PSCAD/EMTDC Model of a 3-Phase Grid

Connected Photovoltaic Solar System

Shah Arifur Rahman and Rajiv K. Varma
Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
University of Western Ontario
1151, Richmond Street
London, ON N6A5B9, Canada.
Email:{srahma32, rkvarma}@uwo.ca

modeled using the softwares Matlab/Simulink, SPICE,

Abstract-- Photovoltaic (PV) solar farms are being increasingly
utilized for producing energy, worldwide. To integrate such solar
farms with the grid, a thorough technical study is required in
terms of their impact on system voltage, power quality, response
to faults and short circuit contributions, etc. These studies require
a complete modeling of the PV solar system in an electromagnetic
transient software environment like PSCAD/EMTDC. This paper
presents a PSCAD/EMTDC model of PV solar panels, the grid
connected three phase voltage sourced inverter (VSI) and its
controller system. The VSI control is implemented with current
control loops. A maximum power point tracking (MPPT)
algorithm is implemented to get the maximum output power for
any given solar irradiation and temperature. This is integrated
with the inverter control in such a way that the requirement of
DC-DC converter is eliminated to harvest the maximum power.
The inverter model also maintains near unity power factor
regardless of the level of power output and maintains an
acceptable level of current harmonics. Finally, the developed
model is validated with the output of a commercially used PV
module.
Index Terms— Photovoltaic power systems, MPPT, inverter,
pulse width modulation, filters, total harmonic distortion.
I. INTRODUCTION
SABER etc, [2]-[11]. In the models of solar farm and MPPT
described in these papers, lookup tables [2], approximate
current equations [3], equivalent linear DC voltage source [4],
program coding [5], predetermined constant from the V-I
characteristic curve of PV cell [6] are used extensively.
Although, these papers utilize standard diode equations to
model PV cells, it is more important to determine the series
resistance (Rs) and the shunt resistance (Rsh) due to the non
linearity of the equations. Some papers have used V-I
characteristic curves [5], [7] to determine Rs of the PV cell by
neglecting Rsh of the PV cell as the value of Rsh is high enough
and the effect of Rs is more dominant than Rsh in certain
operating regions. Alternatively, they have determined both
the resistances through iterative techniques [8]-[11]. However
such iterative processes can considerably slow down the
simulation process in electromagnetic transient analysis
softwares, such as, PSCAD/EMTDC [12]. Moreover, the
iteration process may not converge sometimes, which may
return a wrong value of the above parameters.
Several models have also been developed in
PSCAD/EMTDC earlier [13]-[16]. Some models are
developed using approximate equations by neglecting both Rs

S OLAR energy is the most widely available source of

renewable and sustainable energy which can play a leading
role in the program of reducing the green house gas emissions.
The most efficient means to capture this energy and transform
it into electricity is the photovoltaic (PV) technology. This
technology is getting more popular for connecting to the grid
on a large scale. To be able to assess its technical impact on
the overall network, detailed modeling of the complete solar
system in an electromagnetic transient analysis software, such
as EMTP and PSCAD/EMTDC, is needed. Presently, grid
connected solar farms are using robust controllable three phase
inverters to supply high quality AC power to the grid by
collecting the maximum available DC power generated from
the solar panels. The power factor of the injected power in
such solar systems is maintained at near unity [1]. There is a
vast literature in which the inverters and solar panels are
The financial support from Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) – Centre
of Energy, NSERC, Bluewater Power, Sarnia, are gratefully acknowledged.
and Rsh [13] which results in an inaccurate output. Some of
these models use a number of pre defined constant values with
FORTRAN coding [14] which is inconvenient. One of them
[15] utilizes predefined constants derived from V-I
characteristic curves. Another paper [16] has used the circuit
based piecewise linearization technique through trial and error
method to model the PV source, which is not only laborious
and may result in some inaccuracies. In addition, these models
[13], [15], [16] require repetitive refinement for different
levels of solar radiation and temperature. However, almost all
the papers use DC-DC converter for MPPT controller. This
increases the complexity of the system and also potentially
increases power losses on the DC side, thereby reducing the
overall power conversion efficiency.
In this paper, a complete grid connected PV solar system
PSCAD/EMTDC model is presented along with the solar
panel modeling which uses the standard datasheet values as
input parameters, and MPPT modeling based on the
incremental conductance algorithm [17]. The major depicted in Fig. 1.
contribution of this paper is the complete development of a
converter-less grid connected PV system in PSCAD/EMTDC
software by using its available library blocks. Both Rsh and Rs
are determined through the implementation of diode equation
under different conditions without using any explicit iteration
process or program coding and hence makes the simulation
process faster and more accurate with minimal number of
Figure 1. Single line diagram of the study system
assumptions. The MPPT feature is embedded in the
bidirectional DC-AC converter controller logic to harvest
The study system comprises a 100 kW PV solar farm
maximum power from the PV panels which makes the system
having MPPT capability connected through a transformer with
‘converter-less’ to operate the system at MPP. As a result, this
the equivalent grid representation of the distribution network.
model can be used to simulate the maximum available power
The grid point-of-common-coupling (PCC) voltage is
output for any level of solar irradiation and ambient
considered to be 400 V. The short circuit inductance of the
temperature, efficiently.
400 V grid is 30µH. The transformer is configured as ∆-Y
grounded and has a turns ratio of 1:1. Transformer ∆ side is
Section II describes the study system and modeling of the
connected with the inverter side as shown in Fig. 1 and
system with mathematical manipulation in selecting the
therefore the voltage at the output side of the inverter is 230 V.
parameter values. Section III presents various simulation
The PV plant is capable of generating a DC voltage up to 887
results for different levels of power output of the solar farm
Volts. The MPPT can vary the voltage over a wide range of
and validates the result obtained from a commercial PV solar
reference values depending upon the solar irradiation. The
system [18]. Section IV finally concludes the paper.
system details are presented in Fig. 2 and described in
subsequent sections with necessary mathematical formulation
II. SYSTEM MODEL
and parameter values.
The single line diagram of a simple study system is

Figure 2. System model (a) PV source (b) IGBT inverter (c) LCL filter (d) MPPT module and (e) inverter switching signal controller.
A. PV Source Model VOC =VOC( STC ) (1 + K v (T − TS ))KKKKKKKKKK(7)
The equivalent circuit model of a PV cell can be
represented as in Fig. 3. This is replaced with a controlled Here, Ki is the temperature co-efficient of PV short circuit
current source in this model as also shown in Fig. 2(a). current and Kv is the temperature co-efficient of PV open
circuit voltage at STC. Both are expressed in %/ ̊C. Ts is the
Ipv=I
standard temperature at STC, Gnom is the solar radiation at
STC.
V=Vdc
Now using (4)-(7) in (1), the final expression of the PV
output current becomes as follows:

Figure 3. Circuit model of PV Source and its equivalent representation in [I sc ( STC ) {1 + Ki (T − TS )}{nsR sh + Rs } − VOC ] eqVoc( STC ){1 + Kv(T − TS )} / nkTns − 1
  G
I=
PSCAD.  qVoc( STC ){1 + Kv (T − TS )} / nkTns qIsc(STC){1 + Ki (T − TS )}Rs / nkTns  Gnom
nsRsh  e −e 
 
The relation between voltage and current with respect to
different solar irradiations and temperatures for a standard PV GVOC i
[ S
{
I sc( STC ) 1 + K (T − T ) {nsRsh + Rs } − VOC e }
]
 q (V + IRs ) / nkTns 
− 1

+ −
nsRsh Gnom n R  eqVoc( STC ){1 + Kv (T − TS )} / nkTns − eqIsc(STC){1 + Ki (T − TS )}Rs / nkTns 
source can be expressed by a set of basic diode equations: s sh
 
V + IRs
− LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL(8)
V + IRs nsRsh
I = I ph − I 0 e − 1 − KK (1)
q (V + IRs ) / nkTns
 
nsR sh
In this equation, all the parameters can be obtained from
where, V and I are the output voltage and current of the PV any standard datasheet except Rs, Rsh and n. To determine
cell at any temperature and radiation, respectively. In this these parameters the STC case is considered as they do not
equation, for an equivalent single string panel ns is the number vary significantly with different temperature and insolation.
of series cells in the string, Rs is the total series resistance of However, it is noted that,
the string expressed in ohm, k is the Boltzmann’s constant, n

>> e qIsc(STC)Rs{1 + Ki (T − TS )}/ nkTns

is the diode ideality factor, q is the charge of electron qVoc ( STC ){1 + Kv (T − TS )} / nkTns
expressed in ‘eV’ and Rsh is the leakage or shunt resistance e
expressed in ohm. The photo current, Iph, is a direct function
of solar radiation G and can be expressed as: Hence, as a first assumption, the term,
I ph = I ph(T ) G Gnom KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK(2)
e qVoc ( STC ){1 + Kv (T − TS )}/ nkTns − 1
  ,
where, I ph (T ) , is the temperature dependent photocurrent at
 qVoc ( STC ){1 + Kv (T − TS )}/ nkTns qIsc(STC){1 + K i (T − TS )}Rs / nkTns 
e −e 
standard insolation level. The reverse saturation current I0 is a  
function of temperature and is usually expressed with a well can be approximated as unity which does not make any
known equation containing the energy band gap function [11], significant changes in the final value of the current but
[16]. However, this is yet another unknown parameter. Hence, reduces unnecessary complexity in the equation. Therefore, at
it is more convenient to directly use the expression of I0 as STC, by replacing T by Ts and G by Gnom, and using the
derived and manipulated in (4) by applying two conditions on above approximation, (8) can be re-written as follows:
(1); short circuit condition where V=0 and I=Isc and open
{nsRsh + Rs }] [Isc( STC) {nsRsh + Rs } − VOC (STC ) ]e
circuit condition where I=0 and V=Voc. In this procedure, no  q(V + IRs) / nkTsns 
energy band gap information is required to determine I0. I=
[I sc ( STC )
−
− 1

nsRsh  qVoc( STC ) / nkTS ns 
nsRsh  e − 1
KKKKK (4)
I sc nsRsh + I sc Rs − Voc  
Io =
 qVoc / nkTns qIscRs / nkTns  −
V + IRs
LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL(9)
nsRsh  e −e  nsR sh
 
Also, in the above two operating conditions, by using (2), the
Using (9), the expression for shunt resistance can be
expression of photo current I ph can be obtained as follows: derived by using the fact that at MPP the derivative of power
with respect to voltage is zero, i.e.,
   V  G
I ph = I  eqVoc / nkTns − 1 + OC KKKKKK(5)
 o  ∂P ∂I
 nsRsh  Gnom ∂V
= I +V
∂V
= 0 atmpp, where P=VI. Hence, differentiating (9),
Here, short circuit current Isc and open circuit voltage Voc can a simplified expression for Rsh at STC is obtained in (10).
be expressed in terms of temperature co-efficient to relate
them with the quantities at STC as follows:
[I sc ( STC ) Rs − VOC( STC ) ]eq (Vm + I m Rs ) / nkTsns − 1


 q  qVoc( STC ) / nkTsns 
+ e
 nsTskn 
− 1

Rsh = L (10)
 qVoc( STC ) / nkTS ns   q(Vm + I m Rs ) / nkTsns  I sc ( STC )q
I sc = I sc( STC ) (1 + Ki (T − TS ))KKKKKKKKKKK(6) nsI m  e − 1 − e
(Vm − I m Rs )  − 1
   Tskn

where, Vm and Im are the maximum power point voltage and
current at STC, respectively.
To deduce the expression of Rs, the leakage current
component in (1), (V+IRs)/nsRsh, can be neglected as the
current flowing through the leakage resistance, Rsh, is very
small. Therefore, (1) can be simplified by neglecting the end
term in addition to the aforementioned first approximation at
STC and is represented in (11).
Isc( STC) e q(V + IRs) / nkTsns − 1 KK (11)
I ≈ Isc( STC ) −
[e qVoc( STC ) / nkTsns
]
− 1 
From this expression, by applying the MPP operating point at
STC, the expression for Rs is found as follows:
by the voltage at its terminal with the governing expression in
(8).
B. MPPT Model
In modeling the MPPT, incremental conductance
algorithm [17] is implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC with the
standard mathematical and logical blocks available in the
software library and illustrated in Fig. 4. As shown in Fig.
2(d) the MPPT module takes the input of voltage and current
from the PV source output and sets the DC link voltage
reference at the inverter input side. As a result when the DC
link voltage maintains the reference value, the PV source can

inject the maximum available power at a certain irradiation
and temperature. As soon as the inverter output current
matches the MPPT current due to set point of MPPT voltage,
the inverter settles at the operating point of maximum power
output.

nkTsns  qVoc( STC) / nkTsns  V

Rs = lne
qIm 
I
(
− m eqVoc( STC) / nkTsns −1  − m L(12) )
I sc( STC)  I m

Usually, the standard datasheet of a solar module provides

the parameters as given in Table I [18].

TABLE I
ELECTRICAL SPECIFICATION FOR FS SERIES PV MODULE AT STC*

Item Description Symbols FS270 FS272 Figure 4. MPPT module building blocks for Incremental Conductance
Nominal Power (±5%) PMPP (Watt) 70.0 72.5 algorithm.
Voltage at PMPP Vms (Volt) 65.5 66.6
C. Inverter model
Current at PMPP Ims (Amp) 1.07 1.09
Open Circuit Voltage VOC (Volt) 88.0 88.7 The inverter is composed of 6 IGBT devices with
Short Circuit Current ISC (Amp) 1.23 1.23 associated snubber circuits as shown in Fig. 2(b). This
Temperature Co-efficient of PMPP Kp (%/°C) -0.25 inverter transforms DC power to AC by using sinusoidal pulse
Temperature Co-efficient of VOC Kv (%/°C) -0.25
width modulation (SPWM) technique which uses a high
High temp>25°C
Temperature Co-efficient of VOC Kv (%/°C) -0.20 switching frequency of 5 kHz to avoid the excessive switching
Low Temp (-40°C to + 25°C) loss and audible range. A series of switching signal pulses of
Temperature Co-efficient of ISC Ki (%/°C) 0.04 different width resulting from the comparison between a high
Cell Type CdS/CdTe with 116 active cells. frequency triangular wave, known as carrier wave, and the
* At STC, AM=1.5, T=25°C and G=1000 watt/m 2
and all ratings ±10%, unless specified otherwise. sinusoidal modulating signals are fed from the controller. By
controlling the modulating signal, the switching pulse width
It is obvious from Table I and (1), that the variation in and switching instances can be controlled which ultimately
dataset values for the same material is caused by the variation controls the power flow from the inverter [22].
of the diode ideality factor n, which changes mainly due to the
manufacturing process [19]-[21]. Depending upon the value The detailed switching signal controller configuration is
of n, the maximum power point varies. Hence, the value of n shown in Fig. 2(e) in which two current control loops are
is determined by hit and trial method to satisfy the maximum used. In the controller the output current signals of the
power point voltage and current. Moreover, as a result of inverter is fed back to the controller and transformed into d-q
MPP matching procedure in determining n, the error in the reference axis. As a result, the reference of direct axis id,ref
determination of Rs and Rsh as illustrated in (10) and (12) are and quadrature axis iq,ref are compared with the measured
also compensated. Hence, a more precise output of PV transformed quantity. Two PI controllers are used to maintain
voltage and current can be achieved. the reference value and are tuned through simulation process
with hit and trial method [23]. The final output is then
In this model, the final expressions in (8), (10) and (12) are transformed back to ABC reference which then acts as the
implemented by using the PSCAD/EMTDC standard library sinusoidal modulating signal. From the derived mathematical
blocks where the PV source is modeled as a controlled current relation of power in d-q reference axis it can be written that,
source as shown in Fig. 2(a) whose current output is dictated
P = Vd .I d + Vq .I q LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL (13)
Q = −Vd .I q + Vq .I d LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL (14)
where, P and Q are the real and reactive power output
respectively, and Vd, Vq, are the d-q components of grid
voltage and Id, Iq are the d-q components of current injected
by the inverter. As the modulating signals are the feedback
signal of this current component, hence by controlling the
reference signal, it automatically adjust the modulating signals
with the help of PI controllers to control the switching pulse
width and switching instances. These eventually control the
flow of P and Q output from the inverter by adjusting the
current output.
The purpose of the inverter is to transfer all the available
power from the solar farm to the grid by maintaining unity
power factor. As seen earlier in (1) the output current and
hence the power is dependent upon the voltage at the PV
source output, therefore by adjusting the voltage output at the
PV source terminal the power output can be controlled. The
PV output voltage is the dc link voltage which is the input of
the inverter and should maintain a constant reference value.
This reference value of dc link voltage is obtained from
MPPT to get the maximum power output from the solar farm
and, eventually, it sets the reference for the Iq. It is noted, that
in this simulation system, according to the settings of local
frame, the quadrature axis current component varies the active
power proportionally according to the relation (13) and direct
axis current component varies the reactive power according to
relation (14). Hence, the reference for direct axis current
component Id,ref is set to zero to maintain unity power factor.
D. DC Link Capacitor Modeling
As mentioned earlier that the DC link voltage must be
maintained constant to get a good quality of power and
minimize the ripple of the PV source current. To fulfill these
objectives usually a large size of DC link capacitor is used.
The following expressions in (15) and (16) are used to
determine the size of the DC link capacitor to limit the DC
ripple [24]. It is assumed in determining the size of DC link
capacitor that the output current is ripple free which is
maintained by using high switching frequency and an LCL
filter at the output and is discussed in the next section.
−3 2 2 pu for a base value of Lb=5.05mH, which is acceptable as the
Cdc = 2Pmax * 20*10 / V dc (1 − K )FaradLLLLLLL(15)
K = Vdc,min / Vdc LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL(16)
where, 20*10-3 is the time for one complete cycle in second
for 50Hz system which is the fundamental frequency for the
worst case scenario (modulation index m>1) of switching
frequency, Pmax is the maximum power output, Vdc is the DC
link voltage.
E. LCL Filter Modeling
In modeling LCL filter some constraints [25] are
maintained to avoid excessive voltage drop in the ac side
across inductors, maintain better controllability of output
current and suppress the ripple in the AC side current. These
constraints are:
a) The capacitor value should be limited such that it can
draw a maximum reactive power of not more than 5%
of the rated power in order to maintain almost unity
power factor.
b) The total value of inductance should be around 0.1 pu
to limit the ac voltage drop during operation.
Otherwise, higher dc link voltage is required to ensure
the current controllability.
c) The resonant frequency should be in the range between
ten times the line frequency and one-half of the
switching frequency, to avoid amplification of
unwanted harmonics in the lower parts and upper parts
of the harmonics spectrum.
d) Passive damping must be sufficient to avoid oscillation
by taking the losses under consideration.
In the modeled system, a filter capacitor of C=99 µF is
selected which is determined by using (17).
2 ) FaradLLLLLLLLLLL(17)
C = λPrated /(3 * 2πf1V pn
The inductances are used as L1=500 µH at inverter side and
L2=100 µH at the grid side. The ratio of L1 and L2 is
maintained as L1/L2=5=r, as recommended in [26] and [27] to
avoid the overlapping of the cut-off frequency of LCL filter
with the bandwidth of grid connected current controller.
Besides, use of larger L1 suppresses the ripple current more
effectively. Usually, the following formulae are used to find
out L1 [25].
ig (hsw) 1
= LLLLLLLLLLLL(18)
i(hsw) 1 + r (1 − C.L1ω 2 )
sw
where, ig(hsw) is the grid current at switching harmonic and
i(hsw) is the switching current output from the inverter. For a
switching frequency of fs=5 kHz, the suppressed switching
current harmonic at grid is calculated as 0.004 times the
output switching current harmonics.
However, the total inductance LT = (L1+L2) is equal to 0.12
dc link voltage of about 650Volts (at rated solar irradiation) is
almost 2.8 times of ac output voltage and that is more than
enough to compensate the extra voltage drop across the
inductors. The resonance frequency calculated with (19) gives
a value of fr=1743 Hz, which is within the range of 10f1 and
1/2fsw and hence satisfies the constraint (c).
[ ]
f r = 1 / 2π ( LT / L1 L2 C ) Hz LLLLLLLLLLLL(19)
It is noted, that the L2 includes the transformer leakage
inductances. If the leakage inductance of the transformer is
large enough then the transformer itself can act as L2 branch in
the LCL filter configuration and is illustrated in fig. 2(c). The
damping resistor in series with capacitor is considered as 1/3rd
of the capacitive reactance at resonant frequency [25] to
effectively damp down the oscillation by considering the
losses.
III. SIMULATION RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the simulation model, 10 x 138 numbers of series-
parallel combinations of FS 272 solar modules are connected
to make a total capacity of 100kW at STC. The measurements
are taken at the PCC as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. In Fig. 5
and Fig. 6, the DC and AC side RMS voltages and currents,
PV power output and the variation of THD are illustrated for
the solar radiation of 1 Sun at 25°C (0-40 sec) and solar
radiation of 0.8 Sun at 45°C (40-60 sec) while the system is
run with MPPT for the duration of 15-60sec only.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 5. PV output at different radiation and temperature (a) DC link and
AC voltage (b) PV current and inverter output phase current (c) Power
output.
Figure 6. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at different level of insolation
and temperature.
It can be seen from Fig. 5 that while the PV system is
operating under STC without enabling the MPPT (10-15sec)
it is operated in low power level (53.7kW) corresponding to
827.7 V DC. After 15 sec when the MPPT feature is enabled
it reaches its maximum power point within next 10 sec which
is the time taken by the MPPT module to track the maximum
power. This can be made even faster with fine tuning of the
controller. Hence, at STC with MPPT enabled, the PV system
operates at 100kW at a DC voltage level of 666 V for the
duration of 25 to 40 sec which demonstrates the effectiveness
of the modeled MPPT. After 40 sec the solar insolation level
and temperature changes and the maximum power point goes
down to 74.7 kW with an operating voltage of 624 V and
continues to supply until 60 sec. The rms voltage and current
of each phase corresponding to DC power changes with the
radiation level and supply almost the same amount of AC
power to the grid. A small variation between the DC and AC
supply is maintained to compensate the losses in the inverter
and of its associated circuits. The voltage at the AC side is
almost constant as it is set by the grid voltage. However, the
level of harmonics remains within the acceptable limit (5% of
fundamental) while operating with MPPT and illustrated in
Fig. 6, for different operating condition which demonstrates
the effectiveness of the modeled LCL filter and the sizing of
DC link capacitor.
As illustrated in Fig. 7, the instantaneous phase voltage and
currents are in phase which demonstrates that unity power
factor is maintained at the PCC by the solar inverter.
Figure 7. Instantaneous phase voltage and current waveform at STC
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