IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm

Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Stability and Power Quality Improvement for GridConnected Photovoltaic Systems using Proportional
Resonant Controller
Raddaoui A
LEME, ATEM research team, EST-Sal, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco.

ABSTRACT
In this paper control of the PV array connected to the grid is investigated. Two-stage inverters are controlled in order to achieve
MPPT from PV array, transfer energy to the grid without perturbation of the grid stability, as well as improving power quality
at the PCC using Optimized Perturbation and Observation (OP&O) and decoupled control, which is based on Proportional
Resonance Control (PRC) respectively. The performance of the proposed control algorithms are tested using Matlab/Simulink
under extreme cases as, presence of nonlinear load and climate condition change.

Keywords: PV array, Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT), Power Quality, Grid Stability, Proportional Resonance
Control (PRC).

1. INTRODUCTION
In the world, electricity demand continues to rise, making the construction of new power plants inevitable in the nearest
future. And since people are now aware of sustainable development and the pressure exerted by several organisations,
encourages network operators or managers thinking about electricity injection to the grid from renewable energy
sources such as photovoltaic to meet the needs of consumers while respecting the environment [1]. And in this case,
grid-tied PV systems are the best solution [2-3]. For the current trend in many countries, especially in urban areas,
everyone can produce and sell electricity by injecting the surplus to the network. Thus, one must think about making
efficient photovoltaic installations in order not to pollute and distributed the power grid.
Accordingly, there are some proposals aimed at ensuring the PV generator operation at the MPP despite these
conditions.
In this paper, an algorithm based on the classical P&O method is designed in order to improve the tracking of the
MPPT [4]. Proportional Resonant PR controller is found recently in literature [5-9], and its performance is better than
PI controller which presented the inherent drawbacks [10].
In this paper as is shown in Fig.1, two stage inverters are considered [11]. To achieve MPPT and ensure transfers the
energy drawn from PV array into the grid without disturbing its stability, DC/DC boost converter and grid interface
inverter are controlled [11-12]. PRC is used for fast dynamic response instead of PI controller [10,13]. Detailed
modeling for control design is also investigated. To test the performance of the proposed scheme and its control
algorithms, simulation is carried out using Matlab/Simulink.
.
isa

i sb

Grid

i sc

PV array

S1

DC

vdc

cpv

S2

S3

A
B
C

S4

S5

S6

vfa
vfb
v fc

ifa L f

Rf

vsa

ifc
v

i Lb

v sc

fa

ica

DC

iLa

vsb

ifb

i Lc

Dynamic linear,
nonlinear, balanced
and unbalanced loads

icb icc

Cf

DC / DC
Boost converter

Voltage source converter

Fig.1. Proposed PV array connected to the grid.

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 13

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

2. MODELING AND CONTROL OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

In this section modeling and control of the DC/DC boost converter and the DC/AC inverter is described
2.1 Modeling and control of the DC/DC boost converter
The mathematical model of DC-DC boost converter, as shown in Fig.1 is obtained using the Kirchhoffs voltage and
current laws [14]. Based on its switching position function (S=0 or S=1), its dynamic is described by the following set
of equations.
iPV

di
L L VPV (1 d)Vout
dt
dV
V
Cout out iL out
dt
R

(1)

(2)

Where R, L, Cout represents load, inductance and of the DC/DC boost converter respectively.
From (1), one obtains the control law of the DC/DC boost as is expressed bellow and shown in Fig.2 (a).

d 1

ipv VPV
Vout

(3)

Where ipv represent the output of the PI PV current controller, which is expressed as,

ipv imp i pv k p i
s

(4)
Where iref represent the maximum PV current, which is obtained using OP&O technique method [16], as is shown in
Fig. 2 (b).
The perturb and Observe method (P&O) is the most commonly used MPPT algorithm due to its simplicity and facility
of his commercial implementation. After each perturbs operation, the current power is computed and the power
variations P and V. If P and V bear the same sign, then the perturb direction keeps unchanged, otherwise,
perturbs voltage inversely [4]

i ref

i pv

PI

ipv

d
PWM

Gate

/
vpv

vout

(a)

(b)

Fig.2. a) Control algorithm of the DC/DC boost converter, and b) Optimized Perturbation and observation MPPT
method

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 14

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

2.2Modeling and control of the DC/AC inverter

The objectives of the proposed control algorithms of the DC/AC interface grid inverter are the transfer of the produced
energy from PV array and improving the power quality at the PCC by eliminating harmonics created by nonlinear load.
The proposed control algorithm as is shown in Fig. 3, is based on inner and outer loops. The reference inverter voltages
(vfabc*) are obtained using the inverse of the Parks transformations [16]. Therefore, Applying Kirchhoffs to DC/AC
grid interfacing, one gets the following expression [17];

vsa =Vs cos t

vsb =Vs cos t 2 3

vsc =Vs cos t 2 3

(5)

iL a i f a isa
f
iL f b i f b isb

iL f c i f c isc

(6)

And

The synchronous reference frame equations of the resistance-inductance load at the angular frequency s at the
terminal of the voltage source inverter are given as:

vsa =L f disa dt v fa

vsb =L f disb dt v fb

vsc =L f disc dt v fc

(7)

The Parks transformations of (7) give;

.

vsd =L f disd dt L f isq v fd

vsq =L f disq dt L f isd v fq

(8)

And

vsd

L f disd dt vsd L f isq v fd

vsq

L f disq dt vsq L f isd v fq

(9)

where vsd and vsq represents the output of the PRC controllers of the inner loops.
As for DC-voltage regulation is obtained as;

isd* Gvdc s Vdc* Vdc

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

(10)

Page 15

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

where isd* and Gvdc (s) represents the d-reference source current and the transfer function of the PRC controller, which
is expressed as [];

Gvdc s k p

2kic s
s 2c s 2
2

(11)
where, is the AC frequency and ki is a constant that is carefully selected to shift the controllers magnitude response
vertically [5,7]. This controller maintains stability and due to practical non limitations of signal processing systems that
implements it.
Then with the practical PRC transfer function (11), its gain is finite, but it is still relatively high for enforcing a small
steady-state error. The controllers bandwidth can be widened by setting c appropriately, which helps to reduce
sensitivity towards slight frequency variations [5].
For unit power factor operation, the quadrature access reference source current isq kept equal to zero (isq* = 0) [17].
The dq-references source voltages is expressed as follow

v*fd =vsd L f isq vsd

*
v fq =vsq L f isd vsq

(12)

where vfd * and vfq* represents the d-q reference inverter voltages.

vsd

isd*

vdc*

vdc

PRC

PRC

isd

Lf i sq

vsd

vsabc

v fd *
v f abc *

dq

Gates
PWM

abc

vsq

vsq

isq * 0

dq

v sabc

isq

PLL

PRC
L f isd

isd

abc

v fq *

abc

isabc
dq

isq

Fig.3. Control of DC/AC grid interface inverter

3. SIMULATION AND DISCUSSIONS

To test performance of the proposed scheme and its developed control algorithms, simulations are carried out using
MATLAB/Simulink. Several scenarios are tested as connection of nonlinear load and solar irradiations change. Fig. 4
shows the waveforms of: 1) grid voltage (vs), 2) grid current (is), 3) load current (iL), 4) inverter current (if), 5) PV
current (iPV) and PV current reference (iref), 6) DC voltage (Vdc), and their zoomed waveforms.
It is observed that the PV current follows its reference during the variation of solar irradiance. Furthermore, the grid
voltage for phase-a line to line is sinusoidal and the DC voltage is kept constant during variation of the load and solar
irradiance, which demonstrate the robustness of the proposed control algorithms for MPPT and power quality
improvement.

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 16

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Vgrid [V]

500
0

Igrid [A]
iload [A]

10
0
-10
20
0
-20

Ipv&I pvref[A]

20
0
-20

Iinv [A]

-500

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

20
10
0

Vdc [A]

1250
1200
1150

Fig. 4. Simulations results of grid voltage, current grid, current load, current inverter, current PV array and its
reference, and the DC voltage

500
0

I grid [A ]

20
0
-20
0.45

i load [A ]

-500
0.45

10
0
-10

I inv [A ]

V grid [V ]

Fig. 5 shows the zoom of waveforms, which are presented in Fig. 4 between t = 0.45 s to 0.55 s. It is observed that
when the load is removed, the source voltage and the corresponding line current are in phase lag. But the inverter
current and source current are in phase confirming that inverter balanced the current of the grid. Seeing that, the
current from PV array is completely injected to the grid. Also, it is observed that the PV current follows its reference
during the variation of radiance. Adding, the system DC voltage is kept constant during this period of time.

20
0
-20

V dc [A ]

I pv&I pvref[A ]

0.45

0.45

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

0.46

0.47

0.48

0.49

0.5

0.51

0.52

0.53

0.54

0.55

20

10
0
0.45
1250
1200
1150
0.45

Fig. 5. Zoom of the waveforms presented in Fig. 4 between t = 0.45 s to 0.55 s.

In Fig. 5 the zoom of waveforms, which are presented in Fig. 6 between t = 1.45 s to 1.55 s are shown. It is observed
that when the system is subjected to sudden nonlinear load variation, the source voltage line to line stay sinusoidal and
the DC voltage is kept constant. One sees clearly that at t= 1.5 s the source load is decreased but the source voltage is
maintain constant with zero study state and sinusoidal. One sees clearly in the presence of this perturbation, voltage is
kept stable, which demonstrate the robustness of the proposed control algorithm and the fast dynamic response of the
PRC. Adding the PV array follow its reference. One see at t =1.5 s, nonlinear load is connected to the grid, which
allows inverter to stator working as Statcom and compensate harmonics. It is observed that the source current is
sinusoidal. Adding the inverter current contain fundamental, that is mean, is providing power to grid and compensate
harmonics simultaneously.

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 17

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

500

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

I grid [A ]

20
0
-20
1.45

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

i load [A ]

0
-500
1.45

10
0
-10
1.45

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

I inv [A ]

V grid [V ]

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

20
0
-20
1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

1.46

1.47

1.48

1.49

1.5

1.51

1.52

1.53

1.54

1.55

V d c [A ]

I p v & I pvref [A ]

1.45

20
10
0
1.45
1250
1200
1150
1.45

Fig. 6. Zoom of the waveforms presented in Fig.4 between t = 1.45 s to 1.55 s

500
0

I grid [A ]

10
0
-10
20
0
-20

V dc [A ]

I pv &I p vref[A ]

20
0
-20

i load [A ]

-500

I in v [A ]

V grid [V ]

In Fig. 7 shows the zoom of waveforms, which are presented in Fig. 4 between t = 2 s to 2.1 s. It is observed that when
the system is subjected to balance nonlinear load, load voltage is kept constant. One sees clearly that the source voltage
and the DC voltage are not disturbing.

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

2.01

2.02

2.03

2.04

2.05

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.1

20
10
0

1250
1200
1150

Fig. 7. Zoom of the waveforms presented in Fig.4 between t = 2 s to 2.1 s

Fig. 8 shows harmonics spectra of the currents of nonlinear load (a) and the grid (b). It is observed that the Total
Harmonic Distortion (THD) of current grid is less than 5% [5], which confirms the robustness of the proposed control
algorithm.

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 18

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Fundamental (50Hz) = 11.81 , THD= 4.66%

12

10

10

Mag %

Mag %

Fundamental (50Hz) = 9.332 , THD= 21.33%

12

0
0

5
10
15
Harmonic order of the load current

(a)

20

5
10
15
Harmonic order of the source current

20

(b)

Fig.10. Harmonics spectra of a) load current, b) source current at t=2.8045 s

4. CONCLUSION
In this paper control of the PV connected grid is investigated. Two stage-inverters are controlled to get MPPT from the
PV array and maintain the stability of the grid, as well as, improving its power quality. To get fast dynamic response,
RPC is used instead of classical PI controller. Optimized P&O technique method is used to track the maximum of
power from connected PV array. The obtained results show satisfactory.

References
[1] H. El-Kanj Baitie and T. Selmi, "Review of smart grid systems' requirements," in Ecological Vehicles and
Renewable Energies (EVER), 2015 Tenth International Conference on, 2015, pp. 1-6.
[2] J.-M. Kwon, B.-H. Kwon, and K.-H. Nam, Grid-connected photovoltaic multistring pcs with PV current variation
reduction control, Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 56, no. 11, pp. 43814388, 2009.
[3] N. Srisaen and A. Sangswang, Effects of PV Grid-Connected System Location on a Distribution System, 2006
IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on Circuits and Systems, 2006, pp.852 855.
[4] M. Mantilla, G. Quinones, C. Castellanos, J. Petit, and G. Ordonez, "Analysis of maximum power point tracking
algorithms in DC-DC boost converters for grid-tied photovoltaic systems," in Industrial Electronics Society,
IECON 2014 - 40th Annual Conference of the IEEE, 2014, pp. 1971-1976.
[5] R. Teodorescu, M. Liserre, and P. Rodrguez, Grid Converters for Photovoltaic and Wind Power Systems: John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2011.
[6] M. Ebad and B. Song, "Improved Design and Control of Proportional Resonant Controller for Three-Phase
Voltage Source Inverter," in IEEE Conference Publications, 2012.
[7] M. Ebad and S. Byeong-Mun, "Improved design and control of proportional resonant controller for three-phase
voltage source inverter," in Power Electronics and Machines in Wind Applications (PEMWA), 2012 IEEE, 2012,
pp. 1-5.
[8] T. Quoc Nam and L. Hong Hee, "Improvement of power quality under distorted source and nonlinear load
conditions," in Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC), 2012 7th International, 2012, pp.
546-551.
[9] A. Chatterjee and K. B. Mohanty, "Design and analysis of stationary frame PR current controller for performance
improvement of grid tied PV inverters," in Power Electronics (IICPE), 2014 IEEE 6th India International
Conference on, 2014, pp. 1-6.
[10] Sajitha Andrews; Subhash Joshi, Performance Improvement of Dynamic Voltage Restorer using Proportional Resonant Controller, PCIM Europe 2015; International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics,
Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management, 2015, pp. 1-8.
[11] N. Femia, G. Petrone, G. Spagnuolo, and M. Vitelli, A technique for improving P&O MPPT performances of
double-stage grid-connected photovoltaic systems, Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on, no. 11, pp.
44734482, 2009.
[12] M. Mantilla, G. Quinones, C. Castellanos, J. Petit, and G. Ordonez, "Analysis of maximum power point tracking
algorithms in DC-DC boost converters for grid-tied photovoltaic systems," in Industrial Electronics Society,
IECON 2014 - 40th Annual Conference of the IEEE, 2014, pp. 1971-1976.
[13] A. Chatterjee and K. B. Mohanty, "Development of stationary frame PR current controller for performance
improvement of grid tied PV inverters," in Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS), 2014 9th International
Conference on, 2014, pp. 1-6.

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

Page 19

IPASJ International Journal of Electrical Engineering (IIJEE)

Web Site: http://www.ipasj.org/IIJEE/IIJEE.htm
Email: editoriijee@ipasj.org
ISSN 2321-600X

A Publisher for Research Motivation........

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

[14] S. Toumpis; S. Gitzenis, Load Balancing in Wireless Sensor Networks using Kirchhoff's Voltage Law,
INFOCOM 2009, IEEE 2009, pp.1656 1664.
[15] D. Sera, L. Mathe, T. Kerekes, S. V. Spataru, and R. Teodorescu, "On the Perturb-and-Observe and Incremental
Conductance MPPT Methods for PV Systems", IEEE Journal of Photovoltaic, vol. 3, pp. 1070-1078, 2013.
[16] Parks transformations
[17] Singh, Mukhtiar (2010). Adaptive network-based fuzzy inference systems for sensorless control of PMSG based
wind turbine with power quality improvement features. Thse de doctorat lectronique, Montral, cole de
Technologie Suprieure.

Appendix

TABLE I : SYSTEM PARAMETERS [5,7,17].

Parameters
irr
iscr
ki
Tr
q
Kb
Eg
A
L
Cout

Value
8

5.981. 10
A
3.81 A
0.0024
298 K
1.6. 1019 C
1.38.1023JK
1.12 V
1.2
1.5 mH
200 F

Rf

Lf

Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2016

5 mH

Parameters

Value

Cf

10 F

fs
RL
wc

2 kHz
8
0.01

Cpv
f
vLmax
vdc

100 F
50 Hz
380 V
1200 V

Page 20