Optimal Design for Distributed Secondary Voltage Control in Islanded Microgrids: Communication Topology and Controller

Abstract

This paper proposes an optimal design algorithm for distributed secondary voltage control in islanded microgrids (MGs), including communication topology and controller gains. First, upon the consensus-based secondary voltage control, the sufficient condition for network connectivity of communication topology is revealed by the reachability matrix. A multi-objective optimization criterion is first proposed for the network design, taking the convergence performance, network-relevant time delays, and communication costs into consideration. After obtaining the Pareto frontier of this multi-objective model, an optimal network is selected to meet the practical requirements. Based on static output feedback, a small-signal dynamic model of an MG installed with a secondary voltage controller is established, where the distributed secondary voltage controller can be converted into an equivalent decentralized controller. Thereby, a linear quadratic regulator is formulated for the near-optimal design of controller parameters. Our approach customizes the optimal design framework of the topology and controller, which have been largely ignored in the existing literatures. Therefore, it promises to improve the performance of distributed secondary control. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is verified by a simulation study.