A switching event-triggered resilient control scheme for primary and secondary levels in AC microgrids

Stability enhancement of battery energy storage and renewable energy-based hybrid AC/DC microgrids using terminal sliding mode backstepping control approaches

In this paper, a terminal sliding mode backstepping controller (TSMBC) has been proposed for various components of a hybrid AC/DC microgrid (HADMG) to enhance its dynamic stability. The proposed control technique is employed to generate switching control signals for converters, which serve as the primary interface between the DC bus and the AC bus in a hybrid microgrid. Additionally, this technique facilitates the interface of PMSG-based wind generators, solar photovoltaic generators, and battery energy storage systems with the DC bus. Through the implementation of the composite control technique, the global stability of the microgrid is ensured by driving all the states of the HADMG associated with various components to converge towards their intended values. Afterward, the Lyapunov control theory has been used to analyze the converter and inverter's large-signal stability while ensuring the robustness of the proposed robust composite controller. Finally, an extensive simulation study was conducted on a hybrid microgrid to verify the efficacy of the designed controller in maintaining power balance amidst variations in the system's operational regimes. Moreover, the effectiveness of the controller's practical implementation is confirmed by real-time processor-in-the-loop analysis. Simulation results clearly show that the proposed TSMBC improves the overall dynamic performance of the hybrid microgrid with less overshoot (0%) and settling time (110 ms) in DC bus voltage when compared to the existing sliding mode controller.

Moving Microgrid Hierarchical Control to an SDN-Based Kubernetes Cluster: A Framework for Reliable and Flexible Energy Distribution

Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a communication alternative to increase the scalability and resilience of microgrid hierarchical control. The common architecture has a centralized and monolithic topology, where the controller is highly susceptible to latency problems, resiliency, and scalability issues. This paper proposes a novel and intelligent control network to improve the performance of microgrid communications, solving the typical drawback of monolithic SDN controllers. The SDN controller's functionalities are segregated into microservices groups and distributed through a bare-metal Kubernetes cluster. Results are presented from PLECS hardware in the loop simulation to validate the seamless transition between standard hierarchical control to the SDN networked microgrid. The microservices significantly impact the performance of the SDN controller, decreasing the latency by 10.76% compared with a monolithic architecture. Furthermore, the proposed approach demonstrates a 42.23% decrease in packet loss versus monolithic topologies and a 53.41% reduction in recovery time during failures. Combining Kubernetes with SDN microservices can eliminate the single point of failure in hierarchical control, improve application recovery time, and enhance containerization benefits, including security and portability. This proposal represents a reference framework for future edge computing and intelligent control approaches in networked microgrids.

Robust Output Feedback Control of the Voltage Source Inverter in an AC Microgrid

This paper presents the mathematical model and control of the voltage source inverter (VSI) connected to an alternating current (AC) microgrid. The VSI used in this work was a six-switch three-phase PWM inverter, whose output voltages were controlled in a synchronous (dq) reference frame via a sliding mode control strategy. The control strategy required only output voltages; other states of the system were estimated by using a high-gain observer. The power-sharing among multiple inverters was achieved by solving power flow equations of the electrical network. The stability analysis showed that the error was ultimately bound in the case of the real PWM inverter and/or with a nonlinear load in the electrical network. The microgrid was simulated using the SimPowerSystems Toolbox from MATLAB/Simulink. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. The output voltage regulation of the inverter and power-sharing was achieved with the ultimately bounded error for the linear load. Later, the nonlinear load was also included in the electrical network and the error was shown to remain ultimately bounded. The output voltage regulation and power-sharing were achieved with the nonlinear load in the system.