INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH

K. R. Bharath et al., Vol.9, No.3, September, 2019

A Review on DC Microgrid Control Techniques,

Applications and Trends

K. R. Bharath*‡, M. Krishnan Mithun* and P. Kanakasabapathy*

*Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham,
Amritapuri, India
([email protected], [email protected], [email protected])

‡Corresponding Author; Bharath K R, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Amrita
School of Engineering, Amritapuri, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kollam, Kerala, India, 690525. Tel: +919446696584,
[email protected]

Received: 27.06.2019 Accepted:14.08.2019

Abstract- The DC Microgrid concept has been flourishing in the recent times due to its intrinsic advantages like Renewable
Energy Source (RES) compatibility, easier integration with storage utilities through Power Electronic Converters (PECs) and
distributed loads. In-depth researches are going on in this field, as the concept of DC Grid can be considered as a master
foundation in the realization of Smart Grid (SG) technologies. To achieve this, a number of constraints such as voltage
regulation, islanding detection, allowable transient levels, etc. are to be met in accordance with globally accepted standards.
The system should have a proper control scheme to keep the things reliable, fault-free and interoperable. In order to meet the
constraints as per globally recognized standards, quite a few classes of control algorithms are adopted namely, Centralized,
Decentralized and Distributed control. A standardized review of these control strategies is discussed as part of this work. A
comparative study among these techniques is made so as to help a designer to choose the apt technique for controlling the
microgrid.
Keywords DC Microgrid, Centralized control, Decentralized control, Distributed Control, Droop methods.

1. Introduction 27], Railways [28-31] and zero-net electricity energy

buildings [32-35]. The various Energy storage devices were
The proliferation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) able to naturally interface with the DC microgrid system
makes the concept of Micro Grid (MG) reliable, resilient and more effectively as compared to AC system [36, 37]. The
cost-effective along with several eco-friendly benefits evolution of DC microgrid paved the way for development
compared to the conventional utility systems. Among the and research of electric ship [38] and applications for smart
conventional power generation and load demand, an and better charging of EVs [39]. Most of the present-day
immense gap arises at an annual load growth of 2.5% [1]. To electronic equipment such as LED lamps, laptop/phone
integrate distributed generation, the concept of MG was chargers, televisions, etc. need DC voltage levels for its
revived by Lasseter R. H in the year 2002 as a low voltage operation. Currently, controlled AC-DC converters are used
distribution network [2-4]. These electric networks have the in the front-end sections of this electronic equipment to get
capability to work in both grid-tied and islanded conditions DC voltage levels for its working [40].
[5] depending on the consumer and utility conditions. The
The varying generation characteristics and intermittency
recent advancements in the field of Power Electronics (PE)
of power delivered through RESs connected to a microgrid
[6] have made DC electric grid systems to meet the standards
network require voltage leveling systems that are kept on the
in a cost-effective and seamless manner. The DC MG
low voltage feeders through storage elements like Battery
paradigm paved way for extensive use of DC loads [7] for
Energy Storage System (BESS), flywheel and Super
industrial as well as residential applications like Telecom
Capacitors (SCs) along with the power electronic interfaces
stations [8, 9], Data centers [10, 11], Electric Vehicles (EV)
(PEIs) [41]. A Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) is
[12], Electric ships [13], Renewable energy park [14-17], DC
defined as the combination of these entities. Fig.1 shows the
powered houses [18-21], Hybrid energy storage systems [22-
schematic of a DC MG with RESs, battery unit, and super-
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL of RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH
K. R. Bharath et al., Vol.9, No.3, September, 2019
capacitors. There are three different levels of control for DC The DC Microgrid Control topologies as shown in Fig.2
MG as per the International Society of Automation-95 (ISA- plays a key role in the better, stable and efficient operation of
95) standard [42], namely primary, secondary and tertiary DC MG. The power electronic converters act as an interface
levels of control. The primary level control aids in proper to properly control the grid with better voltage regulation and
load power-sharing among two or more parallelly connected current sharing. They not only act as interfaces but also
converter interfaces. The parameters for primary control are facilitate the proper interconnection among various units
made by the secondary control, while the dispatching of present in the DC MG. A better control strategy needs to be
storage and source is scheduled by the tertiary control, which developed so as to reduce the non-linearity effect created by
is decided by the transmission and distribution system the power converters due to its constant power behavior. The
operators. The controller proposed in paper [43] is a rapid rise in non-linear loads and distribution generation
modified PI controller to reduce transient and steady-state made the control structure more complex which is inevitable
voltage oscillations and voltage ripples. too.

Fig. 2. DC MG Control strategies

The various control targets are [44]:
Ø Smooth switching from islanded to the grid-
connected method of operation;
Fig. 1. A DC MG Structure
Ø Regulation of voltage and current sharing;
In an AC microgrid system, control operations require
frequency control (P/f) and voltage control, where two Ø Stable operation with non-linear as well as constant
control units are required which receives information from a power load;
hierarchical entity or supervisory control entity based on
Ø Optimizing the Micro Source (MS) production to
which control algorithm gets implemented to maintain
participate in the energy market;
system stability, reliability and operability. Whereas in a DC
microgrid, control aspect boils down to a single entity rather Ø Controlling the power flow among MG and the rest
than two different entities (Frequency and Voltage) in AC of the network using an effective and proper Energy
microgrid control. This indirectly makes distinction in Management Scheme (EMS);
implementation of control algorithms in DC microgrid as
Ø Efficient load power-sharing and proper
compared with AC microgrid based control systems. The
communication medium between DERs;
aforementioned literature describes the principles behind
these control techniques. A plethora of the existing MG Ø Proper control mechanisms to prevent grid failure
control techniques by acknowledging some of the prominent and potentiality to black start;
applications, modeled by adopting both modern and classical
control strategies are brought together in this paper; as a Ø Generation cost optimization and economic
detailed and systematic extensive review is lacking. The dispatching of loads;
ongoing development in DC MG is hence estimated with the Ø Maximizing the potentiality of DERs and reducing
help of this comprehensive review. Section 2 details a the transmission losses;
comprehensive survey of various control strategies adopted
in DC MG. In section 3, a few miscellaneous functions of Ø Capability to provide uninterrupted power supply to
DC microgrid are presented. Section 4 throws light into critical loads like hospitals, industries, and other crucial
various technical challenges in the DC microgrid. Finally, utilities.
section 5 and 6 presents the discussions and future research 2.1. Centralized Control
trends with the conclusion.
2. Control Techniques for DC Microgrid The networked units [45] situated at a particular location
achieve intelligence that is controlled by a microcontroller,
switch or even a server. Communication is the core element

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K. R. Bharath et al., Vol.9, No.3, September, 2019
of such a system, that helps in the easier operation of the 2.2. Decentralized Control
centrally controlled system. The data from different units of a
DC MG is initially collected by the system operator. Then, In a decentralized controller [48], the distributed units
the collected data is processed and necessary control are controlled by the autonomous local controllers via
commands are transferred to them via a proper independent local variables and there is no communication
communication medium. Some of the advantages of the medium in the control. This control strategy is considered to
centralized controller are: strong controllability of the entire be the most reliable, despite its limitations due to the absence
system, desires a single controller, the ability to define broad of a communication link. A switched current mode based
strategies for controlling the system and observability. decentralized controller is proposed in [49] where the
voltage-controlled source is replaced by a current-controlled
A Master-slave control as depicted in Fig.3 mechanism
source. The results claim that the proposed control advance
is a prominent technique that is widely utilized for attaining
in better transient response, plug-in and plug-out capacity,
parallel operation of multiple sources. In this mechanism,
better voltage regulation and adequate current distribution.
one converter serves as a Voltage Source Converter (VSC),
which acts as a master and commands slave units for
A Multi-Agent System (MAS) [50] based control was
regulating the DC bus voltage. The remaining converters act
as slaves, that feeds necessary current support as per the proposed by researchers that combines the advantages of
instruction from the master controller. The master converter both centralized as well as decentralized control systems.
Some of its merits include better fault tolerance capability,
operates in such a way that the grid voltage is maintained
more flexible and scalable, easy to implement, sot-effective
within the tolerance band, and the remaining converters that
and good power management ability. Some of the widely
act as slaves support the master in achieving the same.
accepted decentralized control schemes are described below.

2.2.1. Conventional Droop Control

The droop characteristics are based on the performance

pattern, when a current is injected to the grid it produces a dc
grid voltage that is proportional to each other. It is one of the
popular decentralized control strategies [50] adopted to
minimize or eliminate the circulatory current between
converters without communication medium. They also
provide good voltage regulation in microgrids. The equation
governing the same is given as,

Vref = Vo+(Iref ×Rdroop) (1)

where Vref is the reference DC grid voltage, Vo is the output

voltage of the PEC, Io is output current and Rdroop is the
virtual resistance. Fig.4 depicts the conventional droop
control scheme. The improper selection of droop resistance
results in poor load sharing and voltage regulation, poor
performance with RES units.
Fig. 3. A schematic for Master-Slave controller
The control mechanism totally depends on a high-speed
communication platform, and any failure in proper
communication affects the overall system performance and
may even result in complete black-out of the entire system.
The major drawbacks of this control strategy include reduced
battery life, low scalability, need for supervisory control,
expensive and poor fault tolerance capability.
A master-slave control algorithm for input-series and
output-parallel full-bridge converter is discussed in [46],
which is controlled by a phase-shift controller. The limited
range of output voltage regulation is mitigated using the
master controller. Some of the advantages include flexibility
and easy implementation, that makes it suitable for high
power and high voltage utilities. Federico et. al. [47]
proposed a master-slave control for the electric bus
application and assumed to have achieved an efficiency of
more than 3% as compared with existing conventional Fig. 4. A conventional voltage-droop control scheme
strategies.

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Figure 5 depicts the voltage control scheme of a DC- measurement data to accommodate the droop gains in order
DC converter. [51] proposed a decentralized droop method to achieve better voltage regulation and load sharing. The
for a low voltage DC microgrid. All the grid parameters like voltage regulation and load sharing are achieved by injecting
SoC of BESS, the effect of feeder resistance, etc. were taken an ac power at both primary and secondary levels using
into account. To perform better power sharing among the locally available measurements to adapt the droop gains.
DERs, three modes of operation and fault condition were This made the system free from any communication links
taken into consideration. and more economic. Another parameter that concerns the
effectivity of the proposed controller is the AC power
injection to a DC MG, which creates stability issues and
lowers the power quality.

2.3 Distributed Control

A network of several controllers equipped in each PE

sources forms a distributed control, which helps in proper
load sharing to maintain steady grid voltage. This control
mechanism has the advantages of both centralized as well as
the decentralized controller. The controller of each PE
devices communicates via a communication medium same as
that of a decentralized controller, but with limited bandwidth.
This helps in performing the vital operation like SoC
balancing, restoring the voltage, load power-sharing, etc.
Any significant increase in Distributed Generation (DG)
units makes it complex to implement centralized control
scheme. During such a crisis, the distributed controller
proves to be a better competitor. An added advantage of such
Fig. 5. Voltage control scheme of the DC-DC converter a controller is that even if the communication link breaks, it
makes the system functions as it is immune to a single-point
2.2.2. Virtual Resistance based Droop Control failure. The major drawbacks include deviation in bus
voltage, complex analytic behavior, and error in tracking
The demerits of the droop control mechanism are solved power.
by proposing a virtual droop resistance [52]. The proposed
method introduces a virtual resistance called droop resistance In Ref. [56], an advanced droop architecture for DC MG
(Rdroop) which is a function of the terminal voltage. is proposed. The enhancement of voltage regulation and
optimal power is done with the aid of a non-linear optimal
Iref = (Vref - Vo) / Rdroop (2) controller. All the information regarding MG operation is
necessary for the controller to convert them into a linear
Rdroop= func(Vo) (3) near-optimal control issue. The proposed controller proves to
be better than the conventional droop methodologies even for
This is done to achieve a non-linearity in the droop intermittent communication medium and is found to be more
characteristics and hence voltage regulation is improved. stable and robust in nature. The system proves to be more
stable by working as a conventional droop control
2.2.3. Adaptive Droop Control methodology under some special cases. A novel approach to
a distributed droop control and Energy Storage (ES) in a DC
An adaptive droop strategy for DC MG is discussed in MG forming a networked grid is proposed in [57]. The droop
[53] where solar PV, fuel cells and BESSs are taken into characteristics are actuated with the aid of local BESSs for
consideration. For proper power-sharing, the charging and each MSs. A feed-forward approach is utilized to match the
discharging of the BESS units are managed using a MSs voltages to the grid voltage by altering the duty cycle of
bidirectional adaptive droop strategy. In [54], a closed-loop PECs periodically. The proposed controller claims faster
reference model (CRM) adaptive droop strategy was used to update rates and reduction in the number of ES units.
realize the DC MGs droop function. To achieve simultaneous
voltage stability and current sharing, a time-varying model is A distributed control strategy is proposed in [58] that
acquired, a projection algorithm and a normalization helps in enhancing the voltage regulation and local power-
technique with the above-mentioned adaptive droop strategy sharing in a DC MG. A dispersed cyber-network is utilized
is used. for the exchange of data, where the average voltage across
the grid is estimated using a voltage observer. It uses a PI
Paper [55] proposed an adaptive droop strategy for low control and adaptive droop, where the virtual impedance of
voltage DC MG that is based on super-imposed frequency DERs are regulated by the current regulators. Table 1 shows
along with a virtual resistor. An AC current is injected on a detailed description of the various control schemes
both primary as well as the secondary sides using local discussed in this section.

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Table 1: Summary and comparison of DC microgrid algorithms

Load
Control Implementation Voltage Other
Method current Applications
Technique Complexity Regulation Features
sharing
Phase-shift Control • More flexible High voltage and
Fair Simple Good
[46] • Fault-tolerant power DC Grid
• Robust
Proportional • Improved Low voltage DC
Integral Control Fair Moderate Good efficiency Electric bus
Centralized
[47] • Eliminates extra system
Control wiring
• Faster transient
response
Islanded DC
Multi-stage • Minimize load-
Good Complex Better microgrid with
Control [65] shedding
Plug-in EVs
• Reduced cost of
operation
• Fault-tolerant
Conventional PI
Poor Easy Good • More flexible DC system
Control [50]
• Scalable
• Robust
Adaptive-droop • Integrates RESs
Good Easy/ moderate Better DC system only
strategy [53] like SOFC, PVs,
and BESS
• Robust under noise
Decentralized disturbances and
Control Closed-loop uncertainties.
reference model Moderate/ • Better power- High Voltage DC
Better Better
adaptive control Complex sharing. MG
(CRM) [54] • More effective
than linear control
strategy.
Adaptive droop
controller based on • More economic Low voltage DC
Better Moderate Better
super-imposed • More reliable. MG
frequency [55]
Non-linear optimal • More stable.
Good Moderate Better DC MG
Control [56] • Robust
• Flexible and
adaptable.
PI controller with Moderate/
Good Better • Reduced use of DC MG
Distributed HSS [57] Complex
energy storage
Control elements.
• Proportional load
PI controller with
sharing. Low voltage DC
Adaptive-droop Good Better
control [58]
Complex • Plug-and-play MG
compatibility

3. Extensive Operation of DC Microgrid innovations and advancements in the deployment of DERs.

Using the SoC level, a BMS controlling circuit is
3.1 Battery Management System (BMS) developed in [60] for each cell’s charge-equalization. A
dual step-down half-bridge bidirectional ac-dc converter is
There are numerous scenarios where the above- utilized, that enables high power flow and is able to
mentioned control strategies are applied. In the modern precept the functioning of allied circuitries like the inverter
power system environment, the integration of ES units and BMS. The control of a hybrid energy storage system
[59] has been increasing rapidly due to the advent of (HESS) for a battery-supercapacitor (SC) units is

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discussed in paper [61]. The SC converter is regulated by a compared to AC systems due to the absence of zero-
virtual capacitor droop while a high-pass filter droop is crossing current. Research gap is still open in this area of
implemented for controlling the battery converter. The DC microgrid protection scheme for better operation and
proposed system mitigates various issues like SoC safety of the operators, end-users and other participants
balancing, dynamic power-sharing, steady-state grid involved in the utilization of the microgrid and its
voltage restoration, etc. The controller also helps in associated entities. The protection devices deployed in the
efficient power buffering due to the rapid dynamics of SC microgrid may not be able to sync with the speed of
included and also ensures continuous and long operation of response of these advanced control mechanisms. But there
HESS. are advanced protection devices that respond quickly, but
the cost of such devices increases with the advancements
3.2 Load Management in technology. Along with protection, bi-directional
communication schemes, EVs [67] as active power load,
The overall stability and reliability of the MG are MG cluster control and utilization of smart meters are the
greatly influenced by the loads. During proper load other areas which have advanced research capability. For
scheduling and management, the grid operating parameters implementation in a real-world scenario, stability analysis
widely influence the consumer's energy usage [62]. During is also required to ensure system reliability. The voltage
system failure or permanent blackout, proper control must be stable or should be within the limits for better
strategies need to be taken by the grid operator and thereby operation and reliability under sudden disturbances in the
the existing loads can be diminished to reduce the risk of grid. Another issue arises when constant loads with PE
power failure. In [63], the issue with frequency and power interfaces are deployed which leads to reduced voltage
fluctuations is eliminated using proper management of stability. So, thorough research needs to be investigated to
active load. The existing scenario can be widely exploited mitigate all these issues.
to increase the grids reliability, stability, optimizing
generation and allow RES integration on a large scale [64]. 4. Technical Hindrances involved in DC Microgrid
Implementation
3.3 Electric Vehicle (EV) Integration
There are several technical challenges present in the
The EVs are gaining popularity in the current market current DC grid scenario. The centralized controller may
due to the depletion of fossil fuels and low efficiency of IC not be viable without proper communication medium. The
engines. They can enact the role of a generating unit, communication medium or link used for achieving better
controllable load, maintaining supply-continuity and reliability and operation of the system should be optimal,
backing the grid. A multi-stage centralized control economical [68], more feasible and should have reduced
algorithm is developed in paper [65] to allow extensive use complexity level. Another key feature is better to load
of EVs in a microgrid. The system is designed in such a current sharing and proper voltage regulation, which is a
way that, several objectives are fulfilled using a 3-stage major hindrance for conventional controllers. The
droop-based power control scheme. The system starts by controller should also ensure that the utilization of storage
minimizing load-shedding whenever the power generation technologies, RES and DC grid voltage maintenance
is low, and then it minimizes the grids operating cost and remains optimized and under control.
maximizes utilization of EVs in an extensive manner. In
order to validate the robustness and effectiveness of the 4.1 Stability issues in DC microgrid
system, two operating scenarios i.e., a grid without and
with sufficient generation were considered for the study. The presence of constant power loads can yield to
instability issues in a DC microgrid since these loads may
3.4 Utilization of RESs and ESS get coupled with a negative impedance characteristic [69].
Presence of resonant condition caused due to virtual
The current energy scenario demands more utilization negative inductance induced during the operation of a
of RES like solar PV, wind energy systems (WESs), constant power load have adverse effect in a DC microgrid
hydropower, etc. The synchronized operation of numerous from stability perspective [70]. Increasing damping
components like BESSs, RESs and loads using a mechanism in the system is a commonly adopted measure
centralized controller is discussed in paper [66]. The overcome such situation. But this can in turn result in a
controller performs three main tasks including equalizing voltage sag. A proper tradeoff is required between
SoC, to prevent battery overcharging by active power allowable swing range and duration of voltage sag in order
interruption and load-shedding to avoid battery discharge. to meet the allowable system standards [71].
The proposed system leads to increased life-span of energy
storage units and optimal scheduling of loads. 4.2 Challenges involved in protection of a DC microgrid

3.5 Control and Protection of Microgrid Primary and secondary level control algorithms in are
usually computed using advanced microprocessors which
Another major safety-critical feature which is takes decision in pace faster than the allowable response
inevitable for microgrid operation is protection. This time in a protection device. In such an environment, in a
feature requires much more attention in DC microgrid as DC network, designing circuit breakers is always a big

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challenge as it has to be economical and effective. This is to the issues in controlling and maintaining the stability of
mainly because the current levels need not be damped to the MG systems. These clusters are the future of the
zero as the DC voltage levels are not falling to zero. This energy economy and would devise a flexible integrated
can act as one of major hindrance in DC micro grid grid. The key to this achievement is the well-designed
protection. Operator personnel safety is key essential management and control principle but needs further
requirement which is challenging as it is difficult to development and research efforts.
minimize DC stray current by proper grounding. The
integrated local controllers and other control functions 6. Conclusion
should ensure that the system is stable during islanded and
grid-connected modes and should transfer seamlessly. The Smart Grids are the future of conventional grid
battery characteristics like charging, discharging should be networks, and a better possible way to realize them is
done with the utmost care and proper measures should be through the advent improvement in MGs, which are a
taken to prevent overcharging and undercharging by bunch of numerous electrical and electronic devices. The
choosing a better control strategy. The battery units [72, distributed paradigm is gaining popularity due to better
73] connected in multiple stacks should always have the flexibility and autonomous operation needs in both
same State of Charge (SoC) to prevent further damages. consumers as well as utility side. An abundant amount of
research works are undergoing in the field of DC
5. DC Microgrid: Future Trends microgrid system, as they possess more features than the
AC system. The heart of MG control is the energy
Several research works are undergoing in the field of management scheme for the case of a centralized
control strategies adopted in DC grids, their structures, controller. But, in the case of decentralized, it is less
various energy management schemes, energy storage reliable than the above control strategy. There is a wider
techniques. The structure of any power system attracts scope of research for DC grids in this scenario. The
many parameters such as robustness, reliability, depletion in traditional energy sources, need for storage
scalability, cost, the resiliency of the system. The devices, the increased popularity of RESs etc. paves way
microgrid comes in various structures, namely Single-bus, for DC grid as the future grid.
Ring-bus, Multi-bus, Zonal-bus, Ladder-bus, and Multi-
terminal DC MG structure. All these structures have their References
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