3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012
A Novel PRD Control Method Damping Resonance
in Grid-Connected Three-phase SVPWM Current
Source Inverter
Meiqin Mao1, Shiting Weng1, Fuyan Liu1, Liuchen Chang2,Ming Ding1,Hongbin Wu1
1
Research Center for Photovoltaic Engineering System, MOE, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009, China
2
University of New BrunswickˈCanada
mmao@unb.ca, weng1000@126.com, eleliufy@126.com, comlchang@unb.ca, MingDing56@126.com,
hfwuhongbin@163.com
Abstrac-- A novel control method based on the
proportional resonant differential (PRD) control is proposed
for the grid-connected current source inverter (CSI) used in
the direct drive permanent magnet synchronous wind
generation system. By the optimal design of the parameters
of the PRD controller in two-phase stationary frame, the
CSI system can realize zero steady-state error control and
effectively damp the resonance caused by its output LC
filter just by feeding back the grid-connected current. This
not only greatly simplifies the controller design but also
enhances the stability of the system. Simulation results show
grid-connected CSI with this method has fast dynamic
response and good steady-state performances.
Index Terms-- Grid-connected current source inverter;
proportional resonant differential (PRD); LC resonance;
active damping.
I. INTRODUCTION
Grid-connected inverters are now widely used in many
utility applications to interface distributed generation
systems, such as photovoltaic generation, wind
generation and fuel cells systems and alike. So, the
controller design of such inverters becomes an important
research orientation [1], [2]. According to the literatures
so far, in the case of inverter circuits for grid interfacing,
voltage source inverters (VSI) are the dominant
topologies[3]. However, current source inverters (CSI) do
offer some specific advantages, which include voltage
boost from a lower magnitude input source, implicit
output short-circuit protection, significantly reduced
electromagnetic interference because of the capacitive
voltage filters located directly on the inverter output [4].
For the CSI system with output LC filter circuit, one
of the key issues is the damping of LC resonance. There
are two methods proposed in current literatures: passive
damping and active damping methods. As passive
damping method using physical resistors in parallel or
series with the inductor or in parallel or series with the
capacitor involves excessive energy losses [5], the
preferred approach is to use only a LC filter and design
the control algorithm to “actively” damp the resonance.
Currently used active damping methods can be divided
into two categories: feedback compensation methods and
numerical methods. The former, say, high frequency
components of the capacitor voltage feedback method [6],
is simple, but high-pass filter would affect the control of
the fundamental component [7]. Although [8] presented
978-1-4673-2023-8/12/$31.00/ ©2012 IEEE
methods to avoid the problems in [6], the choice of the
virtual damping resistance is more complex for numbers
of factors need to be considered [9]. The latter used the
dynamic terms of the supply filter equations to eliminate
current oscillations under transient conditions [10],
however, the method is unable to damp the oscillations
which are from outside of the control loop [10].
Unlike the previous work, this paper proposes a
proportional resonant differential (PRD) control method
in stationary reference frame. In this method, the output
current of the CSI is fed back directly to actively
suppress the LC resonance incorporating with the optimal
configuration of the PRD, but without any feedback
compensation and complex numerical calculations. In
this way, the design of the controller is greatly simplified.
The simulation results show grid-connected CSIs with the
proposed method is capable of achieving high quality
dynamic and steady-state performances in addition to the
much lower current THD caused by both parallel and
series resonances.
II. MODEL OF GRID-CONNECTED OF THREE-PHASE CSI
Fig. 1 shows the power stage and control structure of a
grid-connected three-phase CSI in stationary reference
frame, where Cf and Lf form a low-pass filter to filter out
high frequency harmonics of the output current of
inverter, but to have the fundamental component fed into
the grid. Rf represents the equivalent resistance of the
inductor and the line. The values of all the parameters in
the circuit shown as in Table ĉ.
iia ,b ,c ia ,b ,c Lf Rf ea ,b ,c
IDC
grid
Cf abc
αβ PLL
iα iβ
iα θ
controller
SVPWM
iβ
controller
Fig.1 The control structure of grid-connected three phase CSI
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 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

is the equivalent bandwidth of the controller.

2kr1ωc s
Gc1 ( s ) = k p1 + 2 (3)
TABLE . SYSTEM PARAMETERS s + 2ωc s + ω02
Parameter Value Parameter Value
IDC 25A Cf 30uF When taking kp1= 0.1, kr1= 100, ωc= 8rad/s, the bode
Eab 380V Lf 1.5mH plot of Gcsi(s) with Gc1(s) is shown in Fig. 3. It can be
fc 5KHz Rf 0.01 seen that the gain of Gcsi(s) at the natural frequency ωn
(750Hz) close to 50dB. Therefore, even if the system is
According to the analysis of the model on the CSI stable, the output current will contain a lot of harmonics
shown in Fig.1, the grid-connected current i can be nearby ωn.
represented by the average output current of inverter ii
Bode Diagram
and grid-voltage e in the Laplace domain:
50
1 sC f
I (s) = I i (s) − 2 E ( s)

M a g n it u d e (d B )
s C f L f + sR f C f + 1
2
s C f L f + sR f C f + 1 0
= G ( s ) I i ( s ) − Ge ( s ) E ( s )
(1) -50
Where, Ge(s) is the grid-voltage disturbance transfer
function; G(s) is the LC filter transfer function, which is -100
a second-order system, and the natural frequency and 10 100 1000 10000
Frequency(Hz)
damping ratio can be obtained as ωn = 1 / C f L f and
Fig. 3. Bode plot of Gcsi with Gc1 controller.
ζ = ( R f / 2) * C f / L f , respectively. Generally, for the Another quasi-PR controller [11],[12] is as follows:
low-pass filter with grid-connected inverter, the value of kr 2ω02
Gc 2 ( s ) = k p 2 + 2 (4)
Cf , Lf and Rf are micro farad, millihenry and milliohm s + 2ςω0 s + ω02
respectively, so, ζ<1, and the system is underdamped. Where, kp2 and kr2 are the proportional gain and
Therefore, if the controller cannot effectively suppress resonant gain respectively, ζ provides another degree of
the current component nearby ωn, the line current will be freedom for specifically regulating the tracking-error
in substantial distortion. So, for the design of the performance at the line frequency ω0. In this paper, let
controller, special requirements should be considered.
ζ= 0.005. When kp2=0.1 and kr2=22.4, the bode plot of
According to the structure of the CSI shown in Fig. 1,
Gc2(s) is shown in Fig. 4.
the proposed control block diagram is shown in Fig. 2. As Bode Diagram
100
the switching frequency (5kHz) is much higher than the
grid frequency, therefore, the impact of switching on the
Magnitude (dB)

50

system can be ignored and the function of CSI be 0

represented as the forward linear gain Kpwm. with one
-50
switching cycle control delay.
E (s ) -100
0

-45
Phase (deg)

Cs
+−
I ref (s)
+ I (s ) -90
Gc (s)
e − sTS K pwm G (s )
− -135

-180
1 2 3 4
10 10 10 10
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 2. Control block diagram of the proposed controller. Fig. 4. Bode plot of Gc2
Without considering grid voltage disturbance, the It can be seen from Fig. 4 that Gc2(s) has a positive
system open-loop transfer function can be written as: resonance magnitude at ω0 and a negative resonance
Gcsi ( s ) = K pwm e − sTs Gc ( s )G ( s ) (2) magnitude at 1 + kr 2 / k p 2 ω0 . So, if the parameters of
kp2 and kr2 are so matched that 1 + kr 2 / k p 2 ω0 = ωn ,
III. DESIGN OF CONTROLLER BASED ON PROPOSED
METHOD then the controller may damp the LC resonance. Based
on this deduction, in this paper, Gc2(s) is applied to the
In this section, the controller for the CSI is constructed CSI controller, and taking kp2=0.1, kr2=22.4, the bode plot
based on the analysis on two quasi-PR controllers, and of Gcsi(s) with Gc2 is shown in Fig. 5 (the blue line).
then the specific parameters of the controller is designed ,
finally the designed controller is analyzed in details.
A. Quasi-PR Controllers
The expression of widely used quasi-PR controller [1],
[2], [11] is shown as in (3), where kp1 and kr1 are the
proportional gain and resonant gain respectively, and ωc

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 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

100
Bode Diagram the system gain increases, but without effect on the phase
With 1st order dirrerential
Without 1st order dirrerential margin. According to control theory, the proper phase
margin is 40 degree. Therefore, the appropriate
Magnitude (dB)

50
parameters can be selected by the bode diagram.
0
C. Performance Analysis of the CSI with the proposed
controller
-50
90 With the reference current as input and the
0 grid-connected current as output, the final closed-loop
Phase (deg)

-90 transfer function can be obtained as:

-180
I (s) K pwm Gc ( s )G ( s )
-270 φ (s) = * = (6)
-360 I ( S ) 1 + K pwm Gc ( s )G ( s )
-450
10
0
10
1
10
2
10
3 The bode diagram of φ ( s ) is shown in Fig. 7, it can be
Frequency (Hz)
seen that at the reference frequency of 50 Hz, the system
Fig. 5. Bode plot of Gcsi with Gc2 controller.
gain is 1, this means the system can completely track
It can be seen from the magnitude-frequency
reference signal. And the system gain is less than -10dB
characteristic that, the gain of the open-loop transfer
at the natural frequency, thus the LC resonance can be
function of Gcsi(s) is less than -20dB at the natural
damped effectively.
frequency ωn, therebyˈthe introduction of Gc2(s) into the Bode Diagram
5
controller for the CSI can effectively damp the LC
resonance. But it can also be seen from the Magnitude (dB) 0

phase-frequency characteristics that, the system is

-5
unstable because the phase angle of the system dropped
to nearly -180° at the line frequency ω0. In order to solve -10

this problem, a first-order differential is added to Gc2(s). -15

Ultimately, the constructed controller for the CSI can be 45

written as in (5) and the bode plot of Gcsi(s) is shown in

Phase (deg)

0
Fig. 5 (the red line), in which, the phase of Gcsi(s) is
boosted from -180 degree to 133 degree.
-45
k
s 2 + 2ςω0 s + (1 + r 2 )ω02
k p2 -90
Gc ( s ) = k p 2 (Td s + 1)
1 2 3
(5) 10 10 10

s 2 + 2ςω0 s + ω02
Frequency (Hz)
Fig. 7. Bode diagram of the closed-loop transfer function.
B. Design of Parameters IV. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
Firstly, the proposed control method is verified by
It can be seen from (5) that, there are three parameters simulation using Matlab/Simulink. System parameters for
needed to be designed. However, according to the the simulation are listed in Table , and Fig. 8 and Fig. 9
analysis above, 1 + kr 2 / k p 2 ω0 = ωn , Td = 1 / ω0 , so just show the simulation results.
kp2 needs to be designed, which greatly simplifies the Fig.8. shows the steady-state waveforms of grid
controller design. When kp2 is set at different values (such voltage and current. As shown, without decoupling
as 0.03,0.06 and 0.09), the bode plot of Gcsi(s) is shown compensation, the system can realize unit power factor of
in Fig. 6. grid-connected current control. Fig. 8(b) shows the THD
80
Bode Diagram of the grid-connected current is 1.54% and the amplitude
k p2=0.03 of each harmonics is less than 1%, so the CSI can meet
k p2=0.06
60
grid code completely. By comparing the grid-connected
Magnitude (dB)

k p2=0.09

40 current (22.94A) with the reference current (23A), it can

20
be seen that the steady-state errors of the CSI is very
small.
0

-20 e
Voltage(125V/div)
Current(25A/div)

90 a

0
Phase (deg)

-90 0 i
a
-180

-270

-360
0 1 2 3
10 10 10 10
Frequency (Hz) 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Fig. 6. Bode plot of Gcsi. time(s)
It can be seen from Fig. 6 that with the increase of kp2, (a)

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 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

Transistor (IGBT) is constructed for experimental

verification with detailed system parameters listed in
Table .
TABLE . SYSTEM PARAMETERS
Parameter Value Parameter Value
IDC 25A Cf 30uF
Eab 380V Lf 2mH
Ll 0.8mH Rf 0.2

Ll represents the equivalent inductance of the transformer

and the line.
System control is implemented on a platform
(b) consisting of a digital signal processor (DSP) and a
Fig. 8. Waveforms in steady-state. (a) Grid voltage and current. (b) FFT field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based platform.
of grid current. The experimental results obtained from the prototype
system are shown in Figs. 10-11.
V o lta g e (1 2 5 V /d iv )
C u rre n t(2 5 A /d iv )

ea
iref

0
ia

0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09

time(s)
(a)
(a)
V ola g e(1 2 5 V /d iv)

es
C u rre nt(2 5A /d iv)

0
is

0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12

time(s)
(b)
100
i i i (b)
a b c
50
C u rre n t(A )

Fig. 10. Experiment result with PR controller as shown in (3).

0 (a)Grid current. (b) FFT of grid current.

-50

-100
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08
time(s)
(c)
Fig. 9. Grid voltage and current. (a) Step response. (b) Disturbance
rejection response. (c) Grid current at different control strategy.
Fig. 9(a) shows the dynamic response when the
reference current is changed abruptly from 12.5A to 23A,
the output current of the CSI can track the set reference
(a)
values in less than 1ms. Therefore, fast dynamic response
is obtained with the proposed controller. Fig. 9(b) shows
with distorted grid voltage (containing 5% of the
harmonics at natural frequency) the sinusoidal
grid-connected current remains unaffected, which
indicates that the CSI is capable of suppressing LC
resonances either from the inverter or from the utility
supply. Fig. 9(c) shows when PRD controller is replaced
by PR controller (as shown in (3)), the CSI will be
unstable. This indirectly proves that the proposed PRD
control method can enhance the stability of the system.
In order to verify the proposed PRD control method a (b)
rectifier prototype system using Insulated Gate Bipolar Fig. 11. Experiment result with PRD controller.
(a)Grid current. (b) FFT of grid current.

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 3rd IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG) 2012

It can be seen from Fig. 10 that when using PR
control method grid current contains a lot of 11th
harmonic (natural frequency). But it can also be seen
from Fig. 11 that the current component nearby 11th
harmonic greatly reduced with PRD control method.
Thus proved the proposed PRD control method can damp
LC resonance effectively.
V. CONCLUSION
A novel PRD control method has been proposed for
the grid-connected current source inverters to damp the
LC resonances. Its design is so simple that only the
grid-connected current needs to be sensed and fed back.
The results of the simulations and experiments
demonstrate that the proposed control method is capable
to achieve high-quality dynamic and steady-state
performances, and can effectively damp the parallel
resonance excited by the inverter and the series resonance
caused by the utility voltage.
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PWM Rectifier with a Novel Current Damping Method,”
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pp.464-450ˈMay.2000.
[11] Xiaoqiang Guo ˈ Weiyang Wu ˈ Qinglin Zhao.
“Comparative Analysis and Digital Implementation of
Novel Control Strategies for Grid-Connected Inverters,”
Transactions of CHIAN Electrotechnical Societyˈ22(5)˖
111-115ˈMay, 2007ˊ
[12] Y. W. Li, D. M. Vilathgamuwa, P. C. Loh, “Robust
Control Scheme for a Microgrid With PFC Capacitor
Connected,” IEEE Transactions on industry applications,
vol.43, no.5, pp.1172-1182, Sep.2007.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to acknowledge the partial
support from Grant International Cooperation Project
of MOST ( 2007DFA71340 ).

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