2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

Unbalanced Faults Analysis in Grid – Connected PV

System
Listhianne Willy Anak Badi Zuhaina Zakaria Atiqah Hamizah Mohd Nordin Rijalul Fahmi Mustapa
Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknolgi MARA Universiti Teknolgi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA
Shah Alam Selangor Shah Alam Selangor Cawangan Johor Cawangan Johor
[email protected] [email protected] Kampus Pasir Gudang Kampus Pasir Gudang
Masai, Johor Masai, Johor
[email protected] [email protected]

commonly used in grid system. PV generating systems can

Abstract— A search for replacement of non–renewable energy
be categorized as stand-alone, grid-connected and hybrid
leads to a new founding that is renewable energy which is unlimited
energy source. One of the renewable energy is solar energy where system. Nowadays, due to the total volumes of PV required
photovoltaic (PV) array is used to convert the energy from the sun in a related network system (grid), the prominence use of PV
to electrical energy. PV is widely use in the grid–connected system in the grid system is still being carried on, making them far
nowadays. Since the founding of this method, the technology of more important than a stand-alone system. The stand-alone
extracting solar energy from photovoltaic array into grid network PV system is commonly used in rural and isolated area where
system has been growing rapidly. However, with the best utility grid is out of reach. A grid system as in the electrical
installation method the photovoltaic system could not guarantee the grid is an interconnected network, consists of generating
system is immune to fault and its effects. The existence of fault in power stations that produce electrical power before transmit
the grid system may cause a drop in the outputs and will drop even
the power through a high–voltage transmission lines from
lower with penetration of photovoltaic devices in the system. This
paper presents the effects of faults penetration inside the grid– distant sources to substations that link the power via
connected PV system with three unbalanced faults being tested for distribution lines to consumers. When it comes to grid–
this purpose and compare the results obtained. To observe the connected PV system, it is a system with array–arranged PV
effects of these faults, a model of grid–connected PV system is built modules that represent the elemental power conversion unit
using MATLAB® 2009/Simulink with the help of Simscape and of a PV generator system [2], cascade with a DC/DC booster
SimPowerSystems toolboxes. First, a PV system is developed in that helps in stepping up and regulating the DC voltage
order to make the photovoltaic sourcing the system using a solar produced by PV system before crossing point to the
cell lumped with 70 others cell to make a PV module. With the help DC/AC inverter that then send the inverted voltage to the
of a booster, the PV system voltage output is regulated and linked to
grid through the application of transformers in between. The
a three–phase inverter circuit. Step-up transformers then are placed
at the end of the inverter to replicate real–life utility. Lastly, faults diagram of the grid– connected PV system can be shown in
are injected to the connection of inverter and the second Fig. 1. The output characteristics produced by the PV array
transformer of the end of the system is observed for any changes in such as the current–voltage (I–V) and the power–voltage (P–
the voltage magnitude and waveform. V) characteristic curves are so much depends usually on two
Keywords— Photovoltaic; PV cell equivalent circuit; variables: the solar irradiance and the module temperature
Matlab®/Simulink; Grid-Connected Photovoltaic System; DC/DC [2]. Since the dependency of PV output towards these two
booster;Three–phase DC/AC inverter; Step–up transformer; variables, the output characteristics produced are non–linear.
Unbalanced faults Hence, a control system is needed in order to regulate a
constant dc voltage from the PV output before allows it to
I. INTRODUCTION interface to the inverter for exchanging of form. This is
where DC/DC booster works to solve the unregulated
Growing distress over the environmental issues plus voltage.
hesitant amount of energy supplies left with the increment Even though grid-connected PV system is one of the
price of fuels led to a new approach of producing energy best ways to produce electricity, this s y s t e m cannot
supplies to communities. Solar energy is one of the most escape from the nature of fault occurrences. For as long as
reliable forms of renewable energy and takes the second there is energy, there will always be fault. No matter how
place in the fastest growing energy source used so far [1]. perfect the system is built, if fault occurs accidentally in the
One of the method of generating electrical power system, the system will be fatal. In a grid–connected PV
from solar energy is photovoltaic (PV). Photovoltaic; system, fault may happen anywhere in any parts of the
the word itself already means light (photo) and electricity system and as the PV array is connected in series with the
(voltaic) in Greek, is a direct conversion of light and what grid network, any parts in the system that affected by fault
can be known as the sun rays into electricity and now will generally affect the whole system. The fault condition

978-1-4799-7297-5/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE 360

 2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

occurs when the voltage level of the DC side is lower than array modeling, but also because of its good compromise
the required DC input value. When fault happens in the between simplicity and accuracy [3].
inverter connected energy system, the output current of the
inverter becomes irregular in shape.
Hence, this paper aims to analyze the effects of fault
penetration inside the grid–connected PV system. The grid–
connected PV system consists of three stages of voltage: first,
the 415V then the 11kV and lastly the 33kV. Various fault
condition is applied to the first stage of the grid– network and
the implication to this will be observed at the third stage that
is the 33kV part. To conduct this, a simulation was performed
using MATLAB®/Simulink software with PV system act as Fig. 3: Photovoltaic equivalent circuit
the main source that ends at the 33kV load. The grid-connected
PV system proposed in this paper is built using solar cells ⎡ ⎛ V + Rs I ⎞ ⎤
connected together to become a module, and a few of modules I = I ph − I o ⎢exp⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − 1⎥ (1)
is then arranged together as array. Since solar cell block is ⎣ ⎝ ( N s kTa ) / q ⎠ ⎦
located inside a different section in the MATLAB®/Simulink
library, converters are used to change the unit-less voltage and Where, Iph is the photocurrent, Io is the diode saturation
current signals into something of use to the proposed grid- current,(NskT)/q is a thermal voltage of the array, Vt,
network system which consists of Ns that represents number of cells in
series, q=1.6 x10 -19 C stands for the electron charge, k
meanwhile is the Boltzmann’s constant, 1.38 x 10-23 J/K, a
represents the diode ideal factor, Rs and Rp are the
series and parallel resistance respectively. The
photocurrent, Iph influenced by solar irradiance and
temperature [3-4] can be calculated as in Equation (2):

Fig 1. Grid Connected PV System

λ
I ph =
1000
[I scr ]
+ γ I sc (T − Tr ) (2)
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTIPON

A. PV Array Where, Iscr is the short–circuit current at STC (25°C and

The PV system is developed using a single solar cell that 1000 W/m2), Isc is the short–circuit current temperature
combines into larger units (71 series cells) to make up a PV coefficient, λ is the solar irradiance at 1000 W/m 2. The
module as in Fig. 2. diode saturation current meanwhile changes with the change
of the cell temperature [3-4] based on Equation (3)

3
⎛T ⎞ ⎡ qE ⎛ 1 1 ⎞⎤
I o = I rs ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ exp ⎢ g ⎜⎜ − ⎟⎟⎥ (3)
⎝ Tr ⎠ ⎣ ak ⎝ Tr T ⎠⎦
Fig. 2. Solar cell symbol Where, Irs is the reverse saturation current at a reference
temperature and irradiance, T r and T are the 298K reference
Modelling of PV cell engages with the production of I– temperature, and the operating temperature in K
V and P–V characteristics curves with the output depends respectively, E g = 1.13 eV is the band energy gap of the
on (1-4). The parallel–series connection of the solar cells is
semiconductor used in the cell. Reverse saturation current Irs
based on manufacturer’s characteristics with other
can be expressed as in Equation (4)
parameters values have been displayed in the
manufacturer’s datasheet as in Table 1. With the
improvement of MATLAB® software, this solar cell need I scr
I rs = (4)
not to be designed from few functions as the 2009 version ⎡ ⎛ Voc q ⎞⎤
of MATLAB® now contains an already–masked solar cell ⎢exp⎜⎜ ⎟⎟⎥ − 1
block which implement all the parameters represented in ⎣ ⎝ N s kTa ⎠⎦
Equation (1) based on the single-diode PV cell equivalent
circuit in Fig. 3. The single-diode model is considered in With Voc represents the PV cell open–circuit voltage.
this study not only because it has been used widely in PV

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 2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

C. DC/AC Inverter
TABLE I : BBOXX 250W SOLAR MODULE DATASHEET
Inverter is a fixed power converter that converts DC output
Parameters Value voltage of PV system into AC output voltage. It is the essential
part in grid–connected PV system as inverter will convert DC
Open – circuit voltage (Voc) 42.3 V
voltage obtained from PV array to AC voltage required for
Short – circuit current (Isc) 7.95A
Maximum power voltage (Vmp) 34.5V distribution to network system and consumer. Inverter may be
Maximum power current(Imp) 7.10A
classified into few groups based on the phase, the methods of
Maximum power (Pmax) 250W commutation and also types of PV system. As this paper
Temperature coefficient of Isc (
implement a grid–connected PV system, a three–phase grid-
sc) 0.05%/°C
inverter is employed. This three– phase inverter is responsible
Temperature coefficient of Voc ( oc) -0.34%/°C
to output a 415V and synchronize the PV system with the grid.
It shows that the 415V is directed from a PV system connected
B. DC/DC Booster to a consumer’s network. Fig. 5 shows the connection of a
An increase of solar irradiance will increase PV array basic three–phase inverter with the use of Pulse Width
output current while an increase of module temperature will Modulation, PWM technique as the pulse controller.PWM
decrease PV array output voltage. Thus, PV array output technique is used at each transistor to control the AC output
power greatly depends on solar irradiance and module voltage by altering the ON and OFF periods of the
temperature parameters. As these two environmental semiconductors; in other words, it generates switching pulse at
parameters could change drastically at any time with the the gate terminals of each transistor [5]. Inverter benefits from
presence of cloud, rain, shadow etc., it is difficult to obtain a the implementation of PWM at each transistor as they remove
constant and high voltage output used for direct–current the lower order harmonics. Meanwhile, six Insulated Gate
(DC) inversion. Hence, a booster is employed for this system Bipolar Transistors, IGBTs are used to in order to obtain a
to regulate and convert the low DC voltage to high DC 415V and to produce a phase voltage. The application of IGBT
voltage fitting the needs to gain desired AC voltage from in the inverter provides a better voltage–controlled, high
switching speed as well as low ON–state losses [6].The six
inverter later. From Fig. 4, a booster consists of inductor and
transistors are controlled by six gate signals named D1, D2,
capacitor plus MOSFET that acts as the switch with resistor
D3, D4, D5 and D6 respectively. The inverter here has six
to represent constant load. switching modes in one line frequency [7] with 120°
When the switch is ON, the inductor begins to charge conduction mode for each pulse. The upper transistors have
taking energy from input voltage, Vin. The diode is OFF and phase–shift of 120° from each other [8] so does the lower
the output voltage, Vo is being provided entirely by the transistors with 180° difference for the lower transistor with the
capacitor having a delay caused by the capacitor as it upper transistor. For the ωt = 0 s, D1 and D6 conduct or turn
discharges through the resistor. When the switch turns OFF, ON leaving D4 and D3 turned OFF. At this time D5 and D2
the inductor’s magnetic field begins to breakdown. The perform PWM. For ωt = 3.33 ms, D1 still conduct due to the
field generates current and reverses the polarity of the 120° conduction, D2 turn ON and D3 and D6 perform the
inductor’s voltage (– to +). This voltage then combine with PWM. For ωt = 6.66 ms, D2 still ON, D3 conduct and D1
input voltage, Vin hence produce a higher voltage than the along with D4 perform the PWM. As for ωt = 0.01 s, D4
input source alone. Thanks to the fly–back voltage by conduct in the opposite direction, D3 conduct still as the third
inductor, the output has been boosted above the input phase perform PWM. This process continues until all the
voltage. This voltage forward–biased the diode, allows switch conduct according to its trigger time. All the conduction
current to flow onto the capacitor to recharge it. Through process is the same except that they are shifted by 120°.
the duty cycle implemented into the switch alters the time
that the inductor can charge. This then sets the output
voltage. Since the transistor is a low side switch, an n-
channel’s MOSFET is a good choice because it provides
speed needed to charge and discharge the gate quickly.

Fig. 5. Three – phase inverter equivalent circuit using PWM technique

Fig. 4. Booster equivalent circuit

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 2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

D. Transformer
The operation of grid–connected PV system starts from
PV array until the transmission lines of 33 kV. It is crucial
to ensure that the output voltage that to be transferred to the
grid is high enough to enable the system to be synchronized
to the grid. This high voltage needed is depend on the
capability of the PV array to produce a suitable DC output
voltage with the help of boost converter or booster to
increase DC voltage to an appropriate level with the
involvement of inverter in converting to the AC voltage and Fig. 7: Faults location and voltage measurements
a transformer in the end to gain a desired high voltage and
also for isolation purpose. III. SIMULATION RESULTS OF PV
As the grid–connected PV system modelled in this
The PV array model was simulated with reference to the
paper imitates the real network system outside, a 415 V manufacturer’s datasheet where the detail of parameters are
cannot directly being step–up to 33 kV. Hence, two listed in Table I. The I–V and P–V characteristics curves of the
transformers are used for this mean. Three–phase respective PV array are obtained from the simulation test are
transformers are required to step–up voltages in the two shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 with three different solar irradiance
stages of power transmission that is the 11 kV stage and the (400 W/m2, 600 W/m2 and 1000 W/m2 ) to validate the
33 kV. The primary and secondary windings of the developed PV array model to give the same characteristics
transformer may be connected in either way preferable to curves as what the manufacturer’s datasheet provided. By
obtain the desired output [8]. Fig. 6 shows ways to comparing I–V curve and P–V curve of the simulation to the
configure three–phase transformer in power system. Several manufacturer’s, it seems that both simulation curves give
studies in [10] [11] shows the effect of transformer similar curves as the manufacturer’s.
configuration windings with respect to the propagation of
faulted voltage.

(a)

(b)
Fig. 6: Three – phase transformer configurations

E. Faults
Faults can be categorized into two types: three–phase
balanced faults and unbalanced faults. Three–phase balanced
faults is defined as the instantaneous short circuit across the
three–phases [9]. Though it seldom occurs, it is the most
severe fault ever. Unbalanced fault on the other hand consist
of single line–to ground fault, double line–to–ground fault and
double line fault. The types itself already define what (c)
unbalanced faults mean. Hypothesis test have been done in Fig. 8: I-V curve characteristics (Y-axis = current [A], X-axis = voltage [V])
[12] to classify fault types from monitored data. To see the with solar irradiance of (a) 400 W/m2 (b) 600 W/m2 (c) 1000 W/m2
consequences of faults penetration in the system, three of
these unbalanced faults are implemented respectively at Bus
1and observations are made at Bus 3 as shown in Fig. 7.

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 2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

secondary output transformer (33kV) is only experiencing

minimal sag and swell voltage.

TABLE II
PHASE VOLTAGE DURING SINGLE LINE – TO–GROUND FAULT
CONDITION

Faulted Phase Voltage magnitude(kV)

Phase A Phase B Phase C
Phase A 32.784 32.767 35.111
Phase B 33.772 33.793 36.176
Phase C 34.217 33.553 36.648
(a)
B. Double Line to Ground Fault
Double line-to-ground fault was simulated at the same
location and the voltage at secondary 11/33kV transformer
were measured. Fault time was set for a total duration of 0.4
seconds, which starts at 0.4 s and end at 0.8 s. at two lines
connected to ground. The behavior fault will creates a
critical stress with all of them having no voltage at all before
peak–rise and slowly decreases to normal operation
magnitudes.
(b) The values of the phase voltages during double line–to–
ground fault are given in the Table III. The results in Table
III shows that the propagated faulted voltage will create a
severe voltage swell at and minimal voltage sag if faulted
phase were simulated at phase BC.

TABLE III
PHASE VOLTAGE DURING DOUBLE LINE – TO – GROUND
FAULT CONDITION

Faulted Phase Voltage magnitude(kV)

Phase A Phase B Phase C
Phase AB 33.220 33.210 35.572
(c) Phase BC 56.993 56.833 60.934
Fig. 9: P-V curve characteristics (Y-axis = power [W], X-axis = voltage [V]) Phase CA 33.110 33.305 35.671
with solar irradiance of (a) 400 W/m2 (b) 600 W/m2 (c) 1000 W/m2

C. Double Line to Fault

IV. FAULT ANALYSIS Fault across two lines without grounding were simulated to
see its severity. Same as previous fault were simulated at
After obtained the right values for grid–connected PV
0.415/11 kV lines and being observed at the secondary
system, fault is implemented and the result was tabulated to
see if it gives any changes to the final voltage waveform. 11/33kV transformer windings. All three phases of 33 kV are
Three faults are tested, three phases are applied with the observed and being recorded with each two phases being
faults and nine different results were obtained. These faults tested respectively as in The values of the phase voltages
will be compared with each other to see which effects more the during double line fault are given in the Table IV. Results
grid–connected PV system. shows that voltage swell occurs at phase C where as other
phases doesn’t affected by the fault.
A. Single Line to Ground Fault
TABLE IV
A single line–to ground fault was simulated in – PHASE VOLTAGE DURING DOUBLE LINE FAULT CONDITION
between inverter and 0.415/11 kV transformer and the
propagated faulted voltage at 33 kV transformer have been Fault location
tabulated in Table II. Fault time was set for a total duration Voltage magnitude(kV)
of 0.4 seconds, which starts at 0.4 s and end at 0.8 s. Phase A Phase B Phase C
Voltage measurements were measured at phase value. Phase AB 33.248 33.239 35.601
Single line to ground fault was simulated at different phases Phase BC 33.118 33.108 35.464
one at a time. The propagated faulted at the secondary Phase CA 33.440 33.436 35.810
11/33kV transformer shows that every phase was affected
by fault simulated but the measured voltage shows that the

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 2014 IEEE International Conference Power & Energy (PECON)

V. CONCLUSION ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This paper implements the utilization of photovoltaic The authors would like to thank Universiti Teknologi
(PV) array as the main source of the grid system. Along MARA cawangan Johor for providing the financial assistant.
with DC/DC booster and DC/AC inverter plus two stepped–
up transformer, the system act as the complete grid– REFERENCES
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