Pscad PV THD
Pscad PV THD
I. I NTRODUCTION
The future plans for smart grid deployment , which mainly
depend on the concept of distributed generation, make gridtied photovoltaic systems more attractive solution, especially
in regions with the high solar irradiation values. With the continuous advancement in power electronics and the increasing
number of consumer appliances which utilize power electronics, both the customers and the utility operators are more aware
of the importance of power quality of the utility grid. One of
the most important power quality issues is harmonic distortion
which is mostly caused by nonlinear power electronic based
loads that are connected to the grid. Connecting PV systems to
the utility grid, which is already being injected with harmonics
from nonlinear loads, will introduce more stress on the power
quality of the grid. All previously addressed issues makes it
clear that more studies should be conducted on the effects
associated with the high penetration rates of photovoltaic
system on the power quality of the utility grid. Total Harmonic
Distortion analysis could be used to measure the magnitude
of the harmonic distortion in any power network.
Since such study requires a complete modeling of the PV
system in an electromagnetic transient software environment,
Icon
Ipv
Idc
0.01 [H]
Vpv
Timed
Breaker
Logic
Closed@t0
dcVltg
T1
5
R=0
V+
gt5
gt3
BRK_cap
gt1
P = 0.1467
Q = -0.0006585
V = 11.06
Ia_motor
SolRad
5
80000
10000
Tcell
CellTemp
Eab
Icharge
Ebc
BRK_cap
V-
6
gt2
#1
2e-4
A
V
#2
gt6
gt4
Ec Eb Ea
G
1 + sT
Vpv
Vpv
Ipv
Ipv
G
1 + sT
Ipv_F
MPPT
control
Vmpp
Vmppt
Vpv_F
B. DC Link Capacitor
The DC link minimizes the ripple of the PV source current
by using a large capacitor. It is assumed in determining the
size of DC link capacitor that the output current is ripple free.
The voltage across the Dc link capacitor is controlled by the
DC-DC converter as discussed next.
C. DC-DC Converter for MPP Tracking
DC-DC converter is used for Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) by controlling the voltage across the DC link
capacitor and the PV array. This is achieved by first creating
a reference voltage that is then supplied to a PI controller
which creates switching signals that force the voltage across
the PV array to follow the reference voltage. These two stages
are discussed next.
1) Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT): The model
used for creating the reference voltage is shown in Fig. 2. First,
photovoltaic output current (Ipv) and output voltage (Vpv) are
passed through a first order low pass filter with a magnitude of
G = 1 and a time constant of T = 0.01 seconds in order to filter
out the high frequency components or harmonics from these
signals. The filtered current and voltage signals (IpvF and
VpvF ) are then fed into the MPPT control block that uses the
Incremental Conductance Tracking Algorithm. An algorithm
that is based on the fact the slope of the PV array power curve
shown in Fig. 3 is zero at the Maximum Power Point (MPP),
positive on the left of the MPP, and negative on the right.
The MPP can thus be tracked by comparing the instantaneous
conductance (I/V) to the incremental conductance (I/V)
[4] as in (1):
(1)
Fig. 3. Characteristic PV array power curve at STC. PV array power output
in kWatt (y-axis) and PV array voltage in kV (x-axis).
P
P
Vpv
Vmppt
Ctrl = 1
D + F
dcVltg
0.5
Ang
Ctrl
Vpv_ref
Mppt_ON/OFF
T1
B Comparator
0.0
D
Q
Mag
Fig. 5. MPPT reference voltage (Vmppt) and PV array output voltage (Vpv)
at 1000 W/m2 and 500 W/m2 .
Mag
Phase
Ang
Sin
Mag
Freq
D + -
Phase
2.094395102 F
(2*pi)/3
Sin
Mag
Freq
Freq
2.094395102
(2*pi)/3
gt1
B Comparator
Freq
Freq
gt3
B Comparator
Phase
Sin
Mag
Freq
B Comparator
gt1
gt4
gt3
gt6
gt5
gt2
gt5
Fig. 10. Close up view of the AC filter output Line-Neutral voltage at 1000
W/m2 .
TABLE I
VOLTAGE R ATING FOR E LECTRIC P OWER S YSTEM AND E QUIPMENT
Voltage Class
Low Voltage
Medium Voltage
High Voltage
Fig. 8. PV array output voltage (Vpv) and DC-DC converter output voltage
(dcVltg) at 200 W/m2 and 1000 W/m2 .
Fig. 9. Close up view of the inverter output Line-Neutral voltage at 1000
W/m2 .
230 kV 1100 kV
> 1100 kV
15
TABLE II
C URRENT D ISTORTION L IMITS AT PCC FOR SIX - PULSE CONVERTERS AS
RECOMMENDED IN IEEE S TD 519-1992
15
3rd 9th
< 4.0 %
11th 15th
< 2.0 %
17th 21st
< 1.5 %
Distortion Limit
X2
23rd 33rd
< 0.6 %
Odd Harmonic
X3
< 0.3 %
I_pcc
15
X1
Total
Harmonic
Distortion
15
Individual
Total
Harmonic
Distortion
15
Individual
Total
Harmonic
Distortion
15
Individual
Ph2
(15)
F = 60.0 [Hz]
dc1
dc2
Ph3
(15)
dc3
Fig. 11. PSCAD circuit to calculate total current harmonic distortion at PCC.
frequency. Harmonics in PV systems are generated by the converters which use switching techniques that generate signals
that are not perfect sinusoidals. Connecting PV systems to the
utility grid, which is already being injected with harmonics by
the non-linear loads connected to the power network, will add
a stress on the power quality of the grid.
In order to maintain acceptable levels of grid power quality,
standards that regulate the effects of PV systems on the utility
grid should be developed. One such standard is IEEE Std 9292000 IEEE Recommended Practice for Utility Interface of
Photovoltaic (PV) Systems [12] which ensures compatible
operation of photovoltaic (PV) systems that are connected in
parallel with medium and high voltage level electric utility. It
is recommended by the previous standard that the harmonic
distortion at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC), which is
the point at which the PV system is tied with the grid, should
comply with IEEE Std 519-1992 [13]. In this PSCAD model,
PCC lies between the transformer and the grid.
The PV system output should have low current distortion
levels to ensure that no adverse effects are caused to other
equipment connected to the utility system. The key requirements of clause 10 of IEEE Std 519-1992 are summarized as
the following:
Fig. 12. THD (%) of the current in phase a at PCC and measured at STC.
Fig. 13. Individual harmonic distortion (%) of the current in phase a at PCC
and measured at STC. In the x-axis is shown the index of the harmonic with
the fundamental frequency having harmonic index that is equal to 1.
Fig. 14. Individual harmonic distortion (%) of the current in phase a at PCC
and measured at STC. The number of the monitored harmonics was expanded
to 63.
Fig. 16. Current THD (%) in phase a at PCC (y-axis) measured at solar
irradiation varying between 0 to 1200 W/m2 (x-axis).
R EFERENCES
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[11] Voltage Rating for Electric Power Systems and Equipment, ANSI Std.
C84.1, 1989.
[12] IEEE Recommended Practice for Utility Interface of Photovoltaic (PV)
Systems, IEEE Std. 929, 2000.
[13] IEEE Recommended Practices and Requirements for Harmonic Control
in Electrical Power Systems, IEEE Std. 519, 1992.