Synthesizing Averaged Virtual Oscillator Dynamics to Control Inverters with an Output LCL Filter

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new averaged virtual oscillator control method for islanded inverters with LCL filters, effectively managing output voltage, frequency, and power dispatch while avoiding switching harmonics.

Contribution

A novel averaged VOC dynamics model for inverters with output LCL filters, including a parameter design and power dispatch technique for improved control.

Findings

Effective regulation of voltage and frequency achieved.

Power dispatch method successfully manages active and reactive power.

Simulation validates control performance under load transients.

Abstract

In commercial inverters, an LCL filter is considered an integral part to filter out the switching harmonics and generate a sinusoidal output voltage. The existing literature on the averaged virtual oscillator controller (VOC) dynamics is for current feedback before the output LCL filter that contains the switching harmonics or for inductive filters ignoring the effect of filter capacitance. In this work, a new version of averaged VOC dynamics is presented for islanded inverters with current feedback after the LCL filter thus avoiding the switching harmonics going into the VOC. The embedded droop-characteristics within the averaged VOC dynamics are identified and a parameter design procedure is presented to regulate the output voltage magnitude and frequency according to the desired ac-performance specifications. Further, a power dispatch technique based on this newer version of averaged VOC dynamics is presented to simultaneously regulate both the active and reactive output power of two parallel-connected islanded inverters. The control laws are derived and a power security constraint is presented to determine the achievable power set-point. Simulation results for load transients and power dispatch validate the proposed version of averaged VOC dynamics.