Distributed Control for DC Microgrid Based on Optimized Droop Parameters

ABSTRACT

The droop control approach is widely used in case of parallel operation of DC sources. The conventional droop control method is realized by linearly reducing the load voltage as the load current increases. This droop control is unable to achieve effective equal load sharing as well as the bus voltage regulation. The load sharing error is enhanced when cable line parameters of parallel-connected DC sources are not equal. The droop gain and nominal voltage reference of source converters are the key parameters to achieve the bus voltage deviation within the permissible limits and effective load sharing. In this paper, the droop parameters of the proposed distributed control scheme are optimized with the help of the Particle Swarm Optimization technique for the aforementioned control objectives of the DC microgrid for unequal cable line resistances. The performance of the proposed control scheme based on optimal droop parameters is verified through MATLAB/Simulink environment and validated by a hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulator based on the dSPACE 1202 platform.

KEYWORDS:

• Bus voltage regulation
• Distributed control
• Droop control
• Equal load sharing
• PSO

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shivam

Shivam received the BTech degree in electrical engineering from B C Roy Engineering College, West Bengal University of Technology, Durgapur, West Bengal, India, in 2009, the MTech degree from the National Institute of Technology Warangal, Warangal, India, in 2011. He is currently assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and pursuing the PhD degree in electrical engineering at the Department at National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra. His research interests include microgrid control and electrical power distribution system.

Ratna Dahiya

Ratna Dahiya received the BE degree in electrical engineering from G B Pant University, Pantnagar, Nainital, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1982, the MTech degree from the REC (National Institute of Technology (NIT)) Kurukshetra, India, in 1985, and the PhD degree from the Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India, in 2002. Currently, she is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, NIT Kurukshetra. Her research interests include power system, FACTs, and electrical power distribution system. Email: [email protected]