LCL Filter Design for Grid Connected Three-Phase

Inverter

Mustafa DURSUN M. Kenan DÖŞOĞLU

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
University of Duzce University of Duzce
Duzce, Turkey Duzce, Turkey
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract— In this study, LCL filter design was performed by = ). Multi-level inverters have been used for REPS
simulating and theoretical analysis detail of a grid-connected application to increase output power quality and reduce filter
system in MATLAB / Simulink environment. Inverters connected size [8].
to the grid, filter is required as an interface between the inverter
and the electric grid. The most effective filter for suppressing of II. LCL FILTER DESIGN
the current harmonics occurring from the switching frequency
It is necessary to use a filter at the inverter output. Because
injected into the grid is the LCL filter. The LCL filter must be
designed appropriately to achieve high quality grid currents. LCL
the inverted signal is again the DGM signal, only the amplitude
parameters are calculated for synchronized operation of the is high. Therefore, this signal contains harmonics at the
converter and grid. Simulation results were shown that, the LCL switching frequency and its multipliers. The filter used in the
filter designed for harmonics has decreased in high degree inverter output is LCL filter. The most important reason for
harmonics in inverter output. selecting this filter is that it can be used at low switching
frequencies, its advantages in filter dimensions compared to
Keywords—LCL filter; MATLAB/Simulink; inverter; grid conventional "L" and "LC" filters, its lower voltage drop and
connected. better damping compared to conventional "L" and "LC" filters
[9]. Three phase inverter circuit modeling connected to grid is
I. INTRODUCTION given in figure 1.
Recently, renewable energy generation system (REPS)
applications such as wind turbines, solar energy systems, fuel
cells have increased [1]. The output current of the grid-
connected inverter is replaced by the Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM) method, so it contains higher-order harmonics.
Therefore, the L filter the most commonly is used between
inverter and the grid. However, the L filter suppresses to
existing harmonics. The cost of the L filter is not only very high
but also the system dynamic response is slow for large power
applications. Besides, a high voltage drop occurs in L filter [2]. Fig 1. Voltage source inverter circuit modeling
Instead of the advanced L-filter, a high-order LCL filter has
been used to correct the output currents of the Voltage Source
converter (VSC) [2-3]. Compared to the L filter, the LCL = (1)
filter is known to be more effective in reducing the switching
harmonics, but has a resonance problem. Furthermore, the
design process that determines the parameter values of the LCL 1
filter is quite complex compared to the L filter. Due to various = (2)
∙
limitations such as filter size, current harmonics, the power
absorbed in the filter capacitor, it is important to select the
appropriate parameters [4-5]. Recently, the LCL filter is
designed to done how by some research [2-7]. In Reference [4], ∙ √2
= (3)
the LCL filter parameters are designed using the reactive power 3∙
ratio and the current fluctuation rate. If the reactive power ratio
and current fluctuation rate are not selected correctly, they do
not conform the design criteria. Consequently, the system is
unstable and the LCL filter parameters must be redesigned. In Where, En is one phase effective voltage, P is active power,
reference [6], a single inductor is assumed to be for design of Cb is base capacitance, ωg is grid angular velocity, Zb is base
the converter side inductor and the grid side inductor ( + impedance, Vf is filter voltage. If the rated current is allowed to

978-1-5386-4184-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

fluctuate by 10% for the design parameters, the values in (4)
and (5) are obtained. 1
= (10)
3∙ ∙
∆ _ = %10 ∙ (4)
Assuming that the inverter's instantaneous input power
equals the instantaneous output power, the DC capacitance,
filters, high switching frequency components in the DC current,
= (5) and DC bus has a nominal voltage. Therefore, the most suitable
6∙ ∙∆ _ capacity value should be selected for the DC bus [11].
Where, L1 is value inverter side inductance, fsw is switching The minimum capacity and the time constant value for the
frequency, VDC is dc link voltage. The capacitor value is limited DC bus is shown in (11) and (12).
by the reduction of the power factor (less than 5%) in the rated
capacity. The capacitance value, the attenuation factor, the 4∙
resonance value, and the resonance frequency are given by (6) = ∙ (11)
and (9). _

= 0.05 ∙ (6) 1
= (12)
4∙
= 0.2 %20 → Two capacitors in 1000 μF value connected as series 1000
μF value to DC bus. As a result, this value is very close to the
calculated value. The DC bus voltage calculation is shown in
1 (13).
+1
(7)
= 2∙ ∙ √2
∙ = (13)
∙ √3

This calculate is selected as 0.84 modulation index (M)

+ value. DC link voltage is selected as 220V in simulation study.
= (8)
∙ ∙ Parameters used in simulation study are shown in table 1.

TABLE I. PARAMETERS USED IN SIMULATION STUDY

System Parameters LCL Filter Parameters
= (9)
2 = 112 (Phase-phase RMS voltage) = 3.35
= 50 (Grid Frequency) = 0.126
Where, Cf is filter capacitance, L2 is grid side inductance,
ωres is resonance angular velocity, fres is resonance frequency. = 1000 (Active Power) = 1Ω
To avoid resonance problems for the filter (due to low and high
= 15 (Switching Frequency) = 12
harmonic ratings), the resonance frequency should be selected
as half the switching frequency and 10 times the of grid = 220 (DC Bus Voltage) = 1000
frequency [10]. Switching frequency and grid frequency range
is shown in below. III. SIMULATION RESULT AND ANALYSIS
10 < < 0.5 The circuit model enhanced for the grid-connected inverter
is shown in figure 2. Grid is connected to a 1000W load resistor.
In circuit designed according to the calculated parameters,
In order to prevent resonance and reduce a part of the ripple
firstly a three-phase switch separates into grid and the inverter
at the switching frequency, a series resistor connection with the
circuit. When the system is started, It is expected that the
capacitor is required. This resistor must be up to one third of the
inverter voltage and grid voltage will be the same. Then, switch
filter capacitor impedance at the resonance frequency rated.
is close to operate synchronously the inverter with the grid.
Resistor value calculate is given in (10).
Fig 2. Matlab/Simulink circuit modeling

The results obtained when the grid voltage and the inverter Grid and inverter phase voltages and grid and inverter phase
voltage are shown in figure 3 and figure 4. voltages detailed image are shown in figure 3 and figure 4.The
phases were overlaid in approximately 0.24 second. Grid and
300 inverter phase angles are shown in figure 5.
Inverter
Grid
200 connected to grid 7
Grid and Inverter Voltages (V)

100 6

0 5
Grid and Inverter Angle

-100 4

-200 3

-300 2
0.98 0.985 0.99 0.995 1 1.005 1.01 1.015 1.02
Time (s.)
1
Fig 3. Grid and inverter phase voltages

0
0.15 0.2 0.25
300 Time (s.)
Inverter
Grid
200 connected to grid Fig 5. Phase angles of the grid and inverter voltages
Grid and Inverter Voltages (V)

The phase angles were overlaid at approximately 0.2

100
second. It is clear that there is no problem for integration
frequency equalization at this moment. Grid current and voltage
0 in same phase is given in figure 6.

-100

-200

-300
0.995 1 1.005 1.01 1.015
Time (s.)

Fig 4. Grid and inverter phase voltages detailed image

 IV. CONCULUSIONS
200
In this study, the LCL filter parameters required for 3-phase
100
inverter and integrate into the grid are calculated. Parallel
coupling conditions such as equalization of phase voltages,
Grid Voltage (V)

0
equalization of phase angles, equalization of phase sequence
and frequency equalization are carried out. Besides, all fulfilled
-100 and system is successfully operated. Not only LCL filter
decreases in high order harmonics but it also provided to
-200
2 2.005 2.01 2.015 2.02 2.025 2.03 2.035 2.04 2.045 2.05
overlay of the grid-inverter voltages, current within short time.
In the later stages of this study, Enhancement of DC bus voltage
control in the system and enhancement of necessary algorithms
10
for grid connection of the inverter have been proposed.

5
REFERENCES
Grid Current (A)

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Fig 7. Grid current harmonics

In the figure 7, the LCL filter decreases the high degree

harmonics, so that the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is
about 0.3.