• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1029-1039
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• 2013

To avoid undesirable disconnection of healthy wind generators (WGs) or a wind power plant, a WG protection relay should discriminate among faults, so that it can operate instantaneously for WG, connected feeder or connection bus faults, it can operate after a delay for inter-tie or grid faults, and it can avoid operating for parallel WG or adjacent feeder faults. A WG protection relay based on the positive- and negative-sequence fault components is proposed in the paper. At stage 1, the proposed relay uses the magnitude of the positive-sequence component in the fault current to distinguish faults requiring non-operation response from those requiring instantaneous or delayed operation responses. At stage 2, the fault type is first determined using the relationships between the positive- and negative-sequence fault components. Then, the relay differentiates between instantaneous operation and delayed operation based on the magnitude of the positive-sequence fault component. Various fault scenarios involving changes in position and type of fault and faulted phases are used to verify the performance of the relay. This paper concludes by implementing the relay on a hardware platform based on a digital signal processor. Results indicate that the relay can successfully distinguish the need for instantaneous, delayed, or non-operation.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1245-1254
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• 2018

The stability of a grid-connected system (GCS) has become a critical issue with the increasing utilization of renewable energy sources. Under grid faults, however, a grid-connected inverter cannot work efficiently by using only the traditional droop control. In addition, the unbalance factor of voltage/current at the common coupling point (PCC) may increase significantly. To ensure the stable operation of a GCS under grid faults, the capability to compensate for grid imbalance should be integrated. To solve the aforementioned problem, an improved voltage-type grid-connected control strategy is proposed in this study. A negative sequence conductance compensation loop based on a positive sequence power droop control is added to maintain PCC voltage balance and reduce grid current imbalance, thereby meeting PCC power quality requirements. Moreover, a stable analysis is presented based on the small signal model. Simulation and experimental results verify the aforementioned expectations, and consequently, the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.22-29
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• 2023

A grid-connected inverter can be used in grid-connected or stand-alone modes. Generally, a grid-connected inverter operates in a grid-connected mode, but the inverter operates in stand-alone mode if grid faults occur. In the stand-alone mode, the grid-connected inverter must supply electric power to a critical load that needs to receive stable power even though grid faults occur. Generally, three-phase loads are used as critical loads, but a single phase is configured in some cases. In these conditions, the critical load is required to unbalance the load power consumption, which makes the three-phase load voltage unbalancd. This unbalanced voltage problem can cause fatal problems to the three-phase critical loads, and thus must be addressed. Hence, this paper proposes an algorithm to solve this unbalanced voltage problem by the individual phase current control. The proposed method is verified using Psim simulation and experiments.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.22-33
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• 2021

In the case of open phase faults caused by the disconnection of distribution feeders interconnected to a PV system, many problems can occur depending on the core type and wiring method of the grid-connected transformers. Moreover, open phase faults are difficult to detect because the open phase voltage of the existing protection relay (Open Phase Relay (47)) can be maintained, even though a disconnection fault occurred, depending on the wiring method and the iron core type of the grid-connected transformer for a PV system. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel algorithm to detect open phase faults by comparing the currents and phases between the primary and secondary sides of a grid-connected transformer. In addition, this paper presents the modeling of a distribution system and protection devices for detecting open phase faults using PSCAD/EMTDC S/W, and implements a test protection device for detecting open phase faults based on the above-mentioned modeling. The simulation and test results confirmed that the proposed algorithm is useful for detecting open phase faults according to the wiring method and iron core type of grid-connected transformer for a PV system because operation slope and unbalance rate of the primary current exceed the setting value (30[%]) of the protection device.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.23-32
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• 2017

This paper presents losses comparison and analysis results for different types of fault modes of grid-connected photovoltaic system generated for long-term operation. The approach of losses comparison and analysis by faults is to identify relationship between measured and estimated values of five loss factors which are quantified from irradiance to system output power. This paper presents the symptom results for faults such as snow, shading, sensor defect, blackout, soiling and so on from three years or more monitored data. These results will indicate that it is useful to develop fault detection and diagnosis tool to enhance capacity factor and save operation and maintenance cost of grid-connected photovoltaic system in the field.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.65-72
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• 2009

The new method is proposed to improve high speed detection of grid voltage phase and magnitude during a voltage dip due to a grid faults. Usually, A LPF(Low Pass Filter) is used in the feedback loop of PLL (Phase Locked Loop) system because the measured grid voltage contains harmonic distortions and sensor noises. so, a new design method of the loop gain of the PI -type controller in the PLL system is proposed with the consideration of the dynamics of the LPF. As a result, a better transient response can be obtained with the proposed design method. The LPF frequency and PI controller gain are designed in coordination according to the steady state and dynamic performance requirement. This paper shows the feasibility and the usefulness of the proposed methods through the computer simulation and the lab-scale experiments.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1831-1840
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• 2018

During a power swing, distance relays may mistakenly spread fault throughout the power grid, causing a great deal of damage. In some cases, such mistakes can cause global outages. For this reason, it is critical to make a distinction between power swings and faults in distance relays. In this paper, a new method is proposed based on RMS measurement to differentiate between faults and power swings. The proposed method was tested on two standard grids, demonstrating its capability in detecting a power swing and simultaneous fault with power swing. This method required no specific configurations, and was independent of grid type and zoning type of distance relays. This feature in practice allows the relay to be installed on any grid with any kind of coordination. In protective relays, the calculations applied to the microprocessor is of great importance. Distance relays are constantly calculating the current RMS values for protection purposes. This mitigates the computations in the microprocessor to detect power swings. The proposed method was able to differentiate between a fault and a power swing. Furthermore, it managed to detect faults occurring simultaneously with power swings.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1551-1564
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• 2016

The high penetration level of inverter-based distributed generation (DG) power plants is challenging the low-voltage ride-through requirements, especially under unbalanced voltage sags. Recently, a flexible injection of both positive- (PS) and negative-sequence (NS) reactive currents has been suggested for the next generation of grid codes. This can enhance the ancillary services for voltage support at the point of common coupling (PCC). In light of this, considering distant grid faults that occur in a mainly inductive grid, this paper proposes a complete voltage support control scheme for the interface inverters of medium or high-rated DG power plants. The first contribution is the development of a reactive current reference generator combining PS and NS, with a feature to increase the PS voltage and simultaneously decrease the NS voltage, to mitigate voltage imbalance. The second contribution is the design of a voltage support control loop with two flexible PCC voltage set points, which can ensure continuous operation within the limits required in grid codes. In addition, a current saturation strategy is also considered for deep voltage sags to avoid overcurrent protection. Finally, simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.909-918
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• 2013

This paper proposes a coordinated control of the reactive power between the STATCOMs (static synchronous compensators) and the grid-side converters (GSC) of wind farms equipped with PMSGs (permanent-magnet synchronous generators), by which the voltage fluctuations at the PCC (point of common coupling) are mitigated in the steady state. In addition, the level of voltage sags is reduced during grid faults. To do this, the GSC and the STATCOM supply reactive power to the grid coordinately, where the GSCs are fully utilized to provide the reactive power for the grid prior to the STATCOM operation. For this, the GSC capability of delivering active and reactive power under variable wind speed conditions is analyzed in detail. In addition, the PCC voltage regulation of the power systems integrated with large wind farms are analyzed for short-term and long-term operations. With this coordinated control scheme, the low power capacity of STATCOMs can be used to achieve the low-voltage ride-through (LVRT) capability of the wind farms during grid faults. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy has been verified by PSCAD/EMTDC simulation results.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.898-904
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• 2012

This paper presents a ride-through skill of PMSG wind turbine system under the distorted and unbalanced grid voltage dips. When voltage dips occur in the grid, pitch control and generator speed control as well as a parallel resistor of DC-link help to keep the turbine's safety. Modern grid code requires a wind turbine to supply reactive currents to help voltage recovery after grid faults clearance. In order to supply reactive currents to the grid in case of the distortedly unbalanced grid voltage dips, a special PLL is needed to control the grid side converter and to regulate the grid voltages symmetrically. The proposed method is applied to 2MW multi-pole PMSG wind turbine system, and verified by simulation.