Low voltage ride-through of two-stage grid-connected photovoltaic systems through the inherent linear power-voltage characteristic

Abstract

In this paper, a cost-effective control scheme for two-stage grid-connected PhotoVoltaic (PV) systems in Low Voltage Ride-Through (LVRT) operation is proposed. In the case of LVRT, the active power injection by PV panels should be limited to prevent from inverter over-current and also energy aggregation at the dc-link, which will challenge the dc-link capacitor lifetime if remains uncontrolled. At the same time, reactive currents should be injected upon any demand imposed by the system operators. In the proposed scheme, the two objectives can be feasibly achieved. The active power is regulated automatically through a proportional controller according to the voltage sag level and PV inherent characteristics (i.e., the voltage and power droop). Compared to prior-art LVRT schemes, the proposed method is cost-effective, as it is achieved by simply plugging the proportional controller into a maximum power point tracking controller without significant hardware or software modifications. In this way, the PV system will not operate at the maximum power point, whereas the inverter will not face any over-current challenge but can provide reactive power support in response to the grid voltage fault. Simulations have been performed on a 3-kW two-stage grid-connected single-phase PV system in the case of LVRT operation, where the results have verified the proposed control scheme in terms of fast dynamics and seamless operation mode transitions.