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Advanced Control Techniques for Renewable Energy Systems and Power Electronics

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2022) | Viewed by 25121

Special Issue Editor

Chair of High-Power Converter Systems, Technical University of Munich (TUM), 80333 Munich, Germany
Interests: predictive control; wind energy; photovoltaic; sensorless control; power electronics; electrical drive systems; energy storage systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I am inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Sustainability entitled “Advanced Control Techniques for Renewable Energy Systems and Power Electronics”.

Currently, the use of renewable energy systems (wind, photovoltaic, wave, etc.) in power generation systems has increased remarkably worldwide. Furthermore, power electronics circuits are used in various industrial applications, i.e., electrical drive systems, electric vehicles, energy storage systems, and others. Therefore, new control techniques for renewable energy systems and power electronics circuits are highly desirable. Those control techniques shall improve the dynamics and steady-state performance of the system under control. Furthermore, improvement of efficiency and power quality are also highly required. The aim of the present Special Issue is to attract original high-quality papers and review articles proposing advanced control strategies for renewable energy systems and power electronics. Major topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Advanced control techniques (predictive, fuzzy, neural-network, sliding-mode, etc.);
  • Wind and photovoltaic energy generation systems;
  • Other renewable energy systems;
  • Multi-level power converters;
  • Back-to-back power converters;
  • Multi-phase systems;
  • Robust control systems;
  • Fault-ride through strategies.

The Special Issue will present cutting-edge research results in these emerging fields as a basis for reliable and efficient operation of renewable energy systems and power electronics circuits. The proposed control techniques should be extensively validated by simulation and/or experimental results.

Dr. Mohamed Abdelrahem
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • control systems
  • wind energy
  • photovoltaic
  • wave energy
  • power electronics
  • robust control
  • fault ride through

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 6191 KiB  
Article
RBF Neural Network Fractional-Order Sliding Mode Control with an Application to Direct a Three Matrix Converter under an Unbalanced Grid
by Xuhong Yang, Haoxu Fang, Yaxiong Wu and Wei Jia
Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3193; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063193 - 09 Mar 2022
Viewed by 1367
Abstract
This paper presents a fractional-order sliding mode control scheme based on an RBF neural network (RBFFOSMC) for a direct three matrix converter (DTMC) operating under unbalanced grid voltages. The RBF neural network (RBF NN) is designed to approximate a nonlinear fractional-order sliding mode [...] Read more.
This paper presents a fractional-order sliding mode control scheme based on an RBF neural network (RBFFOSMC) for a direct three matrix converter (DTMC) operating under unbalanced grid voltages. The RBF neural network (RBF NN) is designed to approximate a nonlinear fractional-order sliding mode controller. The proposed method aims to achieve constant active power whilst maintaining a near unity input power factor. First, an opportune reference current is accurately generated according to the reference power and the RBFFOSMC is designed in a dq reference frame to achieve a perfect tracking of the input current reference. An almost constant active power, free of low-frequency ripples, is then supplied from the grid after compensating for the output voltage. Simulation and experimental studies prove the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method. Full article
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20 pages, 2919 KiB  
Article
A New Battery Selection System and Charging Control of a Movable Solar-Powered Charging Station for Endless Flying Killing Drones
by Essam Ali, Mohamed Fanni and Abdelfatah M. Mohamed
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2071; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042071 - 11 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 5182
Abstract
This paper provides a design, a charging control, and energy management of a movable Photo Voltaic (PV) charging station with an Automatic Battery Replacement (ABR) system to enable drones for ongoing missions. The paper represents the first stage of a three-staged project titled [...] Read more.
This paper provides a design, a charging control, and energy management of a movable Photo Voltaic (PV) charging station with an Automatic Battery Replacement (ABR) system to enable drones for ongoing missions. The paper represents the first stage of a three-staged project titled Fall Armyworm (FAW) insect killer. The other two stages involve the flight control of drones and detecting and killing FAW insects. Without chemical methods, the project aims to eliminate harmful FAW insects that are rapidly spreading in Africa and Asia. The power source is a hybrid PV system with energy storage devices (batteries and supercapacitors). The maximum power from PV panels is tracked using three different online methods (PSO, IC, and P&O), and the best method with the highest accuracy is selected. The experimental and simulation results approved that PSO is the recommended method used in this project among the studied methods because of its high target reach (about 97%) and low steady-state oscillation (maximum 2.15%). An intelligent energy management system is investigated and designed to efficiently utilize solar power with a constant-current constant-voltage charger for LiPo batteries. A new Battery Selection System (BSS) is designed and verified to efficiently utilize the harvested energy and increase the mission time. The BSS targets to manage the selection of the appropriate battery to charge and control its charging rate. The system performance is tested using MATLAB software. Then, an experimental setup for the system is built to validate simulation results. The results of simulations and experiments proved the reliability of BSS in different operating cases with an efficiency higher than 97%. Full article
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18 pages, 17408 KiB  
Article
Energy Efficiency of Multi-Technology PV Modules under Real Outdoor Conditions—An Experimental Assessment in Ghardaïa, Algeria
by Amor Fezzani, Idriss Hadj-Mahammed, Abdellah Kouzou, Layachi Zaghba, Said Drid, Messaouda Khennane, Ralph Kennel and Mohamed Abdelrahem
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1771; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031771 - 03 Feb 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2185
Abstract
Energy efficiency and ratio performance are two key parameters for the analysis of the performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The present paper focusses on the assessment of the efficiency of four different photovoltaic module technologies based on energy efficiency and ratio performance. These [...] Read more.
Energy efficiency and ratio performance are two key parameters for the analysis of the performance of photovoltaic (PV) modules. The present paper focusses on the assessment of the efficiency of four different photovoltaic module technologies based on energy efficiency and ratio performance. These PV modules were installed at the Applied Research Unit in Renewable Energy (URAER) in Algeria and were used to provide experimental data to help local and international economical actors with performance enhancement and optimal choice of different technologies subject to arid outdoor conditions. The modules studied in this paper are: two thin-film modules of copper indium selenide (CIS), hetero-junction with intrinsic thin-layer silicon (HIT) and two crystalline silicon modules (polycrystalline (poly-Si), monocrystalline (mono-Si)). These technologies were initially characterized using a DC regulator based on their measured I-V characteristics under the same outdoor climate conditions as the location where the monitoring of the electrical energy produced from each PV module was carried out. The DC regulator allows for extracting the maximum electrical power. At the same time, the measurements of the solar radiation and temperature were obtained from a pyranometer type Kipp & ZonenTM CMP21 and a Pt-100 temperature sensor (Kipp & Zonen, Delft, Netherlands). These measurements were performed from July 2020 to June 2021. In this work, the monthly average performance parameters such as energy efficiency are given and analyzed. The average efficiency of the modules over 12 months was evaluated at 4.74%, 7.65%, 9.13% and 10.27% for the HIT, CIS, mono-Si and poly-Si modules, respectively. The calculated percentage deviations in the efficiency of the modules were 8.49%, 18.88%, 19.74% and 23.57% for the HIT, CIS, mono-Si and poly-Si modules, respectively. The low variation in the efficiency of the HIT module can be attributed to the better operation of this module under arid outdoor conditions, which makes it a promising module for adaptation to the region concerned. Full article
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20 pages, 8459 KiB  
Article
General Current Control of Six-Phase-Based Non-Isolated Integrated On-Board Charger with Low Order Harmonic Compensation
by Mahmoud S. Abdel-Majeed, Abdullah Shawier, Ayman S. Abdel-Khalik, Mostafa S. Hamad, Mohamed M. Sedky and Noha A. Elmalhy
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1088; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031088 - 18 Jan 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1659
Abstract
Electric vehicle charging technology has recently witnessed massive developments due to its significant role in the ever-growing number of electric vehicles on the market. The integrated on-board charger technology (IOBC) represents an effective and attractive solution to reduce EV size, cost, and weight. [...] Read more.
Electric vehicle charging technology has recently witnessed massive developments due to its significant role in the ever-growing number of electric vehicles on the market. The integrated on-board charger technology (IOBC) represents an effective and attractive solution to reduce EV size, cost, and weight. IOBC technology employs propulsion components, such as the motor and its converter, in the charging process. The main objective of IOBC is to achieve the maximum charging current with zero average/pulsating torque so that mechanical interlocking can be dispensed. Recently, some of the IOBC topologies have adopted machines with six-phase stators to exploit the many advantages of multiphase-based systems. This paper investigates the effect of the winding design, namely, chorded or un-chorded designs, as well as the winding configuration, namely, dual three-phase, asymmetrical, or symmetrical winding configurations, on the current quality of a six-phase-based non-isolated IOBC. The relation between the winding design and the induced low order harmonics in the charging current is first clarified. The required current controller structure is then proposed, which ensures balanced grid line currents with high quality, under either healthy or one-phase fault conditions. Finally, a comparative study between all available designs with the proposed current controller is carried out to validate the theoretical findings. Full article
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14 pages, 29747 KiB  
Article
Performance Investigation of Switched Reluctance Motor Driven by Quasi-Z-Source Integrated Multiport Converter with Different Switching Algorithms
by Mahmoud A. Gaafar, Arwa Abdelmaksoud, Mohamed Orabi, Hao Chen and Mostafa Dardeer
Sustainability 2021, 13(17), 9517; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13179517 - 24 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1745
Abstract
Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) have received increasing attention for their many potential uses, such as for wind power and electric vehicle (EV) drive systems. The Quasi-Z-source Integrated Multiport Converter (QZIMPC) was recently introduced to improve the reliability of the SRM driver through small [...] Read more.
Switched reluctance machines (SRMs) have received increasing attention for their many potential uses, such as for wind power and electric vehicle (EV) drive systems. The Quasi-Z-source Integrated Multiport Converter (QZIMPC) was recently introduced to improve the reliability of the SRM driver through small capacitance values. It is not possible, however, to simultaneously energize and deenergize two SRM phases in QZIMPC. This phenomenon can significantly increase the commutation period which, in turn, degrades the performance of SRM; in addition, this causes high-voltage ripples on the converter’s capacitors. Two switching algorithms are introduced and applied in this paper, and their performance with SRM is investigated in terms of torque ripple and peak phase current. The algorithms are based on prioritizing the control command in the on-going and off-going phases to fulfill the required load torque, as well as to accelerate the commutation process where possible. This is achieved without the interference of high-level controllers, which include speed controllers and/or torque ripple minimization. Through the simulation results, a comparison between the two switching algorithms is presented to determine their potential to improve the SRM drive system’s performance. Full article
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17 pages, 4262 KiB  
Article
Adaptive Predictive Control with Neuro-Fuzzy Parameter Estimation for Microgrid Grid-Forming Converters
by Oluleke Babayomi, Zhenbin Zhang, Yu Li and Ralph Kennel
Sustainability 2021, 13(13), 7038; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137038 - 23 Jun 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2071
Abstract
Model predictive control (MPC) is a flexible and multivariable control technique with better dynamic performance than linear control. However, MPC is sensitive to parametric mismatches that reduce its control capabilities. In this paper, we present a new method of improving the robustness of [...] Read more.
Model predictive control (MPC) is a flexible and multivariable control technique with better dynamic performance than linear control. However, MPC is sensitive to parametric mismatches that reduce its control capabilities. In this paper, we present a new method of improving the robustness of MPC to filter parameter variations/mismatches by easily implementable parameter estimation. Furthermore, we extend the proposed technique for wider operating conditions by novel neuro-fuzzy estimation. The results, which are demonstrated by both simulations and real-time hardware-in-the-loop tests, show a steady-state parameter estimation accuracy of 95%, and at least 20% improvement in total harmonic distortion (THD) than conventional non-adaptive MPC under parameter mismatches up to 50% of the nominal values. Full article
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26 pages, 11948 KiB  
Article
Analysis of Harmonic Resonance Characteristics in Grid-Connected LCL Virtual Synchronous Generator
by Jingya Jiang, Wei Wang, Xuezhi Wu, Fen Tang, Zhengwen Yang and Xiangjun Li
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4261; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084261 - 12 Apr 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1817
Abstract
The virtual synchronous generator (VSG), which emulates the essential behavior of the conventional synchronous generator, has attracted great attention. This paper proposes to analyze the harmonic resonance characteristics in VSG using the state-space model. The analysis is based on a full-order state-space small-signal [...] Read more.
The virtual synchronous generator (VSG), which emulates the essential behavior of the conventional synchronous generator, has attracted great attention. This paper proposes to analyze the harmonic resonance characteristics in VSG using the state-space model. The analysis is based on a full-order state-space small-signal model that fully considers the dynamic of the inner loops and the VSG-based outer power control loop. Participation analysis is used to point out the contributions of different states to the eigenvalues. Moreover, eigenvalue locus and singular value decomposition (SVD) are applied together to evaluate the impact of the inner loop parameters on the harmonic resonance characteristics around the LCL filter resonance frequency. The analysis indicates that the harmonic resonance instability is mainly caused by decreasing the proportional gains of the current loop and the voltage loop. Finally, extensive numerical simulation and experimental results are given to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis. Both the simulation and experimental results indicate that the voltage of the common coupling point is unstable after decreasing the proportional gains of the current and voltage controllers. As Kpc decreases from 5 to 0.4 or Kpv decreases from 0.6 to 0.2, the harmonic distortion factor (HDF) around the LCL filter resonance frequency increases. Furthermore, the consistency of simulation results, experimental results, and the theoretical analysis results is validated. Full article
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14 pages, 4150 KiB  
Article
A Novel FCS-MPC Method of Multi-Level APF Is Proposed to Improve the Power Quality in Renewable Energy Generation Connected to the Grid
by Hong Li, Yang Liu and Jianfeng Yang
Sustainability 2021, 13(8), 4094; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13084094 - 07 Apr 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 1882
Abstract
When photovoltaic, wind, energy storage batteries, and other new forms of energy are connected to the grid, power electronic converters are needed, and there are a lot of nonlinear devices in the grid. The characteristics of sustainable energy generation determine the variability and [...] Read more.
When photovoltaic, wind, energy storage batteries, and other new forms of energy are connected to the grid, power electronic converters are needed, and there are a lot of nonlinear devices in the grid. The characteristics of sustainable energy generation determine the variability and intermittency, which will produce harmonic components. Active power filters (APF) are commonly used in industry for harmonic compensation, so it is of great significance to control APF quickly and effectively. The multi-objective, single-factor, multistep finite control set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) of an APF proposed in this paper is suitable for a multi-objective, multi-level converter control. This method is applied to the three-level APF structure, which changes the traditional three-level FCS-MPC control method. The traditional three-level FCS-MPC includes four control objectives, stable control of the DC-side voltage, power grid harmonic currents generated under non-linear loads, and balance of the capacitor voltage on the DC side when switching frequency. This method uses the redundant switching state of the three-level structure to achieve the voltage balance of the two capacitors on the DC side, which reduces the difficulty of target optimisation caused by the selection of weight factors. Based on the multi-step prediction, power feedback control is added on the DC side to increase the DC side’s reaction speed, eliminate the influence of uncertainty, and realise better dynamic performance. According to the simulation results, we can observe that the proposed method has good followability, can compensate for the harmonics of the power grid, reduces the harmonic content to less than 5%, and can balance the DC-side capacitor voltage. Full article
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24 pages, 10500 KiB  
Article
Energy-Based Combined Nonlinear Observer and Voltage Controller for a PMSG Using Fuzzy Supervisor High Order Sliding Mode in a Marine Current Power System
by Youcef Belkhier, Abdelyazid Achour, Rabindra Nath Shaw, Nasim Ullah, Md. Shahariar Chowdhury and Kuaanan Techato
Sustainability 2021, 13(7), 3737; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13073737 - 27 Mar 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2342
Abstract
A permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) in s grid-connected tidal energy conversion system presents numerous advantages such as high-power density and ease of maintenance. However, the nonlinear properties of the generator and parametric uncertainties make the controller design more than a simple challenge. [...] Read more.
A permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) in s grid-connected tidal energy conversion system presents numerous advantages such as high-power density and ease of maintenance. However, the nonlinear properties of the generator and parametric uncertainties make the controller design more than a simple challenge. Within this paper we present a new combined passivity-based voltage control (PBVC) with a nonlinear observer. The PBVC is used to design the desired dynamics of the system, while the nonlinear observer serves to reconstruct the measured signals. A high order sliding-mode based fuzzy supervisory approach is selected to design the desired dynamics. This paper addresses the following two main parts: controlling the PMSG to guarantee the maximum tidal power extraction and integrate into to the grid-side converter (GSC), for this the new controller is proposed. The second task is to regulate the generated reactive power and the DC-link voltage to their references under any disturbances related to the machine-side converter (MSC). Furthermore, the robustness of the controller against parameter changes was taken into consideration. The developed controller is tested under parameter variations and compared to benchmark nonlinear control methods. Numerical simulations are performed in MATLAB/Simulink which clearly demonstrates the robustness of the proposed technique over the compared control methods. Moreover, the proposed controller is also validated using a processor in the loop (PIL) experiment using Texas Instruments (TI) Launchpad. Full article
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16 pages, 15522 KiB  
Article
Hardware-in-the-Loop to Test an MPPT Technique of Solar Photovoltaic System: A Support Vector Machine Approach
by Catalina González-Castaño, James Marulanda, Carlos Restrepo, Samir Kouro, Alfonso Alzate and Jose Rodriguez
Sustainability 2021, 13(6), 3000; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063000 - 10 Mar 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2753
Abstract
This paper proposes a new method for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of the photovoltaic (PV) system while using a DC-DC boost converter. The conventional perturb and observe (P&O) method has a fast tracking response, but it presents oscillation around the maximum power [...] Read more.
This paper proposes a new method for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) of the photovoltaic (PV) system while using a DC-DC boost converter. The conventional perturb and observe (P&O) method has a fast tracking response, but it presents oscillation around the maximum power point (MPP) in steady state. Therefore, to satisfy transient and steady-state responses, this paper presents a MPPT method using support vector machines (SVMs). The use of SVM will help to improve the tracking speed of maximum power point of the PV system without oscillations near MPP. A boost converter is used to implement the MPPT method, where the input voltage of the DC-DC converter is regulated using a double loop where the inner loop is a current control that is based on passivity. The MPPT structure is validated by hardware in the loop, a real time and high-speed simulator (PLECS RT Box 1), and a digital signal controller (DSC) are used to model the PV system and implement the control strategies, respectively. The proposed strategy presents low complexity and it is implemented in a commercial low-cost DSC (TI 28069M). The performance of the MPPT proposed is presented under challenging experimental profiles with solar irradiance and temperature variations across the panel. In addition, the performance of the proposed method is compared with the P&O method, which is traditionally most often used in MPPT under demanding tests, in order to demonstrate the superiority of the strategy presented. Full article
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