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Grid impedance is an important parameter which affects the control performance of grid-connected power converters. Several methods already exist for optimizing the converter control system based on knowledge of grid impedance value. Grid impedance may change rapidly due to fault or disconnection of a transmission line. Therefore, online grid identification methods have been recently proposed to have up-to-date information about the grid impedance value. This is usually done by perturbing the converter output current and measuring the response in output voltage. However, any parallel converters connected to the same interface point will cause errors, since the measured current differs from the current that is flowing through the grid interface point. This paper points out challenges and errors in grid impedance identification, caused by parallel converters and their internal control functions, such as grid-voltage support. Experimental grid-impedance measurements are shown from the power hardware-in-the-loop setup developed at DNV-GL Flexible Power Grid Lab.

Renewable energy-based generation of electrical energy is currently experiencing rapid growth in electrical grids [...]

Impedance-ratio-based interaction analyses in terms of stability and performance of DC-DC converters is well established. Similar methods are applied to grid-connected three-phase converters as well, but the multivariable nature of the converters and the grid makes these analyses very complex. This paper surveys the state of the interaction analyses in the grid-connected three-phase converters, which are used in renewable-energy applications. The surveys show clearly that the impedance-ratio-based stability assessment are usually performed neglecting the cross-couplings between the impedance elements for reducing the complexity of the analyses. In addition, the interactions, which affect the transient performance, are not treated usually at all due to the missing of the corresponding analytic formulations. This paper introduces the missing formulations as well as explicitly showing that the cross-couplings of the impedance elements have to be taken into account for the stability assessment to be valid. In addition, this paper shows that the most accurate stability information can be obtained by means of the determinant related to the associated multivariable impedance ratio. The theoretical findings are also validated by extensive experimental measurements.

AC microgrid is an attractive way to energize local loads due to remotely located renewable generation. The AC microgrid can conceptually comprise several grid-forming and grid-following power converters, renewable energy sources, energy storage and local loads. To study the microgrid dynamics, power-hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL)-based test setups are commonly used since they provide high flexibility and enable testing the performance of real converters. In a standard PHIL setup, different components of the AC microgrid exist as real commercial devices or electrical emulators or, alternatively, can be simulated using real-time simulators. For accurate, reliable and repeatable results, the PHIL-setup should be able to capture the dynamics of the microgrid loads and sources as accurately as possible. Several studies have shown how electrical machines, dynamic RLC loads, battery storages and photovoltaic and wind generators can be emulated in a PHIL setup. However, there are no studies discussing how a three-phase grid-following power converter with its internal control functions should be emulated, regardless of the fact that grid-following converters (e.g., photovoltaic and battery storage inverters) are the basic building blocks of AC microgrids. One could naturally use a real converter to represent such dynamic load. However, practical implementation of a real three-phase converter is much more challenging and requires special knowledge. To simplify the practical implementation of microgrid PHIL-studies, this paper demonstrates the use of a commercial high-bandwidth voltage amplifier as a dynamic three-phase power converter emulator. The dynamic performance of the PHIL setup is evaluated by identifying the small-signal impedance of the emulator with various control parameters and by time-domain step tests. The emulator is shown to yield the same impedance behavior as real three-phase converters. Thus, dynamic phenomena such as harmonic resonance in the AC microgrid can be studied in the presence of grid-following converters.

Voltage-type sources have dominated as an input source for power electronics converters for a long type. The existence of duality implies that there are also current-type sources. The growing application of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy has evidently shown that the current-type input sources exist in reality such as photovoltaic (PV) generator or the feedback technique used in controlling the power electronics converters in the renewable energy systems changes the power electronic converters to behaving as such. The recent research on renewable energy systems has indicated that the current-type input sources are very challenging input sources affecting the dynamics of the interfacing converters profoundly. This paper provides a comprehensive survey of the effects of the PV generator on the dynamic behavior of the corresponding interfacing power electronic converters.