skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: An approach for modeling self-commutated static power converters for photovoltaic islanding studies

Journal Article · · IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion; (USA)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1109/60.43241· OSTI ID:5622104
 [1]; ;  [2];  [3]
  1. General Electric Co., Schenectady, NY (USA). Systems Development and Engineering Dept.
  2. Southern Electric International, Birmingham, AL (USA)
  3. Auburn Univ., AL (USA). Dept. of Electrical Engineering

The safety of line crew personnel and others is a major concern of electric power utilities regarding the widespread use of grid-connected photo-volataic (PV) power sources. PV sources feed power back to a utility grid through Static Power Converters (SPC's), which are designed to shut down when disconnected from the grid. SPC's have been shown to continue to operate or run-on under certain conditions. A model for a commercially available self-commutated SPC is developed to investigate the conditions under which isolated operation (islanding) occurs. The approach used in modeling the SPC is unique in islanding studies. It is based on solving complex-ac system equations and Phase-Locked Loop differential equations simultaneously to determine the SPC response. The model accurately and optimistically predicts the islanding performance of the self-commutated SPC, as verified in laboratory experiments and detailed computer simulations.

OSTI ID:
5622104
Journal Information:
IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion; (USA), Vol. 4:3; ISSN 0885-8969
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English