Passive Island Detection Method Based on Positive Sequence Components for Grid-Connected Solar–Wind Hybrid Distributed Generation System

Abstract

This paper presents the development and practical implementation of a new passive island detection method for grid-connected hybrid distributed generating systems. The method employs positive sequence voltage and current components at the point of common coupling. The product of the difference in positive sequence voltage and the difference in positive sequence current is used to produce the Islanding Detection Index (IDI). Islanding is identified when the IDI magnitude surpasses a predefined threshold over a predefined delay time. Even in the case of a zero power mismatch condition, the proposed method can identify the islanding condition in under 70 msec. Its effectiveness is validated under various operating circumstances. It provides excellent stability against various non-islanding situations, avoiding unwanted tripping. The suggested method also has the advantages of being simple and inexpensive to implement, having no adverse effects on output power quality, not requiring a classifier, not being system-dependent, and working regardless of the quantity and type of distributed generation connected to the utility grid. The obtained detection timings were compared to those previously reported in the literature, confirming the proposed approach’s superiority. The suggested work utilizes the OPAL-RT real-time hardware-in-loop environment and MATLAB/Simulink.