$15.

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LIBRARY FOCUS ON:

ALTERNATIVE
ENERGY
A compendium of technical
articles from Electronic Design
and Power Electronics

Copyright © 2016 by Penton Media,Inc. All rights reserved.

ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

CONTENTS Rotor hub Nacelle Oil cooler Coupling

Heat exchanger
Gear box

Spinner Rotor shaft Control panel

Mainframe
Ventilation

Soundproofing

Bearing bracket

Pitch drive Generator

Yaw drive

2 | Editorial
3 | Innovative Designs Keep Power Turbines Spinning
10 | What’s The Difference Between Thin-Film And Crystalline-Silicon Solar Panels?
18 | Solar Inverters Can Improve Power Quality
25 | Solar System Efficiency: Maximum Power Point Tracking is Key
30 | Efficiency, Reliability Issues Dictate Wind Farm Performance and Profit
33 | Direct Duty Cycle Control For MPPT Digital Implementation
37 | Automation and Standardization Needs in Smart Grids
48 | More Resources From Electronic Design

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EDITORIAL

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY HELPS

TO POWER THE FUTURE
As concern over Earth’s resources and sustainability increasingly couple
with a desire for more cost- and energy-efficient approaches, interest in
alternative energy is high and continuously rising. From electric vehicles
to smart homes, cities, and manufacturing, the world is going “green.” For
electronic systems, much of this evolution rests on the power-management
industry. Research and development efforts are working to continuously
lower power consumption while leveraging alternative energy sources.
This compendium of articles serves as an introduction to some of those
alternative-energy sources, as well as the latest engineering methods
that harvest the energy they produce. An article on power turbines,
for example, delves into internal workings like actuators, power-train
components, and more. Another article covers the risks involved if turbines
suffer from any reliability or efficiency issues. Not to be outdone, today’s
increasingly common solar panels are discussed according to the different
types available. The key role played by solar inverters also is investigated.
Technology doesn’t stand still—a statement that is especially true in
today’s alternative-energy approaches and applications. These articles
were carefully chosen to provide an overview of different aspects of the
alternative-energy market while introducing the reader to the engineering
aspects involved. As a result, we hope to provide a base view and
understanding of the alternative-energy market. We will continue to cover
this market and the technologies and engineering principles involved as
we go forward to keep you up to date.
Thank you for reading!

The Electronic Design Editorial Team

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

By Paul L. Schimel, PE
Contributing Technical Expert

Today’s wind power requires efficient power

trains and actuators to manage growing
demands for alternative energy sources.

T
he giant turbines that generate wind power
are among the most magnificent innovations
that I’ve seen in the Midwest cornfields
since the 16-row picker made its debut.
Their size and scale are fascinating, but
they are an attractive supplement that
provides renewable energy. If we want to improve
these machines, though, we first need to understand
how they work.

INNOVATIVE
DESIGNS
KEEP POWER
TURBINES SPINNING Originally published June 2013

☞
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Innovative Designs

search for or against this theory, but I

have seen the “appointed county offi-
A Couple Of Unknowns cial” show up with an A weighted sound
pressure level meter, stand 50 yards
Having seized an opportunity or two away from the machine, point the me-
to visit a large wind turbine site, lawfully ter straight up in the air so the distant
and with proper permissions, it is clear machine is well into the side lobe of the
to me that the impacts of this technolo- transducer’s polar sensitivity pattern,
gy might not be completely understood. and proclaim that all is good. But is it?
I’ve heard many claims of low-frequency What did he really measure?
noise. Perhaps that repetitive low- If the rotor has three blades spinning
frequency “whoosh whoosh” sound is at 10 rpm or so, the whooshing is hap-
the culprit, perhaps not. pening 30 times a minute or at 0.5 Hz.
I haven’t seen any substantive re- This fundamental is more than 160 dB
down the A message
0
weighting curve (Fig. 1).
–20 It is indiscernible!
The hundredth har-
–40 monic of this fundamen-
–60
tal noise is at 50 Hz,
Noise (dB)

which is 32 dB down on
–80 the A message weight-
ing curve. How can that
–100
C weighting
instrument accurate-
–120 B weighting ly measure something
A weighting that far outside its pass
–140 band? It says there’s no
–160 audible noise pollution
1 10 100 1000 10,000 100,000 beyond some estab-
Frequency (Hz) lished reference level.
But what then of the
1. The poor guy at the site with the A weighted sound pressure low-frequency noise?
meter doesn’t see the low-frequency noise at all! Another question that

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Innovative Designs

pops up is that of the long-term impact the shoebox nacelle is at its rotor. If we
on wind and weather patterns. Again, look at a Gamesa G90 machine, we
this sort of study takes a lot of time andsee that the electrical output power
instrumentation—perhaps millions of sen- at max wind is 2 MW. This occurs at a
sors and a couple of decades of mea- rotor speed of 19 rpm. The gearbox in
surement. Such studies won’t bear any the machine multiplies this shaft speed
fruit in the fiscal quarter in which they are
up by a ratio of 120:1 to run the gen-
paid, purposed, and accounted for, so erator in the rear of the machine.
they likely will be overlooked. The super-synchronous, doubly fed
induction generator (SSDFIG) in the
How Do They Work? rear of the machine produces this
power level at 690-V, three-phase out-
Unknowns aside, then, we have to put. On paper, that’s hardly amazing,
ask what’s in that box and how it works. but when you approach the machine,
When we drive past these majestic ma- it’s quite spectacular. The blade diam-
chines or perhaps inquisitively walk up eter is 295 feet. This means the swept
to them with proper permissions and area is roughly 68,500 square feet or
personal protection equipment (PPE), 1.6 acres.
we see their big blades spinning slowly The power train comprises a rotor,
in the prevailing winds. The rotor cou- cascaded with a gearbox, cascaded
ples to the nacelle. All of the necessary with an SSDFIG (Fig. 2). If the output of
equipment to transform this mechanical the SSDFIG is 2 MW, the input is cer-
energy flow into electrical power is in- tainly larger. Little information is avail-
side the nacelle. able on the losses in the gearbox and
I’ve seen two types of nacelles in the SSDFIG, but both of them have sub-
Midwest: the more popular, elongated, stantial cooling mechanisms, so they
and somewhat streamlined “shoebox” aren’t near the ideal.
nacelle and the truncated, shorter, In the absence of any data, let’s ball-
rounded cone “clipper” nacelle. I don’t park them at a throughput efficiency of
have much experience with the clippers, 85% each. If we cascade these stages,
since I haven’t found a way to have a we then need a mechanical input of 2.768
close look at them yet. MW at the rotor. With each of the three
The easiest place to start exploring blades properly pitched to create full

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Innovative Designs

power in full wind, and a rotor speed of synchronous” because the induction
19 rpm, the rotor then sees a total torquemotor is operated in a negative slip. The
of roughly 1 million foot pounds. And shaft is spun faster than the locked syn-
that’s just steady state. What about wind chronous speed, generating electricity
gusts? Indeed, they’re a prime mover at line frequency.
where the power train is located 325 feet Next, it includes “doubly fed” be-
above the ground. cause the machine is fed from both
the rotor and stator. The conventional
The Gearbox shorting bars in the rotor are broken on
one side and connected to slip rings.
Looking at the power train compo- In simplest form, adding resistance to
nents, one has to ponder the gearbox: these slip rings changes the negative
1 million foot pounds of torque input! slip of the machine, allowing a larger
The gearboxes are typically planetary range of shaft speed to result in line
arrangements, often set up in two or frequency output.
three stages. The gearbox weighs be- The shiny load bank on top of some
tween 40,000 and 60,000 pounds de- of the nacelles is the resistor bank
pending on the machine. Lubricants used to add the slip. Beyond this, addi-
found in the gearbox are usually on the tional control techniques are employed
order of SAE 360, equipped with both wherein ac current is injected into the
heaters (to keep the lubricant viscous rotor to control reactive power. This is
on cold inactive days) and pumps, ra- typically done with an IGBT-based (in-
diators, and fans to carry the heat away sulated gate bipolar transistor) inverter
from the gearbox. and a torque vector control. This is not
Gearboxes are the main point of fail- a trivial task.
ure. Historically, Robert G. Letourneau If we consider the rotor of an induction
echoed these findings in his prime motor, the frequency of current in the
movers down in Peoria, Ill., many de- rotor increases as the motor is loaded. If
cades prior. Very high torque is tough the machine stalls, the frequency of cur-
on gears! rent in the rotor is that of the line. We can
The SSDFIG converts the mechanical flip this across the synchronous speed
power into electrical power. First, “SSD- axis and say it’s similar for an induction
FIG” includes the term “super- generator. To generate anything, the ro-

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Innovative Designs

Rotor hub Nacelle Oil cooler Coupling

Heat exchanger
Gear box

Spinner Rotor shaft Control panel

Mainframe
Ventilation

Soundproofing

Bearing bracket

Pitch drive Generator

Yaw drive

2. The inside of the nacelle is a crowded place. Setting foot inside with the rotor spinning is strictly
verboten.1

tor has to be spun faster than the rotat- voltages can be substantial. Further,
ing fields in the stator. maximum output of these machines re-
If it is stalled, generating nothing, the quires rotor currents on the order of
drive that processes the power, wave- 1000 A. Whether steering into a resistive
forms, and phasing into the rotor has load bank to simply add slip or driving
to handle full transformer action. Those excitation and phasing to control power

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Innovative Designs
5000
4000
3000
2000
Torque (foot-pounds)
1000
0 a couple of other actuators merit discus-
–1000
–2000
–3000
–4000
–5000
0 2000 4000
Speed (rpm)
3. Most anyone who has stalled a table saw or
a bench grinder has developed a good feel for
the torque/speed characteristics of an induction
motor. The turbine’s induction generator is
similar, except it generates power.
factor, the control needs to safely ac-
commodate these currents (Fig. 3).
Finally, the induction generator in the
SSDFIG is a three-phase induction ma-
chine overexcited to operate as a gener-
ator. The SSDFIG typically is air-cooled
and requires a fair amount of ventilation.
IA typical insulation system for an SSD-
FIG is a class F or B system with a max-
imum ambient temperature of 40°C. The
intake for the blowers is on the bottom or
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
rear of the nacelle, and the exhaust is on
the top.
Additional Actuators
In addition to the primary power train,
sion. The rotor blade pitch control is one
of the most interesting. Its function is
pretty straightforward. Each of the three
blades needs to be rotated to proper
pitch for the wind input and power out-
put conditions. Various position encod-
6000 8000 ers maintain the same pitch for all three
blades.
The machine of choice to do this is an
induction motor with a substantial gear-
head and a variable frequency drive.
The gearhead mates with ring gears on
the rotor blades. That’s easy enough to
understand. The interesting part arises
when we consider that the rotor spins,
which isn’t very eventful. Gearhead mo-
tors and drives can handle that without
much trouble.
The required operation compounds
these needs. In the event of a power
outage, the rotor blades must pitch
full into the wind. So, a battery bank is
needed to run the drives in the event
of power failure. The battery pack has
to rotate in the rotor as well. While most
sealed battery chemistries appear to be
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Innovative Designs
able to do this, few are rated for the job.
The pitch information, power source
(as available), and command come in
through slip rings on the rotor. While the
drives in the rotor are quite secure in a
1-in. thick steel faraday cage, the slip
rings and related wire harness are fairly
susceptible to lightning events. Light-
ning often hits the highest blade. The
current is earthed through conductors in
the blade that tie to the rotor.
We certainly wouldn’t want that 10-
kA to 100-kA current impulse flowing
through the bearings and the races.
So, sharp and pointy spark gaps
that are near the rotor arc over and
conduct this current to earth ground.
While fairly deterministic, all of those
lines are certainly near that lightning
event. The good news is that they
usually tie into the controls toward
the rear of the nacelle, not in the
shortest earthing path, but they still
see some energy and failures from
these events.
The yaw position motors are like the
rotor position motors. They are slightly
larger and often operated as multiple
units in parallel, but they are induction
machines with gearheads nonetheless.
Nearly all large-scale wind turbines that
I’m aware of control yaw so the blades
are on the windward side and the wind
then flows over the nacelle.
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Wind Turbine Classifications
Under IEC61400-1, large wind
turbines are classified into three main
categories. Type III machines are used
in low-wind areas, defined as an av-
erage wind speed at the height of the
rotor hub of 16.8 mph. These machines
stand a little taller and have blade diam-
eters slightly larger than the remaining
classes of machines. Type II machines
are used in medium-wind areas with an
average wind speed of 19.0 mph at the
height of the hub. Type I machines are
used in high-wind areas with an aver-
age wind speed of 22.4 mph or greater.
The classifications bear no correlation to
maximum output power. n
to view this article online, ☞ click here
REFERENCES
1. Plantier, Keith; Mitchell Smith, Karen;
Electromechanical Principles of Wind
Turbines for Wind Energy Technicians,
TSTC Publishing, December 2009, ISBN
978-1-934302-54-5.
2. Andy Erbach, Department Head, Alter-
native Energy Program, Elgin Community
College, aerbach@elgin.edu.
[RETURN TO THE TABLE OF CONTENTS]
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By Mat Dirjish

WHAT’S THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
THIN-FILM AND
CRYSTALLINE-
SILICON SOLAR
Originally
published
May 2012

PANELS?
S
olar cells have been around a
long time, although most of that
“time” was and still is devoted to
research and development. When
light hits a solar cell, it generates
electricity, producing the photo-
Lighter than c-Si panels, SoloPower’s
flexible thin-film solar panels install easily on
commercial rooftops.
voltaic effect. The amount of electric-
ity depends on a number of factors:

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar Inverters
cell material (silicon, thin-film, other),
cell size (larger means more individual
cells translating into either more volt-
age or current), and the intensity and
quality of the light source. The most ef-
fective and desirable light source is the
sun, which is the most available and
costs nothing.
A Brief Solar Bio
If sources bode accurate, French
physicist Alexandre-Edmond Becquerel
inadvertently observed the photovoltaic
effect around 1839 while manipulating
an electrode inside a conductive fluid
exposed to light. American inventor
Charles Fritts is credited with fabricating
the first photovoltaic (solar) cell around
1883. His approach involved coating
selenium with a thin layer of gold, creat-
ing a cell that was less than 1% efficient
at best, but it worked. Of course the high
cost of the materials—selenium and
gold—put a bit of tarnish on his accom-
plishment.
As the story progresses, 1888 found
Russian physicist Aleksandr Stoletov as-
sembling a photoelectric cell based on a
photoelectric effect discovered by Hein-
rich Hertz in 1887. In 1905, Albert Ein-
stein explained the photoelectric effect.
American engineer Russell Shoemaker
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Light
Antireflective e–
coating
Transparent
Front e–
adhesive
contact
Cover glass
Load
– Electron
+ Hole
n–type semiconductor
p–type semiconductor Back contact e–
1. One example of a crystalline silicon cell
consists of seven material layers, two of
which—the outer electrical contact—hold the
entire package together.
Ohl patented the junction semiconduc-
tor solar cell in 1946 while performing
research that would lead to the invention
of the transistor.
Bell Laboratories gets credit for de-
veloping the first efficient photovoltaic
cell in 1954. Using a diffused silicon P-N
junction gave the device an efficiency
boost, but not enough to get it into a
cost-effective price range. Four years
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Solar Inverters

Transparent 2. Consisting of six

conducting coating
Light layers in this case, a
thin-film solar cell is
Antireflection not much different
coating in construction than
Junction formed
its c-Si counterpart
between two and operates on the
semiconductor same photovoltaic
materials of
opposite principle.

polish silicon de-

Substrate
Top n–type vices from scratch
Ohmic contact
“window” layer and apply antire-
formed by the first
semiconductor
flective coatings,
Bottom p–type
material he noted that the
“absorber” layer industry’s scrap
fromed by second silicon wafers
semiconductor material
already had anti-
later, the Vanguard I satellite launched reflective front surfaces. They only need-
into space with its outer body covered ed to be cut to size with the printed cir-
with solar cells. The goal was to extend cuits applied to the anti-reflective
mission time, which was usually limited surface.
by the amount of battery run time avail- Berman’s approach eliminated two
able. Proving to be effective, solar cells costly processes while enabling a vast
were integrated into emerging satellite recycling of scrap silicon. He realized
designs such as Bell Labs’ Telstar. that the silicon need not be perfect for
Solar-cell progress, however, was solar apps and that the minor imperfec-
quite slow for about 20 years until Exx- tions of discarded stock had no signifi-
on’s Eliot Berman made some price and cant effect on its performance as a solar
efficiency breakthroughs. Around 1969, cell. Long story shorter, 1973 saw Ber-
Berman first noted that solar cells were man and crew cranking out silicon solar
fabricated using a semiconductor manu- panels at a cost of around $10/W and
facturing process. Rather than cut and selling them for more than $20/W.

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Solar Inverters

3. Crystalline silicon solar panels

primarily are used in power
generating and harvesting
applications, particularly where
higher efficiency is necessary.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar Inverters
Crystalline-Silicon Solar Panels
Crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells are
currently the most common solar cells
in use mainly because c-Si is stable, it
delivers efficiencies in the range of 15%
to 25%, it relies on established process
technologies with an enormous data-
base, and, in general, it has proven to be
reliable. Ironically, c-Si is a poor absorber
of light and, what might be a sin in this
micro-miniature age, it needs to be fairly
thick and rigid.
A basic c-Si cell consists of essentially
seven layers (Fig. 1). A transparent
adhesive holds a protective glass cover
over the antirefelective coating that en-
sures all of the light filters through to the
silicon crystalline layers. Similar to semi-
conductor technology, an N layer sand-
wiches against a P layer and the entire
package is held together with two electri-
cal contacts: positive topside and nega-
tive below.
Two types of c-Si are in common use:
monocrystalline and multicrystalline
silicon. Cut from a high-purity single
crystal, monocrystalline silicon consists
of 150-mm diameter wafers measur-
ing 200 μm thick. Despite gaining more
favor, multicrystalline silicon seems
more involved to make, i.e., sawing sili-
con blocks into bars and then wafers.
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
In either case, one c-Si cell generates
approximately 0.5 V, and multiple cells
are connected in series to boost output
voltage.
Thin-Film Solar Panels
Even in the form of scrap, crystalline
silicon wafers are not exactly inexpen-
sive based on the efficiency levels they
achieve. Enter thin-film solar cells, which
are potentially cheaper than traditional
panels but less efficient, in the realm of
20% to 30% of light-to-voltage conversion.
Typical thin-film solar cells are one
of four types depending on the mate-
rial used: amorphous silicon (a-Si) and
thin-film silicon (TF-Si); cadmium tel-
luride (CdTe); copper indium gallium
deselenide (CIS or CIGS); and dye-
sensitized solar cell (DSC) plus other
organic materials.
Not too different than c-Si compo-
nents, thin-film solar cells consist of
about six layers (Fig. 2). In this case,
a transparent coating covers the anti-
reflective layer. These are followed by
the P- and N-type materials, followed
by the contact plate and substrate.
And, obviously, the operating principle
(photovoltaic) is the same as
c-Si cells.
One would think, and rightfully so, that
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY Focus on: Alternative Energy

Solar Inverters

4. Extending the Nuna series of

solar-powered cars, the Nuna 6
spreads 1690 monocrystalline
silicon solar cells over its body.
The cells work with a 21-kg
Li-ion battery and deliver an
efficiency of 22%.

with a name like thin-film cell, the com-
ponent in question would be thinner and
lighter than other cell technologies. Oth-
erwise identical in function and structure,
the singular difference between thin-film
and c-Si solar cells is the thin and flexible
pairing of layers and the photovoltaic ma-
terial: either cadmium telluride (CdTe) or
copper indium gallium deselenide (CIGS)
instead of silicon.

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Solar Inverters

Silicon Versus Thin Film The main disadvantage of thin-film

solar components is their lower
So, c-Si technology has been around efficiency, which in some applications
a while and proven its worth and mettle, can offset the price advantage. They
while thin film is still pretty much in its also have a more complex structure.
infancy—but has the potential to be Flexible versions require unique
significantly less expensive and at least installation skills. And, not yet at least,
comparable in efficiency and reliability. they aren’t viable for aerospace
With that said, which does one choose? applications.
Advantages of c-Si cells include a high
efficiency rate of about 12% to 24.2%, Apps
high stability, ease of fabrication, and
high reliability. Longevity is another plus: Both c-Si and thin-film solar panels
c-Si modules deployed in the 1970s are suit a wide range of similar power appli-
still in operation, and single crystal pan- cations. Based on their pros and cons,
els can withstand the harsh conditions you’ll see more c-Si in apps requiring
associated with space travel. Other ben- higher efficiency, and thin-film panels
efits include high resistance to heat and will take on more cost-effective and flex-
lower installation costs. And, silicon is ible situations.
more environmentally friendly come dis- Crystalline silicon solar panels are
posal/recycling time. a common fixture in power harvest-
On the downside, c-Si cells are the most ing systems as well as general utility
expensive solar components in terms of designs (Fig. 3). They also figure into
initial cost. Also, they have a low absorp- unique scenarios such as the solar-
tion coefficient and are rigid and fairly powered Nuna 6 racing car built by the
fragile. Dutch Nuon Solar team (Fig. 4).
On the other side of the fence, thin- Unveiled in July 2011, Nuna 6 is the
film soar cells are less expensive than latest in the Nuna series. Its 1690 mono-
older c-Si wafer cells. Available in thin crystalline silicon solar cells cover an
wafer sheets, they are more flexible and area of 6 m2. The cells work in conjunc-
easier to handle. They’re also less sus- tion with a 21-kg lithium-ion (Li-ion) bat-
ceptible to damage than their silicon tery. Solar-cell efficiency in this app is
rivals. specified at 22%. Overall, the car weighs

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar Inverters
145 kg, which is significantly lighter than
previous vehicles in the series.
Thin-film solar panels are also viable for
outdoor, energy-garnering applications.
SoloPower of San Jose, Calif., offers
a line of flexible panels for commercial
rooftops using thin-film solar cells made
from a combination of copper, indium,
gallium, and selenium integrated on a
flexible foil. These panels are lighter
than glass-encased c-Si panels and in-
stall quickly.
Semi-Conclusion
There seems to be a feeling in the
market that thin film will not only catch
up with c-Si components, but also will
surpass them on all levels, which truth-
fully are just cost and efficiency. One
way to cut cost in thin-film solar cells
is to use an environmentally unfriendly
material like cadmium. The makers
claim it’s safe as long as it’s encased
and in use. As of now, however, there
are no recycling plans for these com-
ponents. n
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
REFERENCES
1.“Polycrystalline Silicon” (http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Polycrystalline_silicon).
2. “Thin film solar cell” (http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Thin_film_solar_cell).
3.“How Thin-film Solar Cells Work” (http://sci-
ence.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-
science/thin-film-solar-cell.htm), by William
Harris.
4.“Crystalline-Silicon Solar Cells for the 21st
Century” (www.nrel.gov/docs/fy99osti/26513.
pdf), Y.S. Tsuo, T.H. Wang, and T.F. Ciszek.
5.“Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells” (www.world-
scibooks.com/etextbook/p139/p139_chap4.
pdf), Martin A. Green.
6.“Advances in crystalline silicon solar cell
technology for industrial mass produc-
tion” (www.nature.com/am/journal/v2/n3/full/
am201082a.html), Tatsuo Saga.
7.“Thin Film Solar vs. Crystalline Solar Pan-
els—home applications” (www.youtube.com/
watch?v=7ZNgP_U64a8), Betsy Ferris Wyman,
et al.
8.“GE places solar bets on thin-film cells”
(http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-
20000695-54.html), Martin LaMonica.
to view this article online, ☞ click here
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Richard J. Bravo Mathieu van den Bergh Bill Ruff

Southern California Edison—Westminster, Calif. CNS Inc.—Poway, Calif. AMETEK Programmable Power—

SOLAR
San Diego

INVERTERS
CAN IMPROVE
POWER QUALITY

O
ver the past 10 years, manufacturers have signifi-
cantly improved solar photovoltaic (SPV) inverter
technology. Previously, utilities were concerned
that high penetrations of solar inverters would de-
stabilize public electricity supply networks, but
recent testing has revealed that inverters with ad-
vanced features may actually improve power quality. As we move

Originally published April 2014

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Solar Inverters

Grid simulator subjected to a variety of typ-

(regenerative AC power Solar
ac power source) to and from inverter 1. Test
inverter ical voltage and frequency
Three-phase
CT CT
setup to deviations to assess its dy-
ac power
to and from evaluate solar namic performance on the
public supply CT photovoltaic grid. Various standards and
Three-
inverters. technical reports—such as
channel IEC61000-3-152 and the Ital-
power
analyzer Programmable ian CEI 0-213—mention the
Source-I
Voltage
linear/nonlinear Programmable
load dc supply to
possibility that SPV invert-
Inv-I simulate solar array ers may be used to improve
Load-I
power quality.
The initial tests on legacy
toward scenarios where many SPV inverters were aimed at verifying that the
inverters are connected to the public inverters function safely in accordance
electricity network, some advanced fea- with U.S. and international standards.
tures appear necessary, including volt/ Figure 1 shows the test setup. The grid
VAR control, voltage ride-through (VRT)1 simulator handles bidirectional power
capability, frequency ride through, real flow, just like the electric grid. The invert-
power/frequency control, ramp rate er is being fed with a DC power supply
control, and communications. that simulates the PV panel’s I-V curve.
A series of tests that were conducted The programmable load provides both
a few years ago were used to character- linear and non-linear current loads, ef-
ize typical ”legacy” inverters, including fectively simulating typical “household
an assessment of their contribution to load” patterns, such as those produced
distortion, anti-islanding issues, and po- by PCs, cooking appliances, TVs, air
tential aggravated disturbances. Next, conditioners, etc. The power analyzer
test results are presented for an off-the- provides information on the current flow
shelf advanced commercial SPV inverter in the load, as well as into or out of the
designed to operate according to recent public supply and the inverter.
German grid codes. This inverter has Figure 2 shows a typical display from
features not presently available in invert- the power analyzer. The top graph
ers designed according to standards shows the voltage (green) and the cur-
in the United States. This inverter was rent (black) flow of the grid simulator, i.e.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Solar Inverters

the electric grid. The bottom

graph shows the load current
(red) and the inverter current
(blue). The inverter delivers
1274.9 Watt to the household
(load) and 1766.5 Watt to the
grid. A few Watts are lost in
the system wiring etc.
The public supply rarely has
such a nice sinusoidal volt-
age. Voltage distortion of 2-5%
V-THD is not uncommon. To
evaluate the PV inverter re-
sponse to a distorted voltage,
the grid simulator was pro- 2. Inverter delivering 3 kWatt.
grammed in 1% steps to have
from 3-9% voltage distortion, verter “tracks” the supply voltage, i.e.,
at harmonic order 9 (VH9). adds about the same amount of current
As the graph in Fig. 3 shows, the distortion that is already present. If the
current distortion into the grid is about inverter were to be “permitted” to com-
double the programmed voltage distor- pensate, it could actually reduce the
tion. This is due to the fact that the in- current distortion into the public supply.
Current distortion as a result of
Modern inverters have this capability as
voltage distortion of the public supply we will see.
20
Supply current
20
Another undesirable consequence of
15
distortion
15 early requirements placed on PV invert-
Voltage
ers is their response to voltage dips and
I-THD %

distortion
V-THD %

10 3-9% 10
short interrupts to avoid “islanding oper-
5 5
ation.” Standards require that the inverter
Inverter I-THD separate itself from the electric grid with-
0
Load I-THD
0 in 160 ms in the event that the supply
1 51 101 151 201 251 301 351 401 451 501
voltage goes outside specified toleranc-
3. Inverter distortion contribution. es (usually about ±10% from V-nom).

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Solar Inverters

Coupling
Source is DC
in the inverters with U.S.
4. Inverter
disconnected
BW limit
standards. This section will
response to
Off contain some of the testing
voltage dip.
100 MHz of the commercial German
1 Volts/Div. inverter tested at SCE DER
2 Coarse
laboratory.
Probe
100X Newer inverter designs
Voltage permit voltage ride-through
Invert capabilities, such as the low
Off
voltage ride-through, which
CH1 200 V CH2 20.0 A M 5.00 ms CH1 16.0 V can be adjusted between
40% and 100% of voltage.
Figure 4 shows the inverter response When the system voltage is above this
to a short voltage dip. The PV inverter lower limit, the inverter continues gener-
disconnects within 10 ms and remains ating power and DOES NOT disconnect
“off-line”—sometimes for as long as sev- from the electric grid. When the system
eral minutes. Such a response will gen- voltage falls below the lower limit, the
erally aggravate the “dip” as the power inverter ceases generating power to the
contribution from the inverter “goes grid. The inverter can stay connected
away”. It is now recognized that a cer- to the grid for an adjustable time (mini-
tain amount of low voltage ride through mum of 0.04 seconds and maximum of
(LVRT) is much more desirable. 10 seconds for the unit tested at SCE),
In order to evaluate how advanced but will not export power to the grid until
solar inverters may affect
the electric grid, Southern 5. LVRT 1.20 Vsystem 0.60
California Edison (SCE) ac- capability of 1.00 Pinverter 0.40
quired several residential modern PV 0.80 0.20
V & P (p.u.)

and commercial solar PV inverter type.

Q (p.u.)
0.60 0.00
inverters designed to op-
0.40 –0.20
erate according to German —VC-N —VB-N Q
0.20
grid codes. These inverters —VA-N —PC inverter –0.40
—PE —PA
have advanced features 0.00 –0.60
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
not presently available Time (sec, 1 sec/div.)

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Solar Inverters

Newer inverter designs permit voltage ride-through capabilities, such as the low
voltage ride-through, which can be adjusted between 40% and 100% of voltage.

the voltage returns above the lower limit “traditional response” where the inverter
plus a dead-band amount (hysteresis). simply disconnects from the grid when
Figure 5 illustrates this capability. the voltage falls below say 90%, and
The voltage (blue line) briefly falls be- stays disconnected for several minutes.
low 47% of V-nom, causing the inverter Solar inverters can greatly improve
(green line) to cease generating power, voltage stability in “weak networks” as
but as soon as the voltage goes back shown in Fig. 6. For this test, the grid
to >47% plus the 3 % hysteresis band, simulator was set as a “weak source”
the inverter ramps its power back up where its output current was progres-
(just before second #8). When the pub- sively limited in approximately 5-second
lic supply voltage exceeds V-nom, at intervals. The purpose of this was to de-
second #17, the inverter scales back its crease the generation-to-load ratio of the
power contribution, and after the volt- test setup so the system voltage steadily
age stabilizes at V-nom (second #27) drops (as in a weak—rural—system).
the inverter resumes full power. This This test allows the assessment of the
type behavior is much preferred vs. the inverter (VAR) voltage support capabil-
Inverter # Volt/VAR 1.50 0.20
1.05 Vsystem 0.50 1.45 Q 0.10
1.00 V(VAR-3%QV) 0.45 Q(NO-VAR)
1.40 inverter 0.00
0.95 0.40 1.35 –0.10
0.90 V(VAR-1%QV) 0.35 Q(VAR-1%QV)
Voltage (p.u.)

1.30 –0.20
Voltage (p.u.)

0.85 V(NO-VAR) 0.30

1.25 Q(VAR-3%QV) –0.30
Q (p.u.)

0.80 0.25

Q (p.u.)
0.75 0.20 1.20 –0.40
Q(VAR-3%QV) V(NO-VAR)
0.70 0.15 1.15 V(VAR-1%QV) –0.50
0.65 Q(VAR-1%QV) 0.10 1.10 –0.60
0.60 0.05 1.05 Vsystem –0.70
Q(NO-VAR)
0.55 Qinverters 0.00 1.00 V(VAR-3%QV) –0.80
0.50 –0.05 0.95 –0.90
0.45 –0.10 0.90 –1.00
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Time (sec) Time (sec)
6. Inverter voltage support during under- 7. Inverter VAR support during over-voltage
voltage. situations.

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Solar Inverters

1.20 1.05 ed in Figs. 6 and 7, the

Active and reactive power (p.u.)

PFinverter PFadjustment
1.00 1.00 8. Dynamic inverter was programmed

Power factor (leading)

0.80
0.60
Pinverter
—QA —QB —QC
0.40 —PA —PB —PC
0.20
—PF_A —PF_B —PF_C
0.00
Qinverter
0 5 10
Time (sec, 1 sec/div.)
ities. Figure 6 shows three scenarios:
Inverter voltage support turned on at a
3% ramp rate (green plot), voltage sup-
port turned on at 1% ramp rate (orange
plot), and voltage support turned off
(blue plot). When the voltage support is
enabled and voltage falls below 98%,
shortly after the 5-second mark, the in-
verter immediately increases its VAR
output, raising the system voltage. The
data clearly shows the advantages of
implementing voltage support on solar
PV generation, with the voltage remain-
ing within 5% of V-nom when voltage
support is turned “on.” During over-volt-
age situations, the inverter can behave
in an inverse manner, i.e., reduce the
effect of over-voltage (such as happens
when loads disconnect). Figure 7 illus-
trates this scenario. Advanced inverters
typically have several communication
capabilities, via serial and even via Blue-
tooth interfaces. For both tests—illustrat-
0.95 inverter voltage with the following parame-
0.90 (Power Factor) ters when voltage support
0.85
support was enabled:
0.80
VAR support: maximum
0.75
of 50% of full power
15 20 25 30 35 Q/V gradient: 0% (NO-
VAR), 1%, and 3% (This
gradient is the relationship
between reactive power and voltage.)
Before beginning the test shown in
Fig. 7, the grid simulator voltage was
set to 120% of nominal voltage, but its
output current was limited so that the
load was pulling the grid simulator volt-
age down to the desired nominal value.
During the test, the grid simulator out-
put current was progressively increased
manually in approximately 5-second
intervals.
This simulates the increase in genera-
tion-to-load ratio so that the system volt-
age steadily rises, which in turn permits
the assessment of the inverter’s voltage
support functions. As with the previous
test, Fig. 7 plots three scenarios: volt-
age support at 3% ramp rate (green
plot), at 1% ramp rate (orange plot), and
turned off (blue plot). When the voltage
increases above 102%, shortly after the
5 second mark, the inverter immediately
absorbs VARs from the system, and thus

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar Inverters
helps to stabilize the system voltage.
Obviously, this is much preferred over
the situation where the voltage increas-
es substantially (up to 120 % of V-nom
in this case) without voltage support
turned “on.”
As part of under-and-over voltage
support, advanced inverters can adjust
their power factor (PF). This is illustrated
in Fig. 8. The inverter adjusts its PF as
a function of power output, in this case
from a PF of 1.00 at 60 % output to just
over 0.8 at 80% output.
The results of our tests indicate that
certain advanced features could benefit
the operation of the grid, if they are in-
corporated into IEEE 1547 and Califor-
nia Rule 21. Several IEC standard com-
mittees, as well as national committees
of individual countries that have, or ex-
pect to have, the number of solar photo-
voltaic inverters connected to their grids
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
to increase have already embraced
these advanced inverter capabilities.
They are, in fact, counting on the im-
proved characteristics to improve power
quality in the public supply network. n
REFERENCES
1. B. Yinger, R. Bravo, and R. Salas, “Integra-
tion of Large Rooftop PV Arrays in the Distri-
bution System,” San Antonio, Texas, Distribu-
tech 2012.
2. IEC61000-3-15 Assessment of low frequen-
cy electromagnetic immunity and emission re-
quirements for dispersed generation systems
in LV networks.
3. Reference technical rules for the connec-
tion of active and passive users to the LV
electrical utilities (Italy–2011-12).
to view this article online, ☞ click here
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By Sam Davis
Power Electronics

MAXIMUM POWER
POINT TRACKING Maximum PV
IS THE KEY TO panel system
efficiency is a major

SOLAR SYSTEM
goal in today’s solar
panel installations. Even
a 0.1% efficiency
improvement provides

EFFICIENCY
valuable payback over the
long life of a solar installation.

O
Originally published December 2015 ne of a solar engi-
neer’s tasks is to de-
termine the efficien-
cy of a solar panel
system. A first step
in determining solar
system efficiency is a review of solar panel
system technology. A PV panel system consists
of an array of PV panels whose output is applied
to an inverter that converts the panel’s DC output
to AC. These inverters must ensure they can convert
maximum power from the PV panels to which they are
connected. Maximum PV panel power depends on the
panels themselves as well as environmental factors of

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Solar System Efficiency

temperature and solar Maximum power point to the inverter

irradiation. MPPT algorithms are
To continuously obtain tracking algorithms complex, and under-the-
maximum power from are complex, and sun testing with a compre-
PV panels means that, under-the-sun testing hensive set of temperature
despite environmental and irradiance conditions
effects, you have to op- with a comprehensive set is difficult, expensive and
erate at their Maximum of temperature and time consuming. Com-
Power Point (MPP). To prehensive under-the-sun
accomplish this, invert- irradiance conditions is testing on a variety of
ers used with PV panels difficult, expensive and solar modules is nearly
employ maximum power impossible because solar
point tracking (MPPT), time consuming. cell technologies change
which is their key to opti- quickly. Plus, you also
mum solar system efficiency. Therefore, have to provide a means for monitoring
one way to check PV panel-inverter the inverter’s MPPT.
efficiency requires a method for moni- One type of light source activated so-
toring the inverter’s MPPT under all en- lar simulator uses a 100 watt Xenon arc
vironmental conditions, that is, for tem- lamp with optimized optical system that
perature and solar irradiation changes, delivers more than one AM1.5G sun ir-
which is challenging. Also, you need to radiance over a 50 x 50 mm area. Stan-
ensure your solar inverters are capable dard optics minimize harmful ultraviolet
of converting the maximum power avail- radiation. Optional accessories include
able from the solar array. an electronic shutter to provide com-
puter control for light soaking and timed
There are three ways to test the PV irradiance. This approach also needs to
panel-inverter: provide a means for monitoring the in-
1. Apply direct sunlight to the PV panel verter’s MPPT.
connected to an inverter A PV simulator relies on the model of
2.Expose the PV panel-inverter com- an ideal solar cell with a current source
bination to a bright light source that (I1) in anti-parallel with a diode (D)
duplicates sunlight (Fig.1). When the cell is exposed to light
3. Apply the output from a PV simulator it generates a direct current that varies

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Solar System Efficiency

RS I 1. Simplified voltage at which the string could

G IPH ID IP
+ model of the be operated or ‘loaded’, with
PV cell. constant irradiance and cell tem-
RP V
I1
perature. Figure 2 shows a typi-
– cal I-V curve and power-voltage
or P-V curve derived from the PV
linearly with solar radiation. In addition, cell model. Pmax is the maximum power
there is a resistance in parallel with the point. Imp is the current and Vmp is the
diode (RP) and another in series (RS). voltage at the maximum power point.
Photovoltaic (PV) panels have a non- PV array simulators aid the develop-
linear voltage-current characteristic ment and verification of inverter maxi-
based on the model in Fig. 1. The I-V mum power point tracking algorithms
curve ranges from the short circuit cur- and circuits. Small increments in power
rent (ISC) at zero volts to zero current production have a dramatic effect on
at the open circuit voltage (VOC). At the profitability of solar power genera-
the knee of a normal I-V curve is the tion, PV array simulators help engineers
maximum power point, where the panel capture as much energy as possible
produces its maximum electrical power. from their inverters, which improves the
The associated inverter must constant- economics of solar power generation.
ly adjust the load, seeking the specific To perform an accurate test of solar
point on the I-V curve that produces array inverters, the output of a PV simu-
maximum DC power. lator must faithfully follow the I-V curve
Using this simplified model of the of a solar array. It must respond just
PV cell you can produce
an I-V (current-voltage) 2. Current- I-V curve
curve of a PV cell that voltage Isc Pmax
Imp
describes its energy con- relationship and
version capability under power-voltage
Current

Power
existing conditions of ir- relationship for a P-V curve
radiance (light level) and PV cell.
temperature (Fig. 2). The
curve represents the com-
binations of current and Voltage Vmp Voc

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar System Efficiency
as a solar array would to the changing
load conditions imposed by the inverter
under test. To evaluate how well a sim-
ulator can do this, you need to consider
three parameters: output noise current,
phase error between output voltage and
current, and the maximum power point
(MPP) tracking accuracy.
There is essentially zero phase differ-
ence between the output voltage and
output current of a solar panel or array,
even when inverters use MPP tracking
strategies that change the load very
quickly. To accurately simulate a solar
panel or array, therefore, it is important
that the phase error of the simulator be
less than 15 degrees even if the load is
changing quickly.
Another important specification is the
maximum power point dynamic track-
ing accuracy. This is a measure of how
much a simulator will deviate from a
programmed I-V curve under dynamic
conditions.
As inverter power classes increase
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
3. Keysight
N8937APV PV
simulator.
in power, the size of your test array be-
comes unmanageable. Examples of PV
Simulators are the recently introduced
Keysight N8937APV and 8957APV (Fig.
3).
You can use the N8937/57APV pho-
tovoltaic array (PV) simulators in a lab-
oratory or on a manufacturing line to
simulate the output characteristics of
a real-world photovoltaic array. The
N8937/57APV PV array simulators are
single-output, programmable DC pow-
er sources that can quickly simulate I-V
curve characteristics under different
environmental conditions (temperature,
irradiance, age, cell technology and
more), enabling engineers to quickly
and comprehensively test their inverters.
These PV array simulators provide
stable output power, built-in voltage and
current measurements and autoranging
output voltage and current from 500 to
1,500V and 10 to 30A. The autoranging
capability makes the units more flexible
than traditional rectangular-output pow-
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Solar System Efficiency
er supplies because they expand the
power curve to provide more voltage
and current combinations.
The PV simulator does not provide an
output related to the MPPT. It puts out
power of a known curve, which has a
max power point, because every curve
has a max power point. Since the user
creates the curve and downloads it
into the PV simulator, the user knows
the max power point that the simulator
applies to the inverter. The user also
knows the power into the inverter. Mea-
suring the power out of the inverter then
allows the user to calculate efficiency.
However, measuring the input power
and the output power at the same time
also gives this same efficiency, and that
is what the power analyzer does.
Besides using the N8937/57APV units
to simulate PV arrays, engineers can
use them for other test and measure-
ment tasks. They provide 15-kW auto-
ranging, programmable DC power for
design verification and ATE applications
that require just the right amount of per-
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
formance at an affordable price. Engi-
neers can easily configure multiple units
in parallel to create a single power sup-
ply that offers more than 90 kW.
This PV Array Simulator allows you to:
• Develop and verify the performance
of inverter peak power tracking algo-
rithms and circuits
• Measure inverter power conversion
efficiency over a variety of simulated
conditions (varying temperature and
irradiance)
• Verify the ability of the inverter to pro-
duce grid level power from low to high
voltage extremes
• Perform qualification tests—confirm
inverter performance during or after
exposure to varying environmental
conditions.
• Perform accelerated lifecycle tests
• Perform certification tests n
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: BOB PEASE ON ANALOG
FOCUS ON:
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Running head for article

By Sam Davis
Power Electronics

According to a recent study, there is room for

efficiency improvements in wind farms’ electrical
equipment. Improvements can be made by increasing
line voltage or improving transformer design.

EFFICIENCY,
RELIABILITY ISSUES
DICTATE WIND-FARM
PERFORMANCE AND PROFIT
Originally published November 2014

A
recent study shows room for efficiency
improvements in wind farms’ electrical
equipment. For instance, up to 10% of
generated pow-
er is lost to heat in some
transmission equipment
alone. Increasing line voltage is one way
to cut losses, while improved transform-

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☞ REGISTER:
ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Wind-Farm Performance
er design is another. Most conventional
transformers work at a respectable 98%
efficiency, but higher ratings are possi-
ble and desirable.
Larger conductors are one way to
make transformers more efficient. “Bet-
ter yet, an improved magnetic structure
allows more efficient transfer of electric
fields. Transformers can be classified
as grain-oriented, which use tradition-
al steel, and amorphous, a special thin
metal. Grain-oriented steel is about 10
times thicker than amorphous steel,”
says ABB transformer design specialist
Doug Getson. In a nutshell, thinner ma-
terial reduces losses. Amorphous trans-
formers cost more but they reduce no-
load losses, a measure of efficiency, by
70% at times.
“Transformer losses are measured at
load and no-load,” says Getson. “Even
when they aren’t working hard, trans-
formers are consuming power often
priced from $2 to $8 per Watt over a
20 year equipment life. A 0.5-1% boost
does not sound like much, but consider
the many transformers on a wind farm
and you suddenly see the operator
could be losing a significant sum.
“Utilities often speak of a transform-
er’s total ownership cost,” adds Getson.
“It’s the unit’s price tag plus the cost of
the losses.” Even though more efficient
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
transformers cost more, most utilities are
learning how new designs quickly pay
for themselves. For instance, a typical
wind farm purchase of 80 high-
efficiency transformers would cost less
than $200,000 more than conventional
units. Then, armed with statistical trans-
former workloads supplied by a wind-
farm owner, each can be shown to re-
turn nearly $700/year for a total of about
$1.1 million over the life of the transform-
er ($700 × 80 units × 20 years).
One way to shorten a transformer’s
life is to ignore frequency harmonics, or
stray line frequencies. “Line frequency
is normally 60 Hz, but some equipment
generates harmonics at five times (300
Hz) or seven times (420 Hz) the 60 Hz,”
says Don E. Martin, executive consultant
with ABB. “Different equipment creates
different harmonics and you have to
consider the losses of the higher ones.
Instead of being just 1 or 2% of volt-
age, it can be 20 or 30%, and such high
over-voltage damages equipment.” If
a wind farm puts both frequencies on
top of the 60 Hz, they generate heat in
transformers that shortens their expect-
ed 20-year life. Filters remove some of
the higher harmonics.
“Not long ago, we were seeing many
different transformer specs from wind-
farm owners, all intended for the same-
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Wind-Farm Performance
sized wind turbine. Why? We asked our
engineers who design them if they were
ever given specs that would identify the
harmful harmonics to filter out. They were
not. Harmonics were being ignored,
yet it is important to know what they are
because transformers were failing on
wind farms and most likely because of
harmonics,” says Martin. If wind farm
owners would share details of line irreg-
ularities with transformer manufacturers,
short transformer life may be avoided.
A second reliability issue deals with
maintaining a steady line voltage. Keep
it steady and the grid becomes stable
and productive. “It’s easier said than
done, but there are several ways to do
it,” says Eric John, an ABB electrical
engineer and director of marketing and
sales. One way uses reactive power
compensation.
Power on a transmission line is made
of two components: active power that is
measured in kWh and for which people
and businesses pay, and reactive pow-
er. Suffice it to say the latter is added
or removed from power to stabilize line
voltage, but is not sold, so too much is
wasteful.
“The cheap way to control reactive
power is by switching reactors and ca-
pacitors on and offline with a mechan-
ical switch. The drawback is that it is
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
not smooth control and the line ends up
having step changes to the voltage,”
says John. A wind-farm goal is to con-
trol voltage within 5-10% on 69 and 138
kV lines. To complicate matters, events
transpire in less than a second, so a re-
sponse to a power-system fault must be
in less than a second. It needs an au-
tomated response, not one at a human
interval.
A better way to control reactive power
is with one that uses power electronics
as a switch rather than a slow-acting
mechanical device. Benefits? “First, this
electronic switch works fast. It responds
in milliseconds and it’s controllable
throughout its rating,” says John. “These
devices are rated for -40 to 50 Mvars,
(reactive power). It can produce -30
Mvar and change output in less than a
second to +50 Mvar, and with a smooth
ramp instead of a step. It is thyristor-
based. n
REFERENCE:
1. “Five key characteristics make wind farms
more profitable,” white paper by ABB. Re-
printed by permission from ABB Wind Power
Solutions.
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Arpita Agarwal, Ankur Kala, Mohammad Kamil,

Senior Application Engineer, Freescale Senior Application Engineer, Freescale Lead Application Engineer, Freescale

DIRECT DUTY CYCLE

CONTROL FOR DIGITAL
IMPLEMENTATION
Originally published August 2014

s
olar photovoltaic (SPV) systems VPV VDAT

are employed in applications

ranging from simple battery SPV
charging to complex grid-con- SPV module Load
module
nected solar inverters. Maximum
Power Point Tracking (MPPT) is
an algorithm used in solar applications
IDAT
for extracting the maximum available IPV

power from PV module depending on

environmental conditions. Maximum
power varies with solar radiation, ambi- 5V
12 V/5 V 5 V
ent temperature and solar cell tempera- Voltage
PV
dc/dc IDAT
ture. The voltage at which PV module IPV
MCU VDAT
VLED
can produce maximum power is called VPV ILED
“maximum power point” (or peak pow-
er voltage). A solar charge controller
embedded with the MPPT algorithm 1. A battery charging system utilizing
maximizes the amount of current going maximum power point control.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Direct Duty Cycle

Power Maximum power point 2. Solar the MPP. This is the sim-
photovoltaicplest MPPT algorithm
80 W system to implement. Figure 2
G=1000 W/m2 shows an SPV charac-
characteristics
40 W
G=600 W/m2
show the teristic curve. The MPP
voltage at any instant
maximum power
20 W
point. can be higher or low-
G=300 W/m2
Voltage
er from that given (by
the SPV manufacturer).
5 10 15 20 25 Therefore, control output
that decides the oper-
into the battery from the PV module. A ating point should be a signed number
low-cost 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) so that it can move forward or backward
can be used to implement a digital from the operating point.
MPPT charge controller. Figure 1 shows The challenges with the MPPT charge
a block diagram of an SPV battery controller are to operate the converter
charging with MPPT. steadily, regardless of SPV conditions,
The most common topology used to load changes, and noise in system. A
implement MPPT algorithm is Perturb & buck or boost converter is used to imple-
Observe (P&O). In this method the sys- ment digital MPPT charge controller. SPV
tem perturbs in a certain direction, mea- voltage and current as well as battery
sures voltage and current, calculates voltage and current are monitored using
power and compares it with the last an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to
measured value. If the power increas- implement the MPPT and to follow the
es, the system continues to perturb in battery’s charging profile. The sense
the same direction or else it perturbs feedback signals are then processed
in the reverse direction. The amount by an MCU core to calculate next PWM
of perturb or disturbance introduced switching to ON time. The PWM module
can be controlled by implementing a generates the required PWM pattern for
closed-loop control. It is also referred to a given converter. ADC resolution, PWM
as the “hill-climbing method,” because resolution, and core data calculation
it depends on the rise and fall of the resolution play an important role in the
curve of power against voltage across steadiness of operation.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Direct Duty Cycle
The challenges with the MPPT charge controller are to operate the converter
steadily, regardless of SPV conditions, load changes, and noise in system.
Operating an 8-bit MCU at 8 MHz re-
duces MCU power consumption, how-
ever, limiting the PWM input clock to a
maximum of 8 MHz. Therefore, for 30
kHz operation the maximum digital num-
ber of PWM would be ~266, or 9 bits. A
general ADC may support 8-bit, 10-bit,
or 12-bit resolution. With 9-bit PWM res-
olution, maximum 10-bit ADC resolution
can be selected, as higher resolution
may not be any advantage. Choosing a
high-resolution ADC will increase conver-
sion time. The control loop output should
be a signed number so the control loop
calculation should be in a signed mode.
To keep the number resolution intact it
should be in an 8-bit fraction mode. The
8-bit fraction mode calculation allows
maximum control loop output to be a
digital number swing of -128 to +127.
The modulus of maximum control-loop
output represents the maximum duty
cycle, so it should be either equal to or
more than the PWM period value to get
maximum resolution for the number of
calculations in the control loop. A Pro-
portional-Integration (PI) control loop
compensation block would also have its
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
own math resolution, and for any given
hardware and control-loop performance,
it is very tough to find a PI coefficient
that can produce zero or one error at the
input of compensation block. Because
of all of the above mentioned limitations,
the minimum duty step variation can go
up to 2-3% duty cycle, thus the output
would always be unstable across a given
reference point with conventional digital
PI swing controller implementation.
Direct-duty cycle control is the sim-
plest and most effective way to imple-
ment the MPPT algorithm in an 8-bit
MCU where even 1-2 bits LSB error in
math calculation can impact the sys-
tem. Direct-duty cycle control controls
the duty cycle from the error produced
by reference and actual value sensed
by the controller. The output battery
charging current is sensed by the ADC
and is compared with reference current
generated by maximum power point
algorithm. Photovoltaic voltage and cur-
rent are sensed to implement the MPPT
algorithm, so the output of the MPPT
algorithm represents a current reference
for control of the charging current. The
☞ REGISTER: electronicdesign.com | 35
ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Direct Duty Cycle
error (reference-measured) determines
the duty cycle of the switching MOS-
FET to control the charging current,
as shown in Fig. 3. Based on the error
sign, the duty cycle either increases or
decreases. As duty cycle directly con-
trols the system, no multiplications or di-
visions are required, and the duty cycle
3. Direct duty cycle control of the switching
MOSFET controls the charging current
Control system
IRFF Direct duty PWM D*VIN
+ Duty
– the system. Thus, this algorithm enables
ADC
1011001010
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
can be controlled in the order of single
LSB, without any error. This allows con-
trol of PWM duty cycle with maximum
possible resolution, which produces sta-
ble operation even with dynamic load.
Consider a scenario where the inverter
is running from battery and drawing
highly non-linear current. In this case,
rapid changes in the charging current
are observed and thus MPP keeps on
oscillating.
Physical system With this MPPT mechanism, you can
Output filter
VDC
obtain stable operation around MPP,
resulting in higher efficiency of MPPT in
a tight control over rapidly changing
system conditions. n
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

By Dr. Kai Strübbe By Dr. Mathias Uslar

TÜV SÜD Embedded Systems, OFFIS, Oldenburg, Germany
Munich, Germany
Originally published July 2013

AUTOMATION AND
STANDARDIZATION NEEDS IN
SMART GRIDS
There is a need for a sophisticated automation for the future smart grid. It is
based on the view from the international standardization from the IEC. After
outlining the original aspects of interoperability and standards integration for
smart grids, architectures, standards, and much-needed testing for various
use cases is motivated.

E
xtensive changes have been
underway in the energy sector
for several years. Firstly, the
grid has had to absorb increas-
ing amounts of electricity pro-
duced from renewable sources
and secondly, EU electricity markets are
undergoing deregulation towards “le-
gal” unbundling. This provides for grid
operation to be taken out of the com-
pany that has previously controlled all
installations from generation of electric-
ity to its transmission and distribution to
consumers.
Restructuring has led to a market en-
vironment in which the demand side
can choose from offers by a large num-
ber of suppliers. This in turn has directly
impacted on the IT landscape of energy
suppliers, which has added new sys-
tems or further connections to existing
systems to keep up with changing pro-
cesses and interfaces. In such an envi-
ronment, the players in the energy sec-

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Smart Grids
tor must address the frameworks and
standards relevant for the energy indus-
try in order to ensure B2B communica-
tion in the market or integrate systems
into a system landscape.
In the field of electricity supply, the
Common Information Model (CIM),
defined by the IEC (International Elec-
trotechnical Commission) in its IEC
61970 “family” or series of standards,
is the data exchange format of choice
at the level of control systems and mar-
ket communication. Another important
series of standards is the “IEC 61850
family” for communication networks,
systems in sub-stations and distributed
energy resources (DER). The fact that
the two standards were developed by
two different groups with different prior-
ities has created structural and
semantic conflicts. However, in prac-
tice these standards must be used
reciprocally and thus together, so that
there is a certain need for harmoniza-
tion that will become increasingly evi-
dent. Interoperability calls for standard-
ized, integrated automation within the
smart grid.
Various Technology Paradigms
Compliance with standardized mod-
els, systems, and interfaces can sup-
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
port the necessary changes in IT (in-
formation technology). In the field of
electricity supply, most standards and
frameworks for control and automation
technology are developed by the Inter-
national Electrotechnical Commission
(IEC) in cooperation with industry and
national standardization committees.
The IEC Technical Committee 57 is re-
sponsible for various standards in the
above field of technical operation of
electricity supply at all levels of volt-
age. These standards are summarized
in the IEC TR 62357 (Technical Report:
IEC TC 57 Reference Architecture, the
“Seamless Integration Architecture,”
Fig. 1).
Application of the available standards
to network and automation systems has
demonstrated that in practice, the paral-
lel use of the frameworks and standards
of the IEC 62357 series causes various
problems – mainly due to their hetero-
geneity. Within the scope of its activities,
the IEC TC 57 must combine aspects of
IT automation and automation systems
with each other. This involves a clash
of technology paradigms. Information
technology with techniques such as ob-
ject-oriented modeling, service-oriented
architecture (SOA), enterprise message
bus systems (EMB) and semantic web
technologies such as RDF (Resource
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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Smart Grids

Description Framework) and OWL (Web data-point modeling.

Ontology Language) on the one hand One conflict results from the highly
must be reconciled with conventional different perspectives of the technolo-
control and safety systems on the oth- gy domains in electricity supply under
er; the latter focus on hard real-time consideration here. Specifically, it must
requirements, communication and con- be noted that while the two main stan-
trol-related security requirements, nar- dard families of the IEC TC 57, Seam-
row bandwidths in communication, and less Integration Architecture—the fam-

Energy Market Utility Utility Service Other

Participants Customers Provider Businesses Application To Application (A2A)
Business To Business (B2B)
Communication
End-to-end Security Standards and Recommendations (IEC 62351-6)
Network, System, and Data ManagemenT (IEC 62351-7)

Inter-System/Application Profiles (CIM XML, CIM RDF)

Application
CIM Extensions 61970/61968 Common Information Model (CIM) Bridges to other Domains Interfaces

61970 Component Interface Specification (CIS)/61968 SIDMS Technology Mappings

Market Engineering &

External IT Equipment And
SCADA Apps EMS Apps DMS Apps Operation Apps Maintenance
Apps System Interfaces
Apps

Specific Object
Data Acquisition and Control Front-End/Gateway/Proxy Server/Mapping Services/Role-based Access Control
Mappings

TC13 EN61850-7-3, 7-4 Object Models Existing 60870-6-802 Object Models Field Object
Object Models Models
WG14
EN61850-7-2 ACSi 61850-6 60870-6-503 App Services
Meter 60870-5 Engineering Specific
Standards Communication
101 & 104 Mapping to
EN61850-8-1 Mapping to MMS 6087-6-703 Protocols Services Mappings
Web Services
61334
DLMS Communication Industry Standard Protocol Stacks
(ISO/TCP/IP/Ethernet) Protocol Profiles

Telecontrol Communications WAN Communications

Media and Services Media and Services
60870-5 61850 61850 Field Devices
TC13
RTUs or Devices and Systems 60870-6 External Systems
Field WG14 Substation
Substation beyond the using Web TASE.2 (Symmetic Client/
Devices Systems Devices
Substation Services Server protocols)
M2M
Revenue Other Control
LEDs, Relays, Meters, Switchbear, CTs, VTs DERs, Meters
Meters Centers

Fig. 1. IEC TC 57 Seamless Integration Architecture.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Smart Grids

ily of IEC 61970/61968 standards that harmonization of such a system would

documents the Common Information be “virtually” impossible, i.e., involve
Model (CIM) and the IEC 61850 family unreasonably high costs and efforts,
for communication networks and sys- while on the other hand, the passed
tems in electrical substations—must be frameworks and standards have al-
used seamlessly in the context of elec- ready been implemented in numerous
tricity supply, this proves impossible in products successfully placed on the
reality. market by their manufacturers. A basic
change would be in violation of the se-
Integration of Standards curity of investment for manufacturers
and clients that has been made possi-
In this context, when further interfac- ble and promised by standardization.
es between the standards and frame- Given this, alternatives must be provid-
works at both the vertical and horizon- ed for this field.
tal levels of integration are examined, While various types of heterogeneity
weaknesses related to the integration occur in the IEC TC (Technical Commit-
of standards become clear. In market tee) framework, not all of them can be
communication, for example, (semantic) eliminated. In the case of computers,
integration of XML messages (eXtensi- for example, semiotic heterogeneity
ble Markup Language) in CIM format cannot be eliminated, whereas syntac-
with the ebXML (Electronic Business tic heterogeneity between formats can
XML) format is impossible as there are very well be remedied with the help of
basic differences in modeling regarding adapters and converters. Both termi-
concepts and syntax. Similar integration nological and conceptual heteroge-
problems also exist in other domains, neity are challenging. Given this, one
such as health care. sub-objective of this article is to prove
One possibility of solving the prob- by means of selected case studies that
lems related to the overlapping of, and syntactical, terminological and concep-
interfaces between, the levels of stan- tual heterogeneities can be reduced
dards would be to agree on a common with the help of ontology mediation so
technology and semantic for harmoni- that the frameworks can be integrated
zation. However, this is only possible while existing standards can be main-
in theory. On the one hand, the overall tained.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Smart Grids

Use cases
Step 1: Frameworks
and
geneity in order to improve the interop-
Classification of standards
by functionalities standards erability between systems that use the
and heterogeneities
standards in energy industry. The issue
Classification
of standard integration that is under con-
sideration here must thus be regarded
Step 2:
Use of the ontology
Frameworks
and
as a branch of interoperability research.
concept for modeling standards This applies in particular to establishing
Rules for
mapping to semantic interoperability between com-
ontologies Reiteration where appropriate
ponents and systems. In research, the
Step 3: pdf,
necessity of formal integration of the two
Generation of ontologies text,
XML
standard families IEC 61850 and IEC
from existing artifacts
61970 has already been discussed. Inte-
Serialized
ontologies Reiteration where appropriate
gration of the two most important smart
grid automation standards has already
Step 4: been achieved to some extent. However,
Determination of alignments
between ontologies testability and certification in particular
require the seamless integration of these
Serialized
alignment Reiteration where appropriate two standards in line with the IEC SIA,
which must still be achieved.
Step 5:
Use cases
The “COLIN” framework (Fig. 2) ex-
Evaluation of artifacts Frameworks
and
amines and solves the problem of var-
standards ious heterogeneities of the IEC TC 57
Fig. 2. The COLIN framework. standards and related standards at
technical level. In this context, various
Interoperability—A Definition types of heterogeneities occur, includ-
ing syntactical, terminological, concep-
The IEEE defines interoperability as tual, and semiotic heterogeneity. The
follows: “the ability of two or more sys- framework thus aims at demonstrating
tems or components to exchange infor- that these heterogeneities can be re-
mation and to use the information that duced by using ontologies as design
has been exchanged.” This article de- artefacts, thus enabling mediation be-
fines the issue of reducing syntactical, tween the standards while maintaining
terminological and conceptual hetero- the current versions.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Smart Grids

Integration ed. A problem is that both core families

of standards from the IEC TC 57 were
The two families of standards CIM and developed by two different groups with
61850 play a particularly important role different focuses but must be used in
for standardization in the electricity sec- the same context. Given this, integration
tor. The development of these two stan- of the standards must be implemented
dards was guided by different areas of both in the form of static integration and
focus. While the CIM family of standards integration at the time of configuration.
focuses on control systems, distribution This use case is designed to determine
network management and business IT, the extent to which established methods
the IEC 61850 standard addresses the and tools are suitable to ensure these
automation and control of transform- forms of integration and how an elec-
ers, switchgears and distributed energy tronic model of the IEC 61850 in OWL
resources (DER). Both standards are format can contribute to integration.
extremely comprehensive and well test- The use case is aimed at creating an

Fig. 3. Matching
for the
integration of
the automation
standards CIM
and IEC 61850.

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ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Smart Grids
alignment between the data models of
the IEC 61850 and the CIM. Yet so far
there has been no reference alignment
that could be used to evaluate the re-
sults. Given this, the use case needs to
create not only an optimized matching
(Fig. 3), but also a manual alignment to
evaluate its own matcher. Established
ontology matchers such as H-match, fal-
con AO or COMA++ may be used as an
additional reference. In this context, an
alignment must be prepared for both the
general static data model and the SCL
meta model, which is based on UML
and can be serialized by means of XML.
The aim is for the alignments and elec-
tronic models of the standards to permit
use as design artifacts in various sys-
tems, and in particular within the scope
of system integration by means of EAI.
Before starting preparation of the XAT
tool, steps had to be taken to ensure
that all standards were also available as
electronic models in suitable serializa-
tion. This proved to be the case for the
CIM standard, which was available both
as an ontology in OWL and RDF format
and as a UML model in XMI format. The
IEC 61850 family of standards was avail-
able as an XML-based model of LN and
CDC developed by the IEC TC 57 WG
10 and was transformed into an ontolo-
gy in a first step. Given this, both fami-
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
lies of standards were then available as
ontologies or XML models. In the next
step, the models were used as the basis
of a quantitative analysis to determine
modeling focuses in the individual UML
packages or LN groups. The more attri-
butes and classes in a certain function,
the more detailed its modeling and the
more relevant it is compared to oth-
er parts of the standard. Applying this
methodology, the use case succeeded
in determining subsets of the standards
that can be mapped to each other. As
these subsets have identical higher-
level functionalities, they also offer high-
er probabilities of a matching.
The tool’s two windows on the left
show where the class is located in the
model, the attributes it has, how many
of these attributes are inherited and the
number of children of the element. In
addition, the tool also loads detailed
descriptions from the standards. This
information will then be used later on in
matching. The tool also permits loading
of various standards. For example, as
shown on the right-hand side of the win-
dow logical nodes from the IEC 61850,
here the nodes of the A group (auto-
matic control function) can be loaded in
addition to the CIM standard. Once the
standards have been loaded, matching
can be performed on the models. The
☞ REGISTER: electronicdesign.com | 43
ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Smart Grids
tool also has a generic interface which
permits loading of matchers created
for the purpose in question. In addition,
an element-based string matcher was
implemented in the tool with the fol-
lowing strategy. Both the CIM and the
IEC 61850 nodes have class and node
names and the pertinent descriptions
of class functions. While the CIM has a
highly complex structure, the IEC 61850
is very simply structured in the form of a
hierarchical taxonomy. Given this, struc-
tural information via ontologies was not
really helpful and string-based matching
was adopted as the goal.
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Similarities between Automation
Standards
A stop word list was used to simplify
the descriptions and perform additional
stemming. The names of the CIM class-
es and of the logical nodes of the IEC
61850 standard were chosen to reflect
their functions. Given this, the match-
er uses weightings, with a matching
of the names being weighted higher
than a matching of the description or
a matching of attributes. However, due
to the naming conventions of the IEC
61850 standard, names are invariably
Fig. 4. Selection
of the required
similarity
between
automation
standards.
☞ REGISTER: electronicdesign.com | 44
ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Smart Grids
short (four letters for the concept identi-
fier, with the first letter representing the
class), we aimed to select an algorithm
able to identify duplicates in relatively
short strings of characters. Based on
the second-string library of the Carnegie
Mellon University, we used a Java imple-
mentation of the Jaro-Winkler distance
which supplies a normalised similarity
between the strings (Fig. 4).
The three values for the individual
string variables (classes, descriptions,
attributes) are weighted differently and
summarized to an overall similarity. Af-
ter completion of the matcher, the tool
TÜV SÜD EMBEDDED SYSTEMS AND
TESTING LABORATORY FOR SMART ENERGY
TECHNOLOGY
TÜV SÜD’S SMART GRID CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
supports companies throughout the
world, providing end-to-end strategic
consulting services from planning to im-
plementation. Technical testing of com-
ponents and systems carried out in TÜV
SÜD’s in-house testing laboratory for
smart energy technology makes up the
second service segment. The laboratory
offers an environment to carry out simula-
tion testing for both industrial and private
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
provides feedback that the alignment
was either saved in serialized form in
the INRIA Alignment format or as OWL
alignment as described in the introduc-
tory chapter. The alignment determined
can be used in further tools, for example
as input for a matcher or SCL tool.
Outlook
Using the COLIN Framework, we suc-
ceeded in developing a methodology for
integrating the IEC standards CIM and
IEC 61850, which maps the individual
data models to each other on the basis
applications and is equipped for the test-
ing of both embedded systems and com-
munication networks. The service portfolio
covers testing of devices and systems,
comprehensive consulting services on the
design and development of new devices,
smart-grid integration of components and
systems and smart-grid optimization as
well as offering specialized training for
electricity producers and consumers.
☞ REGISTER: electronicdesign.com | 45
ELECTRONIC DESIGN LIBRARY
Smart Grids
of the existing electronic models. This
methodology enables bijective mapping
of the data of both standards. The map-
ping was documented as an electronic,
explicitly formal mapping.
Based on this mapping, the two most
important automation standards in the
smart grid can be integrated in accor-
dance with NIST, JISC, IEC, or German
TÜV SÜD’S EXPERTISE
FOR THE ENERGY
GRIDS OF TOMORROW
• Assessment of available technologies
for conformance with IEC 61850
• Development of an overall concept
• Component interoperability assess-
ment
• Smart-grid integration
• Individual cost-benefit analyses
• Identification of grid infrastructure
data
• Monitoring of compliance with IEC
61850 requirements
• Support during the implementation of
smart grid-enabled systems
• Ongoing support and professional
training of energy users and
producers
FOCUS ON: ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
DKE. This enables end-to-end commu-
nication within the IEC SIA TR 62357.
Owing to differences in aggregation and
granularity, bijective mapping is not pos-
sible for all test cases. Given this, there
is still a high demand for the testability
and certification of the individual stan-
dards to offer a quality of the original
data for the mapping that is as high as
possible.
The OPC Unified Architecture OPC UA
is an automation technology of the fu-
ture that will be able to use the prepared
mapping within an OPC UA address
space in the future. Based on the CIM or
IEC 61850 standard, an address space
mapping will be saved in the OPC UA
server and used in enquiries to trans-
late. This enables the server to ‘speak’
seamlessly to both CIM and IEC 61850.
TUV provides testing and expertise
for Smart Energy through its Embed-
ded Systems and Testing Laboratory
(see “TUV SUD Embedded Systems
and Testing Laboratory for Smart Ener-
gy Technology”). TUV has established
an framework to evaluate future energy
grids (see “TUV SUD’s Expertise for the
Energy Grids of Tomorrow”). n
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