There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/5610941/5624686/05624745.pdf

Power electronics

Today, conventional power systems are evolving to modern smart grids, where interconnected microgrids may dominate the distribution system with high penetration of renewable energy and energy storage systems. The hybrid ac/dc systems with dc and ac sources/loads are considered to be the most possible future distribution or even transmission structures. For such hybrid ac/dc microgrids, power management strategies are one of the most critical operation aspects. This paper presents an overview of power management strategies for a hybrid ac/dc microgrid system, which includes different system structures (ac-coupled, dc-coupled, and ac–dc-coupled hybrid microgrids), different operation modes, a thorough study of various power management and control schemes in both steady state and transient conditions, and examples of power management and control strategies. Finally, discussion and recommendations of power management strategies for the further research are presented.

Overview of Power Management Strategies of Hybrid AC/DC Microgrid

A new fuzzy-logic controller for maximum power point tracking of photovoltaic (PV) systems is proposed. PV modeling is discussed. Conventional hill-climbing maximum power-point tracker structures and features are investigated. The new controller improves the hill-climbing search method by fuzzifying the rules of such techniques and eliminates their drawbacks. Fuzzy-logic-based hill climbing offers fast and accurate converging to the maximum operating point during steady-state and varying weather conditions compared to conventional hill climbing. Simulation and experimentation results are provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed fuzzy-logic-based controller.

Fuzzy-Logic-Control Approach of a Modified Hill-Climbing Method for Maximum Power Point in Microgrid Standalone Photovoltaic System

To eliminate the common-mode leakage current in the transformerless photovoltaic grid-connected system, an improved single-phase inverter topology is presented. The improved transformerless inverter can sustain the same low input voltage as the full-bridge inverter and guarantee to completely meet the condition of eliminating common-mode leakage current. Both the unipolar sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation (SPWM) as well as the double-frequency SPWM control strategy can be applied to implement the three-level output in the presented inverter. The high efficiency and convenient thermal design are achieved thanks to the decoupling of two additional switches connected to the dc side. Moreover, the higher frequency and lower current ripples are obtained by adopting the double-frequency SPWM, and thus the total harmonic distortion of the grid-connected current are reduced greatly. Furthermore, the influence of the phase shift between the output voltage and current, and the influence of the junction capacitances of the power switches are analyzed in detail. Finally, a 1-kW prototype has been simulated and tested to verify the theoretical analysis of this paper.

Improved Transformerless Inverter With Common-Mode Leakage Current Elimination for a Photovoltaic Grid-Connected Power System

This paper presents a novel seamless transfer of single-phase grid-interactive inverters between grid-connected and stand-alone modes. The grid-connected inverter should operate in grid-tied and off-grid modes in order to provide power to the emergency load during system outages. However, the grid current controller and the output voltage controller are switched between the two modes, so the outputs of both controllers may not be equal during the transfer instant, which will cause the current or voltage spikes during the switching process. The transfer between the two controllers does not exist in the proposed method. In grid-tied mode, the voltage controller is used for compensating the filter capacitor current, and the current controller is used to control the grid current. In stand-alone mode, the voltage controller is used to regulate the output voltage, whereas the output of the current controller is zero. With the proposed control method, the seamless transfer can be achieved between both modes, even in polluted grid voltage. The principle and realization conditions of the control methods at both modes are analyzed. The detailed process of the seamless transfer between the two modes is illustrated. Finally, the simulation and experimental results verify the theoretical analysis.

Seamless Transfer of Single-Phase Grid-Interactive Inverters Between Grid-Connected and Stand-Alone Modes

This paper presents a dual-buck full-bridge inverter (DBFBI) to solve the shoot-through problem in conventional bridge-type inverters and reduce the voltage stress of the power device in the dual-buck half-bridge inverter (DBHBI). Hysteresis current control is used in the DBFBI. All switches and diodes operate at each half line cycle, and the freewheeling current flows through the independent freewheeling diodes instead of the body diodes of the switches, so the efficiency can be increased potentially. As the shoot-through problem does not exist in the DBFBI, dead time between the switches need not be set. The input-voltage utilization rate of the DBFBI is twice that of the DBHBI under the same output-voltage condition, i.e., the voltage stress of the power device in DBFBI is half that in the DBHBI. The operating principle, stability and relative stability analyses, and design guidelines and example are provided. Experimental results of a 1-kVA DBFBI verify the theoretical analysis. The comparisons among other inverters and the DBFBI show that the proposed inverter is very promising in 220-240-Vrms output-voltage and high-reliability applications, such as uninterruptible power supplies and grid-connected inverters.

Dual-Buck Full-Bridge Inverter With Hysteresis Current Control

This paper presents a control of single-phase grid-interactive inverters with nonlinear loads. The utility-connected inverter should operate at both stand-alone and grid-connected modes. However, the waveform qualities of the grid current in grid-connected mode and the output voltage in stand-alone mode are poor under the nonlinear critical load with the conventional control. The impact of the nonlinear load on the grid current is analyzed. The proposed control is illustrated in detail. By adding the load current into the filter inductor current loop, the influence of the nonlinear load on the grid current can be eliminated, and the waveform quality of the output voltage in stand-alone mode can be improved. The control method is simple and easy to be achieved. The grid-connected inverter is stable at both modes. The filter inductor is chosen. Simulation and experimental results from a 1-kW dual-buck full-bridge grid-interactive inverter with a diode rectifier load verify the theoretical analysis.

Control of Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters With Nonlinear Loads

Renewable energy sources, such as solar energy and fuel cells, are desirable due to their pollution-free properties. In order to utilize the present infrastructure of the utility grid for power transmission and distribution, grid-connected inverters are required for distributed generation systems, which should have high reliability. However, a shoot-through problem, which is a major deterrent to the reliability of the inverters, exists in the conventional bridge-type voltage-source inverters. In order to solve the aforementioned problem, this paper proposes a two-switch dual-buck grid-connected inverter. The freewheeling current flows through the independent diodes instead of the body diodes of the switches, so reverse-recovery loss of the diodes can be reduced. Half of the power devices operate in high frequency; the others switch at grid period with zero-current switching. Moreover, unipolar modulation is used. The operating principle, design guidelines and example, and stability analysis are provided. The proposed inverter can be simplified to a current amplifier with hysteresis current control, so it is globally stable. Simulation and experimental results verify the theoretical analysis and satisfy IEEE Std. 929-2000. A comparison of a full-bridge inverter and the proposed inverter shows that the proposed inverter is more attractive in high-reliability applications.

Two-Switch Dual-Buck Grid-Connected Inverter With Hysteresis Current Control

This paper presents a novel control strategy for series and parallel output dual-buck half-bridge inverters (DBHBIs). With the increasing concern of fossil fuel reserves and the environmental aspects, the 2005 International Future Energy Challenge, sponsored by U.S. the Department of Energy and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, required that the grid-connected inverter should provide a single-phase utility line with 110-240 V at either 50/60 Hz. The proposed series and parallel output DBHBI can produce those kinds of voltage by series or parallel connection of two inverters and with digital signal processor (DSP) control to meet the aforementioned specifications. The load current of the two inverters at parallel output association and the load voltage of both at series output association can be shared. The waveform quality of the whole output voltage is high at both associations. Stability and relative stability of the inverter are unaffected at the two output associations. Operating principle, control strategy, stability and relative stability, and design guidelines and examples are illustrated. Experimental results of a 1-kVA DSP-based series and parallel output DBHBI at stand-alone mode verify the theoretical analysis. The comparisons between single and double inverter structures show that the proposed inverter is very promising in applications.

Lan Xiao

Papers

Seamless Transfer of Single-Phase Grid-Interactive Inverters Between Grid-Connected and Stand-Alone Modes

Dual-Buck Full-Bridge Inverter With Hysteresis Current Control

Control of Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters With Nonlinear Loads

Two-Switch Dual-Buck Grid-Connected Inverter With Hysteresis Current Control

Control Strategy for Series and Parallel Output Dual-Buck Half Bridge Inverters Based on DSP Control