Voltage-Source Control of PV Inverter in a CERTS Microgrid

Abstract

Microgrids are highly compatible with photovoltaic (PV) sources because of their ability to internally aggregate and balance multiple renewable sources. Traditional grid-connected PV inverter control configurations are basically current sourced and cannot easily control ac voltage or frequency. The PV inverter using the Consortium for Electric Reliability Technology Solutions (CERTS) concepts can control ac voltage and frequency but have a major problem with load transients. During a load transient, the PV microsource becomes overloaded with the possibility of collapsing the dc bus voltage resulting in an ac voltage drop. This paper presents a PV inverter control strategy which enables PV to behave as a voltage source and is capable of maintaining dc bus voltage stability during load transient. With this PV inverter control configuration, it is shown that the PV microsource can operate as a voltage source in the CERTS microgrid.