Experimental Verification of Virtual Inertia in
Diesel Generator based Microgrids
Dipesh Shrestha∗ , IEEE Student Member, Ujjwol Tamrakar, IEEE Student Member, Zhen Ni, IEEE Member,
and Reinaldo Tonkoski, IEEE Member
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
South Dakota State University
Brookings, South Dakota 57007
Email: ∗ dipesh.shrestha@jacks.sdstate.edu
Abstract—The dynamic frequency stability issues in microgrids
with large penetration of low inertia and intermittent photo-
voltaic (PV) systems can be improved by using virtual inertia
(VI). A VI is the combination of energy storage system, power
electronics converter and a proper control algorithm. This paper
presents design and experimental verification of the VI in a PV-
diesel generator based remote microgrid system. Firstly, the VI
was designed and tested in simulation using MATLAB/Simulink.
Later, a hardware prototype of 1 kW inverter for the VI was
designed and tested with a 13 kW diesel generator test system.
The VI unit was able to reduce the frequency variations from a
minimum value of 57.39 Hz to 58.03 Hz for a step change in the
system load. The frequency deviations can be further reduced
with a larger VI unit or multiple VI units in a real microgrid
scenario.
Index Terms—Diesel generator, frequency stability, inverter,
microgrid, photovoltaic system and virtual inertia.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Due to the rapid decrease in the cost of photovoltaic (PV)
systems, the global remote microgrids installment is expected
to increase from 349 MW in 2011 to over 1.1 GW by 2017 [1].
Diesel generators are the most technologically matured system
which are used as the main prime mover in remote microgrids.
Such microgrids have a number of distinct advantages in
terms of installation simplicity and ensured power availabil-
ity [2]. The recent drive for clean and sustainable energy
systems, however, means that there is an increasing trend
and necessity towards integrating high levels of renewable
generation sources such as PV systems into such microgrids.
Such integrated systems are not only environmentally friendly,
but also offset the ever inflating cost of fuel for diesel generator
based systems. However, at the same time, this also offsets the
amount of rotating generators in the energy mix which have
negative impacts on the microgrid in terms of its dynamic
frequency stability.
Just like with larger power systems, dynamic frequency
stability of remote microgrids is critical to maintain a reliable
and robust power supply. In conventional power systems with
a large share of rotating generators, frequency stability is
maintained through the kinetic energy stored in the larger
rotors of generating units. The PV systems are, however,
interconnected through power electronic converters which are
void of such mechanical inertia. Furthermore, the highly
978-1-5090-5320-9/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE
intermittent nature of PV systems means that large power
imbalances are introduced in such hybrid systems, which
cannot be handled by the rotational inertia of the marginalized
diesel generators. This leads to high frequency deviations at
a high rate of change of frequency (ROCOF). This can ulti-
mately lead to loss of synchronism among the generator units
and/or trigger protective relays comprising power availability.
The ISO 8528-5 standard recommends the frequency of a
synchronous generator should remain within ±2.5 % of the
nominal frequency and the ROCOF within ±0.6 Hz/s [3].
Violation of these limits not only degrades the power quality
but has a negative impact on the lifetime of diesel generators.
Primary frequency controllers can help reduce the frequency
deviations through energy storage using droop based control
techniques. But the slow transient response of droop based
control techniques [4] means that they may not be suitable for
fast inertial response services required in remote microgrid
systems.
Virtual inertia has been proposed in the literature as a possi-
ble solution to this issue [5]–[8] under different terminologies
like Virtual Synchronous Generators (VSG), Virtual Syn-
chronous Machines (VSM), Synchronverters and Virtual Oscil-
lator Control (VOC). Although, the implementation topologies
vary slightly among these virtual inertia emulating systems,
the basic concept in all of the topologies is to provide inertial
response either from DC sources or distributed generation
units through power injections/absorptions proportional to the
frequency deviation and ROCOF of the system. The concept
of virtual inertia was verified using power amplifiers and a
real-time digital simulator to simulate the power system in
[9]. The system was able to decrease the frequency deviations
within the simulated power system. Similarly, in [10], a
three phase inverter system was used to emulate a diesel
generator and a separate inverter was used for virtual inertia
for experimental verification. In [11], we studied the feasibility
of using virtual inertia to improve frequency stability of a
remote PV-hydro based microgrid system. The main objective
of this paper is to present detailed design procedures for virtual
inertia in a remote microgrid context and provide experimental
verification through tests with a diesel generator system.
This paper is organized as follows: Section II gives the
basic concepts behind virtual inertia. Section III presents the
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design procedure for the design of VI. Section IV illustrates
the setup for the simulation and experimental studies. Section
V presents the simulation and experimental results and Section
VI concludes the paper.
II. C ONCEPT OF V IRTUAL I NERTIA
The concept of virtual inertia emulation involves operating a
power electronic converter (usually a DC-AC converter) with
similar behavior to that of a synchronous generator. Just as
a synchronous generator releases/absorbs the kinetic energy
in its rotor based on the frequency deviations in the grid,
the VI system injects/absorbs bursts of power between the
DC source and the grid (or a microgrid) based on frequency
deviations. Fig. 1 shows the main components of the VI
emulating system used in this paper. The DC-AC converter
is operated as a current controlled voltage source inverter
(CC-VSI) with some form of energy storage on the DC side.
A phase locked loop (PLL) is used to measure the system
frequency and the ROCOF. Fig. 2 shows the overall working
principle of the VI in a PV-diesel generator microgrid. There
are two main control loops, first is the outer loop which
generates reference power for the VI emulation and the second
is an inner current control loop which is responsible for
injecting/absorbing the calculated power. The power reference
generated for the inverter based on the frequency and ROCOF
measurements is:
d∆f
P V I = KI + KD (∆f ) (1)
dt
where, KI is the inertia emulation constant, KD is the
damping constant and ∆f is the deviation in the frequency
of the system from the nominal frequency (i.e. 60 Hz). These
constants can be tuned using:
PV I nominal
KI =   (2)
d∆f
dt
max
PV I nominal
KD = (3)
(∆f )max
where, PV I nominal is the nominal power ratingof the
 VI,
∆fmax is the maximum change in frequency and dt d∆f
max
is the maximum ROCOF. A dead-zone is usually employed
for both the frequency and ROCOF measurements to prevent
the system from responding to minor frequency changes in
the system and/or the random noises captured during mea-
surement. The power references are calculated using (1) and
converted to current references in the dq-frame using (4) and
(5) so that linear control techniques can be applied to the
design of the current controllers.
 
2 Vd × PV I − Vq × Q
Id ref erence = (4)
3 Vd2 + Vq2
 
2 V d × Q − V q × PV I
Iq ref erence = (5)
3 Vd2 + Vq2
For the VI, only the active power from the CC-VSI needs to
be controlled, so the Iq ref erence is always set as zero.
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Fig. 1: Main components of the virtual inertia.
III. D ESIGN OF V IRTUAL I NERTIA S YSTEM
The benchmark shown in Fig. 2 was used for the simulation
in MATLAB/Simulink. A three phase, 13 kW diesel generator
with an isochronous governor and an excitation system was
used as the main energy source. The diesel generator was
supplemented by a three phase, 6 kWp PV system operating
as a grid following unit based on a PLL from the microgrid
voltage. The VI unit, which is the main consideration of this
paper was implemented using a three phase CC-VSI with an
LC filter at the output to attenuate the switching noises. A
variable resistive load of 9 kW peak was connected to the
system. The frequency was measured using a three phase PLL.
The ROCOF was then estimated by taking the derivative of the
measured frequency with a low pass filter of 120 Hz to filter
the unwanted noise. The frequency and the ROCOF of the
system are the inputs for the VI reference power generation
in the outer control loop of VI.
A. Design of Virtual Inertia
For simulation in MATLAB/Simulink, the maximum RO-

COF, d∆f dt , in the system was assumed to be ±2 Hz/s,
max
the maximum frequency deviation from the nominal frequency
∆fmax was assumed as ±2.5 Hz. Further, it was assumed
that the inverter for the VI system was rated at 4 kW. Based
on these specifications, the inertia coefficient and damping
coefficient for VI were calculated as:
PV I nominal 4000W
KI =   = = 2000 W s/Hz (6)
d∆f 2Hz/s
dt
max
PV I nominal 4000W
KD = = = 1600 W/Hz (7)
(∆f )max 2.5Hz
The inertia coefficient KI needs to be selected appropriately
because a lower value of KI may result in slower dynamic
response but at the same time a higher value of KI may result
in amplification of unwanted noises in the measurement. The
values of dead-zone for the frequency and the ROCOF of the
system were taken as ±0.3 Hz and ±0.3 Hz/s respectively.
Fig. 2: Overall working diagram of the VI in a PV-diesel generator microgrid [12].

B. Design of Current Controlled Voltage Source Inverter
The LC filter for CC-VSI was designed for an inverter
switching frequency of 10 kHz (= 62831.85 rad/s) with a cut-
off frequency of 1 kHz (=6283.185 rad/s) i.e., one decade
below the switching frequency with a damping ratio (ζ)
of 0.707 [13]. From these specifications, the resistance of
inductor (R), inductance (L) and capacitance (C) of LC filter
were taken as 0.1 Ω , 10 mH and 3.3 µF respectively [13].
For current controller design, the transfer function of the
plant (i.e. inverter with the LC filter) was derived as:
iL 1 s←
Gplant (s) = = L
(8)
vinverter R
s+ L
In order to implement the current controller of (11) in a
microcontroller, it needs to converted from continuous time
domain (s-domain) into discrete time domain (z-domain).
Moreover, the transfer function of the plant in the s-domain
preceded by the hold circuit (of ADC) also needs to be
converted to the z-domain. So the s-domain transfer function
of the plant and the current controller in (9) and (11) were
transformed into z-domain using bilinear (Tustin) conversion
method [14] as:
2 z−1
(12)
T z+1
 
where R, L and C are the resistance of inductor, inductance  2 z−1
Hd (z) = Ha (s) = Ha (13)

and capacitance of LC filter respectively. Replacing the values s= T2 z−1
z+1
T z+1
of R, L and C in (8) gives the transfer function of the plant
as: As a rule of thumb, the sampling frequency for the feedback
iL 100 signals in a closed system should be ten times the bandwidth
Gplant (s) = = (9)
vinverter s + 10 of the controller [14]. The sampling frequency for the mea-
For current controller design, a modified PI (type-2) con- surement of the inverter current and the grid voltage was thus
troller was used. The generic transfer function of the modified chosen to be 10 kHz, which is ten times the bandwidth of
PI (type-2) controller is: of current controller (i.e. 1 kHz). Transforming the s-domain
1 + sτ 1 transfer function of current controller of (11) into z-domain
Hcontroller (s) = KP I (10) transfer function with a sampling frequency of 10 kHz (i.e.,
sτ 1 + sTp
T = 100 µs) using (12) gives:
where, KP I is the proportional gain, τ is the time constant
of the controller and Tp is the time constant of the additional
high frequency pole used to attenuate the higher frequency 30.64 + 7.702z −1 − 23.56z −2
Hcontroller (z) = (14)
noises. The modified PI (type-2) controller in continuous time 1 − 1.11385z −1 + 0.1385z −2
domain (s-domain) was designed with a crossover frequency
(bandwidth) of 1 kHz (=6283.185 rad/s) and a phase margin Similarly, transforming the s-domain transfer function of
of 45◦ [13]. The controller designed with these specifications the plant of (9) into z-domain transfer function with sampling
for the plant in (8) was derived as [13]: frequency of 10 kHz (i.e. T = 100 µs) using (12) gives:

62.93s + 1.642 × 105 0.004997 + 0.004997z −1

Hcontroller (s) = (11) Gplant (z) = (15)
6.609 × 10−5 s2 + s 1 − 0.999z −1

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 IV. S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL S ETUP
Based on the design described in Section III, the concept
of VI was implemented and tested in a PV-diesel generator
based microgrid. Initially, a simulation was used to verify
the design. The simulation consisted of two case studies,
in case study I the performance of the system to step load
changes were analyzed and for case study II the concept was
verified with a PV system with a real irradiance data. Finally,
the experimental verification of the concept was performed
through step changes in a load connected to a 13 kW diesel
generator.
A. Simulation Setup
For case study I, a three phase load was changed from 6
kW to 9 kW at 5 s and again reduced back to 6 kW at 55 s,
as shown in Fig. 3. Similarly, for case study II, the load in the
system was kept constant at 6 kW throughout the simulation.
A 200 s snapshot of irradiance data (taken on June 19, 2012
for Brookings, SD at South Dakota State University’s (SDSU)
Microgrid Laboratory) was used as input irradiance to the PV
system as shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 3: Step changes in load for case study I.
Fig. 4: Snapshot of 200 s irradiance data of Brookings, SD for June
19, 2012 used as input to the PV system for case study II.
B. Experimental Verification Setup
Fig. 5 shows the schematic diagram of the experimental
setup of the VI in a microgrid with a 13 kW, 120 V (rms)
diesel generator (Kohler 15REYG) connected to a 9 kW peak
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variable resistive load. A three phase inverter rated at 1 kW
with an LC filter using SEMIKRON switches was used as the
CC-VSI for the VI. For the LC filter, Hammond inductors with
inductance of 10 mH and current rating of 20 A DC along with
Kemet film capacitors of capacitance 3.3 µF with a voltage
rating of 1 kV were used. A 400 V DC power supply was
used as the input DC power for the inverter. For the hardware
implementation, since nominal power rating of VI was 1 kW,
the inertia coefficient KI and damping coefficient KD were
recalculated from (2) and (3) as 500 Ws/Hz and 400 W/Hz
respectively. There was a frequency oscillation of ±0.3 Hz in
the system even with a constant load. So, the dead-zone values
for frequency and ROCOF measurements were taken as ±0.3
Hz and ±0.3 Hz/s respectively.
Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of experimental setup of a diesel generator
microgrid with the VI.
A TI DSP (TMS320f28035) was used as the main controller.
The C code for z-domain transfer function of current controller
derived in (14) was generated using automatic code generation
feature of PSIM software. The C code thus generated was
loaded into the RAM of the TI DSP using Code Composer
Studio (CCS) software through a JTAG interface. A RS-232
cable was connected between the host computer with PSIM
and the TI DSP to monitor the signals in the “DSP scope”
using serial communication interface. The inductor current and
the grid voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) were
continuously sensed and sampled from the ADCs of the TI
DSP, with a sampling frequency of 10 kHz. The voltage at
PCC was continuously sent to the frequency to voltage sensor
(i.e. LM2907) to sense the frequency, which was sent to the
ADC of the TI DSP board. The ROCOF of the system was then
calculated by taking the derivative of the measured frequency
with a low pass filter with cut-off frequency of 120 Hz. The TI
DSP board generated the required PWM gate signals (0-3.3 V)
which was then amplified using a gate driver circuit to feed the
amplified PWM gate signals (0-15 V) to the inverter switches.
Fig. 6 illustrates the setup that was used at the microgrid
laboratory facility at SDSU.
Fig. 6: Experimental setup of microgrid with diesel generator, the VI (a)
and load.

For the experimental performance evaluation of the VI, the

load was changed from 6 kW to 9 kW at 5 s. The frequency
response of the system with and without the VI was observed
and logged using power quality meter (Fluke 435 series II).

V. R ESULTS AND A NALYSIS

For the testing of the VI in simulation, there are two case
studies presented. The first case study is step change in load,
which is the worst case scenario for the system and the second
case study is the PV system with a real irradiance input to the
system. For the testing of VI in experiment, one case study
with step change in load is presented.
(b)
Fig. 7: (a) Simulation result of frequency with and without the VI
for case study I. (b) Simulation result of active power exchanged by
the VI for case study I.

A. Simulation results for step change in load

Fig. 7 (a) shows the frequency of the microgrid system

for case study I with a generator and step load changes. The
minimum and maximum frequency of the system without the
VI (solid blue curve) were 56.02 Hz and 63.54 Hz respectively,
which are out of the ISO 8528-5 recommended limits. After
the addition of the VI, the minimum and maximum frequency (a)
of the system (dotted red curve) were reduced to 58.81 Hz and
61.23 Hz respectively as expected. Fig. 7 (b) shows the power
delivered by the VI during the transients to improve dynamic
stability. The maximum and minimum power delivered by
the inverter were 2184 W and -2235 W respectively. The net
energy exchanged was 1.6 Wh.

B. Simulation results with real PV irradiance data

Fig. 8 (a) shows the frequency of the system without the VI

and with the VI for case study II. The minimum frequency of
the system without the VI (solid blue curve) and with the VI
(dotted red curve) were 58.53 Hz and 59.58 Hz respectively.
The maximum frequency of the system without the VI (solid
blue curve) and with the VI (dotted red curve) were reduced
62.34 Hz and 60.90 Hz respectively. Fig. 8 (b) shows the total
active power exchanged by the VI case study II. The maximum
power delivered by the VI was 542 W. On the other hand, the
peak power absorbed by the VI was -1507 W.
(b)
Fig. 8: (a) Simulation result of frequency with and without the VI
for case study II. (b) Simulation result of active power exchanged
by the VI for case study II.
C. Experimental results with step change in load
Fig.9 (a) shows the experimental result of frequency of the
system with and without the VI. The frequency was observed
using the Fluke 435 series II power quality meter with a data

99
 logging resolution of 0.25 s. The minimum frequency without
the VI (solid blue curve) was 57.39 Hz whereas the minimum
frequency with the VI (dotted red curve) was 58.03 Hz. The
frequency deviation in this case was reduced by 0.64 Hz. Fig. 9
(b) shows the active power delivered by the VI. The maximum
power delivered was 900 W. The power was delivered only
during the transient and once the transient damped, power
injected by the VI became zero.
(a)
(b)
Fig. 9: (a) Experimental result of frequency response of system
with and without the VI. (b) Experimental result of active power
delivered by the VI.
The frequency of the system with the VI was not within
ISO 8528-5 standard limits as in the case of the simulation
results because the maximum power that was delivered by
inverter in experiment was limited to 900 W as shown in Fig.
9 (b). But in simulation, the maximum power delivered by VI
was more than 2000 W as shown in Fig. 7 (b). In the case
of the experimental verification, the power rating of inverter
was limited to 1 kW, which limited the power injection by
the VI system. If the inverter could have injected more power,
the frequency of the system would be within the ISO 8528-5
recommended limits. The experimental results however prove
the concept of the VI and its effectiveness in improving the
frequency of the system.
VI. C ONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK
This paper presented the design and implementation of the
VI both in simulation and experimentally. The experimental
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results confirmed that the frequency dip of the system can be
reduced using VI. Thus, the VI can enable to increase the
penetration levels of renewable sources in microgrids, while
maintaining good dynamic frequency stability. Our future
work will test the inclusion of PV systems into the microgrid
system experiment and analyze the performance of the VI.
Further, we will analyze the effect of having multiple systems
with VI and their interaction.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank Microsoft Inc. and South
Dakota Board of Regents (SDBoR) for their financial support
in completing this project. The authors also thank Mr. Jason
Sternhagen of South Dakota State University and Mr. Albert
Dunford of Powersim Inc. for their technical support to carry
out the experiments.
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