the voltage at a load with f0 > fg is net inductive at the grid frequency.
the PCC after grid disconnection (islanding condition) depend
heavily on the local load characteristics. This section presents III. NDZ FOR FREQUENCY DRIFTING ACTIVE IDMS
some equations related to the load that are required to analyze
the operating principles and assess the performance of common The operating principles of active IDMs are frequently pre-
frequency drifting active IDMs. sented for the worst-case condition of the passive UFP-OFP and
According to the IEEE Std 9292000 [1], the quality factor UVP-OVP IDM, that is, under zero power imbalance or mis-
Qf is defined as 2 times the ratio of the maximum stored match for rated grid voltage and frequency. In such a case the
energy to the energy dissipated per cycle at a given frequency. magnitude and frequency of the voltage would remain constant
For a parallel RLC load after grid disconnection.

  One economically attractive strategy to implement active
2 12 CR2 I 2 R C IDMs is to attempt to drift the frequency or the magnitude of
Qf = = 0 RC = =R (1)
RI 2 /0 0 L L the voltage at the PCC outside the allowed normal range of the
parameters that are set in the UFP-OFP and UVP-OVP. Recall
where 0 = 2f0 = (1/ LC) is the angular resonant fre- that these devices are mandatory for grid connected inverters
quency of the load. and they would provide the capability to shut down the inverter
The magnitude and phase of the impedance of a parallel RLC with no additional cost for added components [1].
load at an arbitrary frequency f , as a function of the quality The steady state value of the magnitude Vis and frequency fis
factor Qf and resonant frequency f0 of the load, are given by of the voltage in an islanded system with a local load represented
1 R by an RLC circuit can be calculated from the power balance
|Zload | = 
2 =   2 (2) equations:
1
R2 + 1
L C 1 + Q2f ff0 f
f0
Vis2
   
PLoad,is =
R
= PINV (4)
1 2 LC f0 f   
load = tan1 R = tan1 Qf . 2
L f f0 Vis2 f0
QLoad,is = 1 = QINV (5)
(3) XC ,g fis
It can be shown that the magnitude of the load impedance where the subscript is refers to the islanding condition and the
changes very little with frequency for loads with Qf < 2.5. subscript g to the grid connected condition.
Because the normal frequency limit according to IEEE Standard One sees in (4) that Vis depends only on PINV and R. Voltage
9292000 is relatively small (59.4 Hz to 60.5 Hz), it is assumed drifting under islanding conditions can be achieved by varying
that the voltage magnitude does not vary with system frequency. PINV , but is not very practical because Vis varies with the square
The load phase angle load (load = load ) versus fre- root of PINV . Thus, a significant variation of PINV is required
quency characteristic curves of loads with different quality fac- to trip the UVP-OVP [4]. However, assuming that Vis depends
tors and different resonant frequencies, f0 , are shown in Fig. 2. only on PINV and R, one can control and drift fis by varying
The curves show that for a larger Qf , there is a larger variation QINV as shown in (5). A positive feedback for frequency drifting
of load for a variation of the system frequency around f0 . In under islanding conditions can be implemented by varying the
addition, the intersection of the load versus f curves and the angle of the current, as in the SMS IDM, as a function of the
zero phase angles always takes place at f0 . Further, one can see frequency deviation from the rated value.
LOPES AND SUN: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE FREQUENCY DRIFTING ISLANDING DETECTION METHODS 173

The improved performance of active frequency drifting IDMs

is usually demonstrated experimentally. However, it is also
important to have analytical tools to verify that they meet the
design criteria and that their relative performance can be com-
pared. The use of NDZs in the P versus Q space is not
adequate because different values of RLC that yield different
results for islanding detection would be mapped at the same
spot [6].
To overcome this problem, a Cnorm versus L load parameter
space was proposed in [6]. There one can investigate the perfor-
mance of the IDM for different load combinations and define an
NDZ that is calculated as a function of the control parameters
of the active frequency drifting IDMs. The principle behind the
load parameter space is called the phase criteria. It says that the
frequency of an islanded system in the steady-state condition
Fig. 3. NDZs of AFD IDM for different values of f .
is that where the angle load by which the load current leads
the PCC voltage is equal to that of the inverter inv . For in- (fik = fv k 1 + f ) and keeping the inverter current equal to
stance, fis = f0 for a system with a unity power factor inverter zero from the end of its negative semicycle until the positive
(inv = 0 ) because this is the only frequency at which the load zero crossing of the voltage [8], [7]. When the grid is present,
angle (load ) is zero. it maintains the voltage frequency. Otherwise, the frequency of
the voltage at the PCC tends to drift upward, reaching values
IV. QF VERSUS f0 LOAD PARAMETER SPACE higher than f0 . In both cases, the fundamental component of the
The main advantage presented by the Qf versus f0 load current leads the voltage by a small angle AFD .
parameter space with respect to the Cnorm versus L is that one For AFD implemented with a constant frequency drift, the
does not need to plot different curves to analyze the performance current in each cycle is expressed by

of an IDM for different resistive elements because the Qf factor ik = 2I sin[2(fv k 1 + f )]t. (6)
reflects the resistive element of the load. For a given set of L
and C elements, an increase in R means an increase in Qf . In the steady-state and under islanding conditions, the phase
The NDZs for the IDMs are derived using the phase cri- angle of the inverter Inv can be approximated by
teria and the worst case condition for the UVP-OVP that is tz /2 AFD
zero active power imbalance, yielding Vis = Vg . Under these = (7)
Tv 2
circumstances, inverter control by constant current or constant
power has no impact on the NDZs because it does not influence where tz = (1/fv ) (1/fi ) = (1/f ) (1/f + f ) = (f / f
the tripping of the UFP-OFP [7]. The operating principles of (f + f )).
three common active IDMs and the expressions for the inverter The inverter angle for the AFD IDM is given by
angle that are required for calculating the NDZs are described f
in the next section. AFD = f tz = . (8)
f + f
Applying the phase criteria (load = AFD )
A. Passive IDM  

f0 fis f
The passive IDM method is mentioned as a reference to be tan1 Qf = . (9)
used for comparison with the active IDMs. As discussed earlier fis f0 fis + f
and according to (5) whenever the load is supplied by a stand- Thus,
alone inverter operating with current control and unity power
fis tan[AFD (fis )]
factor, the frequency of the system will be the resonant frequency f02 f0 fis2 = 0. (10)
of the load f0 . If fmin f0 fmax , UFP-OFP will not trip and Qf
islanding will occur regardless of the Qf of the load. The NDZ
of this method is included in the plots that present the NDZs of To calculate the NDZ of the AFD IDM, the islanding fre-
the active IDMs. quency is first adjusted to a threshold frequency (fmin or fmax ).
Then the value of Qf is varied and finally a calculation is made
of the resonant frequency of the load at the threshold of the
B. Active Frequency Drift IDM
NDZ. One can also use this equation in the design process, by
When the active frequency drift (AFD) method is used, specifying Qf , fmax , and f0 and then calculating f .
the waveform of the inverter current is slightly distorted, pre- Fig. 3 shows the NDZ of an AFD IDM for different values
senting a zero current segment for a drift-up operation. AFD of f for a normal frequency range of 59.3 Hz f 60.5 Hz.
can be implemented by forcing the current frequency to be Loads with values of Qf and f0 lying between the curves calcu-
f (<1.5 Hz) above the voltage frequency in the previous cycle lated with fis = fmin and fis = fmax are in the NDZ of a given
174 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 21, NO. 1, MARCH 2006

IDM. There one sees that the main effect of the AFD is to shift
the NDZ to lower values of f0 as f increases. For Qf = 2.5 and
f = 0.5 Hz the method will fail to detect islanding for loads
with 58.99 Hz f0 60.19 Hz. It can be shown that the size of
the range of the resonant frequencies f0 = f0 max f0 min for
which islanding occurs is the same as of the passive UFP-OFP,
1.2 Hz. Therefore, the use of the AFD IDM does not really seem
to result in an improved performance because the net capacitive
(f0 < 60 Hz) loads that would not yield islanding with passive
IDM (f = 0 Hz) actually cause islanding for speed-up AFD
IDM. However, this IDM can be quite effective for net inductive
loads. According to Fig. 3, no islanding would occur for induc-
tive loads with Qf < 2 if speed-up AFD IDM with f = 1 Hz
is used. For loads with high Qf this active IDM does not present
any improvement with respect to the passive UFP-OFP because
Fig. 4. NDZs of SMS IDM for different m and with fm fg = 3 Hz.
the frequency drifting capacity is significantly reduced.
Thus
C. Slip Mode Frequency Shift IDM fis tan[SMS (fis )]
f02 f0 fis2 = 0. (16)
SMS method applies positive feedback to the phase of the Qf
voltage at the PCC as a means of shifting the phase and hence The resulting NDZ for SMS IDM in the Qf versus f0 space
the short-term frequency [3]. The phase angle of the current is obtained from the solution of (16) is shown in Fig. 4 for different
controlled as a function of the deviation of the frequency of the values of m . There one sees that the NDZ is null for Qf <
last cycle fv k 1 from the nominal operating frequency of the 2.5 when m = 10 and fm fg = 3 Hz, as per the design
utility grid fg . That is, specifications. Besides, as m decreases, the load quality factor
for which islanding occurs also decreases. As for the previous
ik = 2I sin(2fv k 1 t + SMS ) (11) active IDM, the performance of this method is similar to that of
  passive UFP-OFP (m = 0 ) for loads with high Qf .
f fg
SMS = m sin (12)
2 fm fg
D. Sandia Frequency Shift IDM
where fm is the frequency at which the maximum phase shift The Sandia frequency shift (SFS) IDM is based on the use of
m occurs. one zero-current segment (tz ) per line semicycle [3]. A positive
After grid disconnection, the frequency of the islanded system feedback is used to increase the chopping factor (cf), which is
will drift from the rated value fg if defined as the ratio of the zero time tz to half of the period of
the voltage waveform Tv /2. Thus
dload dSMS
< . (13)
df f =f g df f =f g
2tz
cf = (17)
Tv
Thus, the following design equation can be derived for the with increasing deviation of the frequency away from nomi-
SMS AFD nal. The increasing deviation is usually selected to be a linear
function of the frequency of the PCC voltage
m 12Qf
(14)
fm fg 2 cf = cf 0 + k(f fg ) (18)

where Qf is the maximum value for which islanding has to where cf 0 is the chopping fraction when there is no frequency
be detected and fm fg is usually taken as 3 Hz so that sta- error and k is an accelerating gain. For a cf 0 = 0.05, the Total
ble operation points lie outside the normal frequency range. Harmonic Distortion (THD) of the inverter current is equal to
For achieving islanding protection for loads with Qf < 2.5 and 5% at the rated line frequency [8]. The main effect of the zero
SMS IDM with fm fg = 3 Hz, one calculates m = 10 . No- current segment is to advance the fundamental component of
tice that if Qf increases, m has to increase. This also increases the inverter current with respect to the voltage at the PCC. The
the reactive power that the inverter will have to supply or absorb inverter angle for the SFS IDM (SFS ) can be calculated as
at the limit values of grid frequency for the normal conditions tz cf(f )
(PF = cos SMS ). SFS (f ) = = . (19)
2 2
The NDZ of the SMS IDM in the Qf versus f0 space is The NDZ of the SFS IDM in the Qf versus f0 space is derived
derived using the phase criteria using the phase criteria:
 
   

f0 fis fis fg f0 fis

tan1 Qf = m sin . (15) tan1 Qf = [cf 0 + k(fis fg )]. (20)
fis f0 2 fm fg fis f0 2
LOPES AND SUN: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE FREQUENCY DRIFTING ISLANDING DETECTION METHODS
Fig. 5. NDZs of SFS IDM for different values of k.
Thus,
fis tan[SFS (fis )]
f02 f0 fis2 = 0. (21)
Qf
Fig. 5 shows the calculation result of the NDZ of SFS IDM.
There one sees that the NDZ is null for loads with Qf < 4.8
when cf 0 = 0.05 and k = 0.1. Besides, as k decreases, the load
quality factor for which islanding occurs also decreases. Ac-
tually, for k = 0 this method becomes the AFD, where for all
values of Qf there will be loads (mostly capacitive) that will lead
to islanding. Finally, one sees that the performance of this active
IDM, like the others, is equivalent to that of passive UFP-OFP
for loads with high Qf .
The analysis of the islanding detection capabilities of a sys-
tem with multiple inverters is beyond the scope of this paper.
However, we anticipate that the NDZs in the Qf versus f0 space
derived for one inverter can be directly extended for the multi-
ple inverter case provided that they all employ the same active
frequency drifting IDM and are in close proximity. For systems
where a given percentage (PIDM) of the injected power is done
by unit power factor inverters with passive IDMs, the islanding
detection capabilities can still be assessed with the graphs de-
veloped for single inverter systems with active IDMs. However,
in such cases, one should use a modified quality factor for the
local load (Qf A &P ) that is given by
Qf
Qf A &P = . (22)
1 PIDM
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The system described in Fig. 1 was modeled with MAT-
LAB Simulink as shown in Fig. 6 to verify the theoretical
analysis presented in the previous sections. A photovoltaic
(PV) array, represented by a dc voltage source, is connected
to the PCC by a current controlled voltage source inverter.
The local load is represented by a parallel RLC block. The
base load for the simulations is R = 14.4 (Pload = 1 kW at
Vg = 120 V), C = 460.5 F, and L = 15.28 mH. These values
yield f0 = 60 Hz and Qf = 2.5. The grid breaker is preset to
open at t = 0.07083 s, the positive peak of the fifth cycle of the
PCC voltage. The reference current block provides the inverter
175
reference current with the selected IDM and matches the local
loads active power. The UFP-OFP and UVP-OVP block mea-
sures the frequency and the rms value of the PCC voltage and
shuts down the inverter if the frequency or voltage at the PCC
exceeds IEEE Standard 9292000s limits for six line cycles.
A. Verification of The NDZs for the AFD IDM
Fig. 7 shows the time domain response of the system with base
load and AFD IDM with f = 1 Hz. Here the magnitude of the
voltage at the PCC does not change after the grid breaker opens
when the inverter supplies rated load active power. However, the
frequency at the PCC (fPCC ) increases, thus tripping the OFP
two cycles after the grid breaker is opened. It is worth mention-
ing that fPCC shows the frequency of the last voltage cycle. The
PV inverter is shut down when the fault signal becomes 1, what
takes place six cycles after the frequency exceeds the frequency
upper limit at t = 0.1822 s. Thus, a load with f0 = 60 Hz and
Qf = 2.5 lies outside the AFD NDZ for f = 1 Hz as predicted
in Fig. 3.
Fig. 8 shows the main waveforms of the system for a local
load with f0 = 59 Hz and Qf = 2. To demonstrate that the NDZ
curve in the Qf versus f0 space covers all different resistance
values, the load is composed of R = 28.8 (Pload = 0.5 kW
at Vg = 120 V), C = 187.33 F, and L = 38.85 mH. One sees
in Fig. 8 that the voltage magnitude remains constant and that
fPCC decreases after the grid opens. This happens despite the
drift-up AFD because of the value of the resonant frequency of
the load. Because the fPCC reaches a steady-state value within
the UFP-OFP threshold, the fault signal remains 0 and islanding
occurs as predicted in Fig. 3.
Finally, a number of simulations were carried out to verify the
NDZ boundaries of the AFD IDM in the Qf versus f0 space.
The load resistance was assumed constant (R = 14.4 ) and
the values of L and C were calculated to yield values of f0 and
Qf close to those at the theoretical NDZ boundaries. For a given
value of Qf , L, and C were varied to change f0 and to identify
the simulation NDZ boundaries. The process was then repeated
for a higher value of Qf yielding the simulation NDZ boundary
shown in Fig. 9. This shows that the agreement between the
theoretical and the simulation NDZs is poor for loads with low
Qf . This error was also verified in [8] for the Cnorm versus
L load parameter space. It can be explained by the increased
distortion that appears in the voltage waveform of loads with
low Qf . Thus (8) is not adequate for analyzing islanding loads
in the region of practical applications (Qf < 2.5).
An approach for calculating the frequency of the island us-
ing the Laplace transform was presented in [9] and results in
an excellent correlation with the simulated NDZ as shown in
Fig. 9. The inconvenience of this method, described in the ap-
pendix, is that the calculation is more time consuming.
B. Verification of the NDZs for the SMS IDM
Fig. 10 shows the time domain response of the system with
the base load and an SMS IDM where m = 10 and fm fg =
3 Hz. When the grid breaker opens, the magnitude of the voltage
at the PCC does not change, but the frequency of the voltage
176
Fig. 6. MATLAB Simulink model of the grid-connected PV system.
Fig. 7. Islanding detection test for an inverter with f = 1 Hz AFD IDM and
a local load with f0 = 60 Hz and Q f = 2.5. (a) PCC voltage, inverter current,
and fault signal waveforms and (b) voltage frequency values.
fPCC decreases. It becomes lower than the setting of the UFP
at t = 0.4027 s that changes the fault signal to 1 shutting down
the inverter six cycles later. Thus, a load with f0 = 60 Hz and
Qf = 2.5 lies outside the SMS NDZ for SMS with m = 10
and fm fg = 3 Hz. This agrees with the theoretical results
shown in Fig. 4. By comparing Figs. 7 and 10, one sees that for
this load and parameters used for the AFD and SMS IDMs, the
first yields faster islanding detection. This can not be inferred
from the load parameter space that represents only the steady-
state operation. Even so, in both cases islanding was detected
within the 2 s required by the IEEE Std 9292000.
The theoretical boundaries of the SMS NDZ in the Qf versus
f0 space were verified by simulation following the same pro-
cedure described in the previous subsection. Fig. 11 shows a
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 21, NO. 1, MARCH 2006
Fig. 8. Islanding detection test for an inverter with f = 1 Hz AFD IDM and
a local load with f0 = 59 Hz and Q f = 2. (a) PCC voltage, inverter current,
and fault signal waveforms and (b) voltage frequency values.
comparison of the theoretical and simulated SMS NDZs. Here
one sees that the agreement between the simulated and the cal-
culated results is very good for all values of Qf . Further, the
simulation results confirmed that there is no NDZ in the area
where Qf < 2.5.
C. Verification of the NDZs for the SFS IDM
Fig. 12 shows the time domain response of the system with
base load and SFS IDM with cf 0 = 0.05 and k = 0.05. In this
case, the frequency at the PCC increases when the grid breaker
opens, exceeding the set point of the OFP at t = 0.1626 s. Six
line cycles later, the fault signal changes to 1, shutting down
the inverter. Thus, a load with f0 = 60 Hz and Qf = 2.5 lies
LOPES AND SUN: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE FREQUENCY DRIFTING ISLANDING DETECTION METHODS 177

Fig. 9. NDZs mapped by Laplace transform compared with simulation and calculation results.

Fig. 10. Time domain response of the system with SMS IDM supplying a Fig. 12. Time domain response of the system with SFS IDM supplying a local
local load with f0 = 60 Hz and Q f = 2.5. load with f0 = 60 Hz and Q f = 2.5.

outside the SFS NDZ for SFS with cf 0 = 0.05 and k = 0.05.
This verifies the calculation results shown in Fig. 5.
The theoretical boundaries of the SFS NDZ were also
verified by simulation. Fig. 13 shows a comparison of the
theoretical and simulated SFS NDZs. The agreement between
the simulation and calculation results is good for all values
of Qf . The error produced by the equation that defines
the inverter current angle for this zero current segment
IDM does not greatly affect the NDZ boundaries, because
there is no NDZ for loads with Qf < 2.5. However, the
resonant frequency of the load where the system frequency
under islanding conditions can drift up or down, i.e., where
the upper and lower boundaries overlap, is slightly different
Fig. 11. Comparison of SMS NDZ of the simulation and calculation. from the theoretical one and has no meaningful practical effects.
178 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, VOL. 21, NO. 1, MARCH 2006

Fig. 13. Comparison of SFS NDZ of the simulation and calculation.

VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

A small-scale laboratory prototype was implemented to val-
idate the simulation results discussed in the previous section.
The single-phase full bridge inverter is implemented with an
Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) module (CM50MD-
12H, POWEREX). The two-level hysteresis current controlled
gating signals generated by a digital signal processor (DSP)
development kit (DS-1103, dSPACE) are sent to a gate drive
system composed of an isolated dc-dc converter (M57140-01,
POWEREX) and a gate drive circuit (M57962L, POWEREX).
A 5-mH inductor is used to connect the inverter to the local
RLC load and to the utility breaker at the PCC. Hall effect
sensors are used to monitor and provide a feedback for the
ac current of the inverter and the voltage at the PCC. A so-
lar array simulator (E-43508, Agilent), whose maximum out-
put voltage is 60 V, feeds the dc bus of the inverter. The
rms value of the ac grid is set to 30 V by a single-phase 5
k VA VARIAC (variable autotransformer) that represents the
utility grid.
A local load composed of L = 16 mH, C = 450 F, and R =
15 was chosen for verifying the previous analysis of the NDZ
of the SMS IDM in the Qf versus f0 space. The theortical values
of the resonant frequency and quality factor of the load accord-
ing to the rated values of R, L, and C are f0cal = 59.31 Hz and
Qf = 2.52. However, the practical value of f0 might be different
due to the tolerance of the rated values of the RLC elements. The Fig. 14. Islanding detection test for inverter controlled with SMS.
actual value of f0 was obtained experimentally by measuring the
frequency of the islanded system with the inverter operating at is essentially composed of low order harmonics generated
unity power factor (no active IDMs) and with the UFP-OFP dis- by nonlinear loads connected to the grid. This demonstrates
abled. With these conditions f0exp was 60.3 Hz. For this value the desired power balance between the inverter and the local
of f0 , and using the nominal quality factor of the load and SMS load. The harmonics flow through the capacitor distorting
where m = 10 and fm fg = 3 Hz, the theoretical islanding the load current. After the breaker opens at t = 2.53 s, the
frequency from (16) was found to be fis cal = 62.32 Hz. The load current presents only high order harmonics created by
experimental value for fis was obtained by operating the system the inverter and the magnitude of the voltage across the load
with SMS as an island (UVP-OFP still disabled). This gives remains the same. After eight line cycles, the inverter stops en-
fis exp = 62.24 Hz that is very close to the theoretical value. ergizing the grid. Fig. 14 also shows the variation of the system
Fig. 14 shows an islanding test for the SMS IDM. Here frequency after the breaker opens. The frequency of the islanded
one sees that prior to the breaker opening, the grid current system increases until the inverter is shut down at t = 2.67 s.
LOPES AND SUN: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVE FREQUENCY DRIFTING ISLANDING DETECTION METHODS 179

VII. CONCLUSION Applying the Laplace transform

This paper has discussed the use of a load parameter space 1 1 eT i s i
based on the values of the quality factor Qf and resonant fre- I(s) = T
I1 (s) = . (25)
1e s 1 eT s s2 + i2
quency f0 of the local RLC load to assess the performance
of active frequency drifting IDMs. The main advantage of the The impedance of the RLC load in the frequency domain is
Qf versus f0 space with respect to the Cnorm versus L load
parameter space is that a single NDZ can be used to assess 1
Z(s) = 1 1
the performance of an IDM for any combination of an RLC sC + R + sL
load. The equations that describe the boundaries of the NDZ R0 s
=   2 . (26)
of the IDMs are initially obtained using the phase criteria, as Qf  2
for the Cnorm versus L load parameter space. However, simu- s+ 0
2Q f + 0 1 1
4Q 2f
lation results demonstrated that a common expression used for
representing the inverter angle of the AFD IDM, along with the The voltage of the parallel RLC load is
phase criteria, does not yield accurate results for loads with low
quality factor that is the most important region in practice. Thus, V (s) = I(s)Z(s)
a new approach based on the Laplace transform was proposed 1 eT i s i R0
and shown to yield an accurate representation of the NDZ of =
1 eT s s2 + i2 Qf
the AFD IDM in the Qf versus f0 space. From a simple inspec-
s
tion of the NDZ for the AFD, SMS, and SFS IDMs in the Qf  2   2 . (27)
versus f0 space, one sees that the SMS and the SFS IDMs can s+ 0
+ 0 1 4Q 2
1
2Q f
be designed to guarantee islanding detection for an RLC load f

with a quality factor smaller than a given value. However, as the

quality factor of the load increases, its effectiveness is reduced Appling the inverse Laplace transform one obtains an expres-
and its performance becomes equivalent to the passive UFP- sion that represents the voltage waveform in the steady-state
OFP IDM. Regarding the AFD IDM, it has been shown that condition, as shown in the equation (28) at the bottom of the
there will always be an NDZ for all values of the load quality page, where
factor. 
1 0
a = 0 1 , b = i , c =
APPENDIX 4Q2f 2Qf
 

Derivation of the NDZ for the AFD IDM in the Qf versus f0 1 0 i

space using the Laplace transform approach. = tan Qf
i 0
The distorted AFD current waveform is given by 

02 i2
 = tan 1
4Qf 1 2
2
sin(2fi t) 0 t Ti , 0 + i2
i(t) = , i(t + T ) = i(t) (23)
0 Ti t T R
k1 =   2
where
1 + Q2f 0
i i
0
1 1 
fi = fv + f, Ti = , T = .  2 Q 2f
 2
fi fv
Q2f 0
i i
0 + 4Q 2f 1
0
i + i
0
. k2 = R  2 . (29)
The current waveform also can be expressed as 1 + Q2f 0
i
i 0

i(t) = i1 (t) + i1 (t T )u(t T )
+ i1 (t 2T )u(t 2T ) +
where
i1 (t) = sin 2fi t sin 2fi (t Ti )u(t Ti ).
The approach for obtaining the upper boundary of the NDZ
(24) for AFD in the Qf versus f0 space is as follows. First one
chooses a value for Qf and 0 = 2 f0 . Then for i =
2 (fmax + f ), one calculates the value of v from (27) for
t = T = 1/fmax . The values of Qf and f0 are at the boundary
of the NDZ when v(T ) 0.


 
sin[b(t nT ) + ]u(t nT )
v(t) = k1
sin[b(t nT Ti ) + ]u(t nT Ti )
n =0

 
e(tn T )c sin[a(t nT ) + ]u(t nT )
k2 (tn T T i )c (28)
e sin[a(t nT Ti ) + ]u(t nT Ti )
n =0
180
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Luiz A. C. Lopes (M93) received the M.Sc. degree
from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Flori-
anopolis, Brazil, and the Ph.D. degree from McGill
University, Montreal, QC, Canada, in 1989 and 1996
respectively.
He is an Associate Professor with the Department
of Electrical and Comuter Engineering, Concordia
University, which he joined in 2002. From 1996 to
2001, he was an Associate Professor with the Depart-
ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fed-
eral University of Para, Belem, Brazil. His present re-
search interests are in distributed power systems and renewable energy sources.
Huili Sun received the B.Eng. degree from Shanghao Jiao Tong University,
Shanghai, China, and the M.Sc. degree from Concordia University, Montreal,
QC, Canada, in 1996 and 2005 respectively.
She joined SNC-Lavalin ATP Transmission, Calgary, AB, Canada, as an
Electrical Technical Professional, in July 2005. From 1996 to 2001, she was an
Electrical Engineer with Mechanical and Electrical Department, Electric Power
Industry Investigation Design and Research Institute, Nanning, Guangxi, China.