2023 IEEE 14th International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems

Coordinated Control Method for Low Voltage Ride

2023 IEEE 14th International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) | 979-8-3503-2823-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/PEDG56097.2023.10215252

through and Anti-islanding Protection of Distributed

PV Generation Based on Interharmonic Impedance
Zhenhao Song Zhipeng Lv Huaidong Yan
State Grid Shanghai Energy Internet State Grid Shanghai Energy Internet Yancheng Power Supply Branch of Jiangsu
Research Institute Research Institute Electric Power Co, Ltd
Shanghai, China Shanghai, China Jiangsu, China
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Jingjing Bai Shan Zhou

Yancheng Power Supply Branch State Grid Shanghai Energy
of Jiangsu Electric Power Co, Ltd Internet Research Institute
Jiangsu, China Shanghai, China
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract—As the proportion of distributed PV interconnected Fig. 1 shows the requirements of LVRT and anti-islanding
into receiving-end grid increases, the structure and operation protection in Chinese standard GB/T 33593-2017. As for LVRT,
mode of the traditional grid will undergo crucial variations, and when the voltage is lower than 90% of the rated value, the
the safe and stable operation of grid will have been impacted. distributed photovoltaic generation system need inject reactive
However, there are conflicts and couplings in time between low current within 30ms to support the recovery of grid voltage.
voltage ride through and anti-islanding protection according to However, anti-islanding protection requires that the distributed
the grid-connected code, so that it is difficult to combine low photovoltaic generation system should be shut down from the
voltage ride through and anti-islanding protection in terms of time grid within 2 seconds after it is in an island state to ensure the
and structure. Therefore, this paper proposes a coordinated safety of the grid and personnel [6]. There are conflicts and
control method based on inter harmonic impedance. This method
couplings in time betweet LVRT and anti-islanding protection.
can accurately and quickly distinguish fault state and island state,
When the distributed photovoltaic generation system is in an
and then perform corresponding low voltage ride through and
anti-islanding protection. Finally, availability of the proposed
island state, it is meaningless to accomplish LVRT operations,
method was verified according to simulation. and it will cause damage to equipment and personnel [7].
Conversely, when the grid is fails, the shutdown operation of the
Keywords—distributed PV generation, low voltage ride through, distributed photovoltaic generation system will not be able to
anti-islanding protection, interharmonic impedance, coordinated meet the requirements of low voltage ride through [8]-[10].
control Therefore, it is necessary to accurately and quickly distinguish
fault state and island state within 30ms, and carry out
I. INTRODUCTION coordinated control strategies for low voltage ride through and
With the outbreak of the energy crisis and the increasingly anti-islanding protection to protect the safety of personnel and
serious environmental problems, the exploitation and utilization equipment.
of renewable energy has become the essential point of energy 1.0 time coupling
strategic transformation among the world nations [1]. As the
proportion of distributed PV interconnected into receiving-end Inject reactive current Island detection
grid increases, the structure and operation mode of the 0.8 within 30ms within 2s
traditional grid will undergo crucial variations, and the safe and
stable operation of the grid will have been impacted [2]. In order 0.6
Ride through zone
to improve stability of receiving-end grid that high-proportion
distributed PV interconnected into, IEEE and Chinese GB/T anti-islanding
0.4
standard both stipulate that the large-capacity inverter must have Protection
the function of low voltage ride through (LVRT) and anti-island
protection [3]-[5]. 0.2 Shall trip zone

This work is supported by the project of State Grid Corporation of China

‘Research on the technique for analyzing and improving adaptability of high- 0
0 0.15 0.625 1 2 3
proportion distributed PV interconnected into receiving-end grid’ (No. Time(s)
SGJSYC00KHJS2100402). Fig. 1. Low voltage ride through and anti-islanding protection standards.

979-8-3503-2823-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE 1132

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 This paper analyzes the characteristic of electrical quantities
  1  
and output impedance for distributed PV generation system in P = PDG   − 1
2 
fault state and island state. On this basis, a coordinated control    (1 + U )  
method based on interharmonic impedance is proposed. The  ()
proposed method consists of two parts, which are the fault and 
2
U PCC   f2 
 Q =  1 −  2 
islanding cooperative control technology based on sequential  2πfL   ( f + f )  

logic control, and fault and islanding discrimination method
based on interharmonic impedance. According to the above analysis, the change of PCC voltage
is only related to the active power mismatch degree ΔP, and the
II. CHARACTERISTIC ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTED
change of PCC frequency is only related to the reactive power
PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM IN FAULT STATE AND ISLAND STATE mismatch degree ΔQ. When the grid-connected inverter
A. Characteristic Analysis of Electrical Quantity in Fault operates according to unit power factor, and the local load
State and Islanding State under Different Power Balance contains LC components, reactive power is exchanged between
Conditions the grid and the local LC load before the island occurs.
The simplified grid connection structure is shown in Fig. 2. B. Analysis of Output Impedance Characteristics
The grid structure of distributed PV power is different from that From the photovoltaic distributed power supply to the grid
of isolated island operation, so the impedance at the common side, when the fault runs, the equivalent impedance of PCC is
coupling point also changes. the parallel connection between the local load impedance and
PDG+jQ DG
the grid impedance, namely Z1//Zg. The specific impedance
PGrid+jQ Grid expression is:

PCC Rg Lg  g U PCC ( s ) Z1 ( s ) Z g ( s )
Grid  Z PCC ( s ) = =
 I PCC ( s ) Z1 ( s ) + Z g ( s)
 sRL ()
PLoad+jQ Load  Z1 ( s ) = 2
 s RLC + sL + R
C R L
 Z g ( s ) = sLg + Rg

where Zgpcc(s) represent equivalent impedance at PCC during

grid-connected operation, Z1(s) represent impedance value of
RLC type local load, s is the Laplace operator.
Fig. 2. Simplified grid structure diagram.
Considering that sLg<<1 near the power frequency, the
where PLoad and QLoad represent active and reactive power equivalent impedance can be simplified as:
consumed by a load; PDG and QDG represent active and reactive
power of the inverter; and PGrid and QGrid represent active and Lg
reactive power delivered by the grid. s2 +s
Rg
Z g
(s)  ()
When the system is isolated, the active and reactive power PCC
1 1 1
consumed on the load is given, as follows s 2C + s( + ) +
Rg R L

 2
U PCC Set M=1/Rg+1/R, N=1/L, P=Lg/Rg, usually M>2, N>>1, P<1.
 PLoad = PDG = Then there is:
 R
 ()
Q 1
= QDG = U PCC
2
( − 2πfC )
 Load 2πfL  1 +  2 P2
| Z ( j ) |= ()
( N −  2C )2 + M 2 2
where UPCC represent the point of common coupling (PCC)
voltage. According to the analysis of the amplitude-frequency
formula, when the angular frequency is equal to the angular
If the power sent by the grid is not 0 before the island occurs, frequency of the system, the trend of the amplitude-frequency
then the voltage and frequency of PCC will be offset after the curve changes. In general, the resonant frequency is greater than
island occurs. It is assumed that the inverter operates per unit the power frequency to prevent the resonance from having an
power factor, and the output active power is a constant value and impact on the power grid. At this time, the amplitude of the
the reactive power is 0. The power mismatch degree is measured equivalent impedance shows an increasing trend. In the case of
by the power variation before and after the island, then the voltage drop in the fault state, the amplitude-frequency formula
formula of active power mismatch degree and reactive power of the equivalent impedance is the same as that in normal grid-
mismatch degree is: connected operation, except that the frequency will have a large

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 instantaneous change in the case of voltage drop, so the Step 2: If it is determined to be in grid fault operation mode,
equivalent impedance in the case of fault will also increase proceed to Step 3; If the distributed photovoltaic power
instantaneously. However, after the system reaches steady state, generation system is determined to be in islanding operation
the impedance characteristics will return to the value of normal state, proceed to Step 4.
grid-connected operation.
Step 3: Determine whether to perform fault mode based on
0.6 voltage and frequency. If implementing fault mode, it is
Impedance(Ω)

0.4 necessary to adjust the reactive power output based on the

degree of voltage change to provide support for PCC voltage
0.2 during transient operation. Besides, determine whether the
0 voltage and frequency have reached the normal operating range
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Time(s) within the allowable maximum fault operation time limit.
Fig. 3. Impedance characteristics of fault state. Step 4: Determine whether the system composed of
distributed photovoltaic power sources and local loads satisfies
The impedance characteristics in the case of voltage sag are the conditions for island operation. If the generation capacity of
shown in Fig. 3. The impedance characteristics increase rapidly distributed photovoltaic power sources matches the demand of
at the time of failure and eventually recover to the initial value. the load, it can enter islanding operation under the premise of
0.6
allowing islanding. Otherwise, the distributed photovoltaic
Impedance(Ω)

power generation will be directly disconnected.

0.4
Abnormal grid
0.2 connection
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Time(s)
Determine the operating Fault
Fig. 4. Impedance characteristics of isolated island operation status within 30ms

The impedance characteristics of island operation are shown Islanding

in Fig. 4. When power grid island occurs, the output impedance
of PCC changes from the impedance value in normal operation Anti-islanding N Whether the islanding
to the impedance value in island operation, and the change is protection operation conditions are
continuous during the island period. satisfied
Y

III. COORDINATED CONTROL METHOD FOR LOW VOLTAGE RIDE Islanding operation
THROUGH AND ANTI-ISLANDING PROTECTION BASED ON
INTERHARMONIC IMPEDANCE
From the analysis in the Section II, there may exist coupling Y Whether the fault has
between distributed photovoltaic power generation LVRT and Resume operation
recovered
anti-islanding protection control. Therefore, a coordinated
control strategy for LVRT and anti-islanding protection in N
distributed photovoltaic power generation is proposed in this N Is it located in the
Disconnection
section. LVRT zone

A. Fault and Islanding Cooperative Control Method Based Y

on Sequential Logic
LVRT
The national standard GB/T 19964-2012 provides specific
LVRT standards. When the voltage drops to 90%, the grid
connected equipment needs to maintain grid connection for 2
seconds. When the voltage is below 90% of the rated value, the Fig. 5. The specific flowchart of temporal logic control
grid connected system should emit reactive power within 30 ms
to support the recovery of grid voltage. However, the grid B. Fault and Islanding Discrimination Method Based on
connection criteria require that the new energy grid connected Interharmonic Impedance
power generation system be accurately detected within 2 From the above analysis, determining the operating status of
seconds after being in an islanding state, and then shut down to the system is an important step. The impedance variation
ensure the safety of the power grid. Therefore, LVRT and anti- characteristics between islanding operation and fault operation
islanding protection collaborative control technology based on are different. When islanding occurs in the case of power
temporal logic can be adopted. The specific flowchart is shown matching, the PCC voltage may constant. Therefore, fault and
in Fig. 5, and the specific implementation steps are: islanding operation can be distinguished through the
characteristic curve of harmonic equivalent impedance changes.
Step 1: Determine the operating status of the distributed
photovoltaic power generation system within 30 ms after In order to reduce the influence of background harmonics on
detecting abnormal grid connection. the accuracy of harmonic impedance detection, this paper

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 proposes a fault and islanding identification method based on

Voltage(V)
the impedance characteristics of harmonics between grid
connected points, and selects high-frequency harmonics as
injected harmonics.
The design of the inter harmonic impedance discrimination

Current(A)
threshold is also important. The threshold should be adjusted
under different load capacity. The transient change time of
voltage drop will not exceed 0.02s, so when the percentage of
impedance change exceeds 50% after 20ms, the operation mode
is determined as islanding. Otherwise, the operation mode id
determined as fault. Since the impedance of the inverter is

(W,var)
Power
difficult to obtain through theoretical calculation, it can be
approximated by the system impedance obtained through
simulation.

System
State
IV. SIMULATION VERIFICATION AND ANALYSIS
In order to verify the coordinated control method based on
interharmonic impedance proposed in this paper, the distributed Time(s)
PV interconnected into receiving-end grid in Fig. 1 is built by
using Matlab/Simulink. Fig. 8. Waveform diagram after grid failure occurs.

Fundamental (50Hz) = 310.3 , THD= 1.28%

Fig. 8 shows the waveform diagram after grid failure occurs
1.5 at 0.3s. At 0.324s, the system state flag is at 2, it is judged that
Mag (% of Fundamental)

the PV generation system is in a fault state, and low voltage ride

through is executed.
1 Voltage(V)

0.5

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Current(A)

Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 6. Harmonics during grid-connected operation.

Fig. 6 shows the harmonic analysis results of grid-connected

points under grid-connected conditions. During normal grid-
(W,var)
Power

connected operation, the inter-harmonic content of the system is

very low, and the power quality meets the requirements of grid-
connected guidelines.
System
State

Fundamental (50Hz) = 310.6 , THD= 2.38%

1.5
Mag (% of Fundamental)

Time(s)

1 Fig. 9. Waveform diagram after grid island occurs.

Fig. 9 shows the waveform diagram after grid island occurs

0.5 at 0.3s. At 0.324s, the system state flag is at 1, it is judged that
the PV generation system is in an island state, and anti-islanding
protection is executed.
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 Coordinated control method based on interharmonic
Frequency (Hz) impedance can accurately and quickly distinguish fault state and
Fig. 7. Harmonics in island operation. island state with in 30ms, and then perform corresponding
LVRT and anti-islanding protection.
Fig. 7 shows the harmonic analysis result of the grid-
connected point voltage in the case of islanding. The result V. CONCLUSION
shows that the inter-harmonic content of the system is increased This paper analyzes the characteristic of electrical quantities
when the island is running, and the power quality meets the and output impedance for distributed PV generation system in
requirements of the grid-connected guideline. fault state and island state. On this basis, a coordinated control

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 method based on interharmonic impedance is proposed. The Three-Phase Inverters Connected to Low-Voltage Grids,” IEEE Trans.
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and quickly distinguish fault state and island state with in 30ms, Sag-severity-independent Low-voltage Ride Through, Reactive Power
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anti-islanding protection. Finally, availability of the proposed 6, pp. 1300-1311, November 2021.
method was verified according to simulation. [7] D. Sivadas, V. V. Surkod, A. K. Haridas, A. Chithrabhanu and K.
Vasudevan, “Adaptive Active Islanding Detection Strategy Enhanced
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Implementation of LVRT Capability and Anti-Islanding Detection in

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