Design and Implementation of an Embedded Control System for the Interconnection of a DC Microgrid to the AC Main Network

Abstract

This paper presents the design of an embedded control system and its implementation on a DC-AC bidirectional converter for the interconnection of a DC Microgrid (MG) with the AC Main Network (MN). This control system was designed in LabVIEW and implemented on the NI myRIO platform, and it was used for the synchronization of the MG with the MN. Its main goal is to keep the stability of the DC bus when energy is supplied to or extracted from the MN. The MG is composed of two 500 W photovoltaic panel arrays (PAs), each with a Boost DC-DC converter to generate a DC bus of 190 V, and a DC-AC bidirectional converter that interconnects the MG with the MN. The control system was tested considering nonl-inear loads such as computers, commercial fluorescent lamps, and LED, with the aim to analyze the response of the system to real life conditions. Results show that the embedded control system is capable to stabilize the DC bus at a voltage level of 190 V ± 5% when interacting with the different non-linear loads connected to the MG. This is an improvement on the control of the voltage variation previously presented in the literature of 190 V ± 10%.

Keywords:

• DC Microgrid
• embedded control
• photovoltaic panel
• bidirectional converter
• DC bus
• SOGI-FLL algorithm
• LabVIEW
• NI myRIO
• non-linear loads
• AC main network

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge to PRODEP, TecNM, and the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACyT, Mexico) under the SNI program for financial support.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Juan J. Martínez-Nolasco

Juan J. Martínez-Nolasco received his B.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Technological Institute of Guzman City, Jalisco, Mexico, in 2007; M.S. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Technological Institute of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2009; and a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the Technological Institute of Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2018. He is currently teacher and researcher in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Technological Institute of Celaya, his research interests include intelligent control, direct current microgrids and applications of fuzzy logic control.

Sergio Cano-Andrade

Sergio Cano-Andrade received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2007 and 2008, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2014. He is currently an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Universidad de Guanajuato, Mexico. Sergio is a life member of Tau Beta Pi - The Engineering Honor Society. His research interests include computational methods for modeling and optimizing power networks and complex energy systems with and without sustainability considerations, computational and experimental analysis of renewable energy technologies, and theoretical and applied thermodynamics (equilibrium, non-equilibrium, and quantum).

José A. Padilla-Medina

José A. Padilla Medina received the Doctorate degree in science (Optics), Centro de Investigaciones en Óptica, 2002. He is currently teacher and researcher in the Department of Electronics Engineering, Technological Institute of Celaya, his research interests include Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) theory, visual perception, applications of fuzzy logic and digital images processing.

Coral Martinez-Nolasco

Coral Martinez-Nolasco obtained her degree in Electronic Engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, Mexico, in 2009, and the Master of Science degree in Electronics Engineering at the Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, in 2011, working in the area of digital signal processing. Currently, she is a PhD student in Engineering Sciences at the Instituto Tecnológico de Celaya, in the area of electronic technologies. Her research interests include biotechnology, digital image processing and instrumentation and control applications.

Alejandro I. Barranco-Gutiérrez

Alejandro I. Barranco-Gutiérrez is a Telematics Engineer graduated from the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). He holds a Master and Doctor degrees in Advanced Technology at the CICATA of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Also, he did a post-doctorate in stereoscopic vision at Instituto Tecnológico de La Paz, B.C., Mexico. Currently Works for Cátedras CONACyT at TecNM in Celaya in Guanajuato, Mexico. His research lines are computer vision, artificial intelligence and electronics.

Francisco J. Pérez-Pinal

Francisco J. Pérez-Pinal received the M.Sc. degree jointly from the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., and the University of Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K., in 2002 and the Ph.D. degree from the University of San Luis Potosi, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in 2008, all in electrical engineering. He is a Professor with the Department of Electronic Engineering, Instituto Tecnologico de Celaya, Celaya, Mexico. His research interests include power electronics, energy conversion systems and transportation electrification.