Harmonic characteristics and control strategies of grid-connected photovoltaic inverters under weak grid conditions

• Published in: International journal of electrical power & energy systems Vol. 142; p. 108280
• Main Authors: Zhao, Ensheng, Han, Yang, Lin, Xiangyang, Liu, Enping, Yang, Ping, Zalhaf, Amr S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2022
• Subjects: Control strategy; Harmonic characteristics; Impedance modeling; Photovoltaic; Weak grid; Impedance modeling; Weak grid; Photovoltaic; Harmonic characteristics; Control strategy
• ISSN: 0142-0615; 1879-3517
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijepes.2022.108280

•Based on impedance model of two-stage PV inverter in frequency domain, the passive equivalent impedance network of PV inverter connected to power grid is built.•The harmonic amplifying characteristic curve of PCC in full frequency range is established, and the influence of inverter parameters, reactive power compensation device and distributed transmission line model on harmonic characteristics is deeply analyzed.•A harmonic mitigation control strategy with superimposed multi-current resonance controllers and active damping controllers in synchronous rotating coordinate system is proposed, and the effectiveness of this control strategy is verified by simulation.
To investigate the harmonic characteristics of a photovoltaic (PV) system connected to the weak grid, a passive impedance network is constructed using the impedance model of a PV inverter in the positive and negative sequence coordinate system. By analyzing the series resonance of the impedance network, the amplification coefficient of the harmonic voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) is obtained. In addition, the effects of different PV inverter parameters, different reactive power compensation capacities, and different lengths of distributed transmission lines on the harmonic amplification are analyzed in detail. To solve the problem that the output harmonics exceed the standard under the background harmonic condition of the weak grid, a harmonic mitigation control strategy is implemented. This strategy is designed based on multiple resonant current controllers and active damping feedback to improve the ability of the PV inverter to suppress harmonics under the grid background harmonic conditions. The effectiveness of the harmonic mitigation control strategy is demonstrated by the simulation example of the inverter connected to the grid with symmetric and asymmetric background harmonics, respectively.