8254
8, AUGUST 2019
Adaptive SMC for the Second-Order Harmonic
Ripple Mitigation: A Solution for the
Micro-Inverter Applications
Aditya R. Gautam , Student Member, IEEE, and Deepak Fulwani , Member, IEEE
Abstract—There have been several advanced topologies pro-
posed by the community for micro-inverter applications. How-
ever, many such applications suffer from unwanted second-order
harmonic current ripple at dc input. Moreover, in the absence of
suitable passive filter or ripple compensator, the second-order har-
monics ripple may propagate into the dc source. This results in
several problems to the system, related to system efficiency, life,
cost, size, reliability, and stability. This paper proposes an adap-
tive sliding-mode controller to shape the output impedance of the
boost-circuit of quasi-switched boost inverter such that the propa-
gation of the ripple from dc link to the dc-input source is resisted.
The quasi-switched boost inverter is one of the advanced and suit-
able topologies for the micro-inverter applications. The adaptive
nature of the proposed controller improves the transient perfor-
mance of the system at the line–load transients unlike some existing
solutions, which affects dynamics adversely to achieve ripple mit-
igation objective. The controller ensures voltage regulation within
5% at dc link. The proposed control technique is verified using a
lab-prototype of 500 W quasi-switched boost inverter.
Index Terms—Adaptive sliding-mode control (SMC), dynamic
performance, low-frequency ripple, quasi-switched boost inverter.
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
SHC Second-order harmonic current.
q-SBI quasi-switched boost inverter.
ZSI Z-source inverter.
q-ZSI quasi-Z-source inverter.
SMC Sliding-mode control.
MPPT Maximum power point tracking.
EMI Electromagnetic interference.
I. INTRODUCTION
ECENT times have witnessed a persistent interest in
R micro-inverters, which are widely used in the microgrid,
Manuscript received May 8, 2018; revised July 15, 2018 and September 19,
2018; accepted November 9, 2018. Date of publication November 21, 2018;
date of current version May 22, 2019. This work was supported in part by
the IUSSTF, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
and in part by Visvesvarayya Ph.D. Scholarship Scheme for Electronics & IT,
DeitY, Government of India. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor
G. Escobar. (Corresponding author: Deepak Fulwani.)
The authors are with Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of
Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur 342037, India (e-mail:,pg201381001@iitj.ac.in;
df@iitj.ac.in).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2018.2882646
0885-8993 © 2018 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO.
nano-grid, domestic power system, or low- and medium-power
applications. Micro-inverters are gaining popularity in such ap-
plications [1], [2]. Generally, the renewable energy sources, for
examples, solar-photo voltaic (PV), fuel cell output low voltage.
A front-end boost converter is generally required at the input
of the inverter to match the load requirements. In such dc–ac
or dc–dc–ac power converters, there is a possibility of simul-
taneous switching of switches (insulated-gate bipolar transis-
tor (IGBTs)/metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor
(MOSFETs)) of the same leg(s) of the inverter due to EMI effect,
improper firing of switches, nuisance circuit breaking, absence
of cross-conduction protection within the gate-drivers itself, etc.
This leads to shorting of source or dc-link capacitor through the
shorted leg(s) of the inverter, thereby causing a large current
flow and damage to the system. A voltage source inverter is one
of the examples.
Recently, impedance-source converters (ZSI, q-ZSI, q-SBI,
switched inductor q-ZSI, improved-switched inductor q-ZSI)
have been widely researched [3]–[8] by the community. These
impedance-source converters not only boost the low-input volt-
age but also provide safe operation of the inverter even if short-
circuit occurs in the leg(s) of the inverter. Z-network topologies
are more common. ZSI is one of the popular inverter topolo-
gies in terms of low-voltage boosting, shoot-through operation,
compactness, and suitability in the renewable energy applica-
tions. However, these topologies suffer from discontinuous input
current and/or bulky inductors. q-SBI is one of the impedance-
source converters [1], [9], [10]. Comparing q-ZSI/ZSI and q-SBI
on the basis of weight, size, and cost, the ZSI may not be suit-
able for low-power applications [1]. The q-SBI seems to be
a promising topology in the emerging low-power applications
such as micro-inverter for solar-PV, fuel cell, etc. Moreover, it is
noted that, mostly, all types of the single-phase inverters suffer
from a large second-order harmonic current injection at the very
dc input of the inverter. Furthermore, this ripple propagates into
the DC source in the absence of suitable dc-link filter or ripple
compensator. The SHC ripple mitigation in q-SBI is the focus
of this paper.
In general, both the inversion operation and the rectification
operation of ac–dc power converters lead to the SHC ripple
problem at dc link. Therefore, the reflection of the SHC ripple
at dc terminals of dc–ac power converter is an inherent and
inevitable effect [11]. This means an inverter supplying ac power
GAUTAM AND FULWANI: ADAPTIVE SMC FOR THE SECOND-ORDER HARMONIC RIPPLE MITIGATION 8255

Fig. 1. Input current of the inverter, xo (pulsating at 100 Hz) and output
voltage of the inverter, v a c (at 50 Hz). Fig. 2. Circuit diagram of the q-SBI.

to a load at 50/60 Hz injects a power ripple of 100/120 Hz at dc

terminals. A basic power equation that represents this effect is
given as follows:
vac iac = 0.5 Vm ax Im ax cos φ + 0.5Vm ax Im ax cos(2ωt − θ).
(1)
Here, Im ax is the maximum value of the output current and Vm ax
is the maximum output voltage at the load-end of the inverter,
respectively. ω is the angular frequency of vac , and θ stands for
the phase difference between vac and iac . For an ideal inverter,
the input power is equal to the output power. Therefore, the
second term in the right-hand side (RHS) of (1) appears with the
rms constant power term. This is the SHC ripple power pulsating
over the dc offset (average power) at the input side. In Fig. 1,
the dc-link input current xo (at the input of the inverter bridge of
the q-SBI, see Fig. 2) and the output voltage vac of the q-SBI are
shown. An SHC ripple pulsates over the dc offset (average value)
of xo , i.e., double of the output voltage frequency of the q-SBI.
In the absence of a large-size filter at the input of the inverter or in
the absence of a suitable compensator, SHC ripple propagates
to source and causes problems such as improper working of Fig. 3. Real-time PWM pulse generation scheme as proposed in [10].
MPPT [12], fuel starvation in fuel cell and reduced efficiency T 0 –T 1 : non-shoot-through period1 , T 1 –T 2 : shoot-through period, and T 2 –T 3 :
non-shoot-through period2 .
[11], deterioration of electrolyte and electroplates of the battery
due to excessive heating [13], over-rated sizing of components
[14], nuisance tripping of circuit breaking, etc. In the LED light increases with the increase in the percentage of peak-to-peak
applications such as street light based on the LED, the power SHC ripple. This results in a large-size passive filter. Also, the
factor correction (PFC) stage followed by the dc–dc converter long-life reliability of the electrolytic capacitor with this huge
to supply a constant current to the LED is generally used. The SHC ripple at the dc link is questionable [18], [19]. Further-
ac–dc conversion stage of the PFC causes the reflection of the more, in the q-SBI, the load connects to the source through
low-frequency SHC ripple at the dc link. The low-frequency inductor. On the one hand, in the absence of a large-size in-
operation of the LED causes the flicker effect; this may cause a ductor, a substantial injection of the SHC ripple into the source
visual fatigue and other eye-health issues [15], [16]. may occur. On the other hand, adding active power decoupling
Generally, the conventional simple boost control method circuits or auxiliary circuits to the system may eliminate the
[pulsewidth modulation 1 (PWM1)] is used for the q-SBI [17]. SHC ripple at the input completely, but this adds extra com-
However, this method suffers from low modulation index, high ponents to the circuits, consequently, increasing size, cost, and
voltage stress on switch, diodes, and capacitors, low efficiency, weight of the system [20], [21]. Recently, a family of the PWM
high THD, etc. Recently, a new PWM method (see Fig. 3), control scheme (PWM2, PWM3, and PWM5) [17], maximum
which rectifies the above-said demerits of conventional SBC boost control [22], and maximum constant boost control [23]
is proposed for the q-SBI in [10]. However, the peak value are proposed for the q-SBI/q-ZSI. However, most of the meth-
of the low-frequency inductor current and the capacitor volt- ods are implemented in the open-loop control. Tran and Nguyen
age are higher in the modified control method. The amount of [24] present a PI-controller for the five-level q-SBI to control
the low-frequency ripples in the current of the inductor is dou- the dc-link voltage. However, PI controllers provide stability
ble with the modified control method in comparison to the sim- at the operating point only. q-SBI/qZSI are suitable choices for
ple boost control method for a 400-W system [10]. Therefore, the renewable applications. In such applications with large line–
the reflection of the SHC ripple at the input of the inverter load transients, the robust and non-linear control schemes [25]
bridge and its injection into the dc-input source is still a prob- are the suitable choices. Also, Tran and Nguyen [24] consider
lem. Nevertheless, an optimum design method for the passive a low-frequency ripple of 12% in the input current, which is
filtering of the SHC ripple is available. The size of the filter large. Therefore, a suitable robust control approach is needed
8256
so that the SHC ripple reduces at the dc source, and line–load
transients performance improves simultaneously.
This paper develops an average dynamic model of the q-SBI
using the PWM method proposed in [10]. The developed model
is then used for a new controller design and ripple-reduction
analysis. This paper proposes an adaptive-SMC in conjunction
with the PWM method proposed in [10] for the q-SBI. The
proposed method does not add any extra circuit to the system.
Moreover, a comparatively smaller size of filter components (L
and C) can be used with the proposed controller. The proposed
controller aims to modify the output impedance of the boost-
circuit of the q-SBI to resist the propagation and injection of
ripple into the dc input. This paper begins with the introduction
in Section I. Dynamic modeling of the q-SBI is discussed in
Section II. The output-impedance shaping, line–load transients,
and stability of the system using the proposed controller are pre-
sented in Section III. Simulation results and experimental results
are presented in Sections IV and V, respectively. Conclusion is
drawn in Section VI.
II. QUASI-SWITCHED BOOST INVERTER
A circuit diagram of the q-SBI is shown in Fig. 2. In this
section, an average dynamic model is developed using three
different modes of operation of the q-SBI using PWM control
method provided in [10]. This method is shown in Fig. 3.
A. Development of Average State-Space Model
Three different modes of operation of the q-SBI are shown
in Fig. 4. The dynamic equations in error co-ordinates for each
mode using Fig. 4 are as follows:
1 0.5x1r (1 − 3Dstss0 ) − X0 (1 − Dstss0 ) = 0.
e˙1 = (E − r(e1 + x1r )) (2a)
L
1
e˙2 = − xo (2b)
C Using (6), Dstss0 can be deduced as follows:
1
e˙1 = (E − r(e1 + x1r ) + e2 + x2r ) (3a)
L Dstss0 =
1 3x2r
e˙2 = − (e1 + x1r ) (3b)
C Eliminating Dstss0 from the (6) gives the following:
1
e˙1 = (E − r(e1 + x1r ) − (e2 + x2r )) (4a)
L
1 Using (8), for r = 0, the value of x1r is given as follows:
e˙2 = ((e1 + x1r ) − xo ). (4b)
C
Here, e1 is inductor current error and e2 is the output capacitor
voltage error or the dc-link voltage error, i.e., e1 = x1 − x1r and
e2 = x2 − x2r . Also, x1 represents inductor current and x1r is
the reference value of the inductor current. x2 represents voltage
at the dc-link or voltage of the capacitor, and x2r is the reference
voltage of x2 . Also, x0 is the dc-link current at the input of the
inverter bridge of the q-SBI. C is the output capacitance and L
is the inductance. r is the parasitic resistance of the inductor.
The parasitic resistance of the thin-film capacitor is small, and,
hence can be neglected. In Fig. 2, rB is a bleeder resistance. rB
is large and in parallel to the capacitor. Therefore, for simplicity,
rB is neglected in Fig. 4. Lf is the ac filter at the output of the
q-SBI.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO. 8, AUGUST 2019
Fig. 4. Modes of operation of the q-SBI under modified control method.
(a) Inductor stores energy during non-shoot-through-1 [T 0 , T 1 ] or T 0 –T 1 =
0.5(1 − D st )T . (b) Shoot-through [T 1 , T 2 ] or T 1 –T 2 = D st T . (c) Inductor
transfers energy during non-shoot-through-2 [T 2 , T 3 ] or T 2 –T 3 = 0.5(1 −
D st )T . (see Fig. 3 for time intervals).
B. Average Dynamic Model
Using (2)–(4), the average dynamic model of the q-SBI (for
time intervals, Dst T, 0.5(1 − Dst )T, 0.5(1 − Dst )T ) in error co-
ordinates is as follows:
1
e˙1 = [E − r(e1 + x1r ) − 0.5(1 − 3Dst )(e2 + x2r )] (5a)
L
1
e˙2 = [0.5(e1 + x1r )(1 − 3Dst ) − xo (1 − Dst )]. (5b)
C
Dst is the shoot-through duty and T is the time-period. The
calculation of x1r is presented in the following section.
C. Calculation of the Reference Inductor Current
During steady-state operation of the q-SBI, x1 converges to
x1r and x2 converges to x2r . At steady state, the average dy-
namic model given by (5) reduces as follows:
E − rx1r − 0.5(1 − 3Dstss0 )x2r = 0 (6a)
(6b)
Here, Dstss0 and X0 are the steady-state values. It is noted that
Dstss0 is the steady-state duty for ideal and ripple-free system.
x2r − 2E x1r − 2X0
= . (7)
3x1r − 2X0
1.5rx21r − (1.5E + rX0 )x1r + (E + x2r )X0 = 0. (8)
(E + x2r )X0
x1r = . (9)
1.5E
III. OUTPUT IMPEDANCE SHAPING
In Fig. 2, Zout A −B represents the output impedance of the
q-SBI at the dc-link terminals A-B. It should be noted that the
output impedance of the q-SBI affects the flow of the ripple
from the dc link to the dc source. Also, a small modification in
the shoot-through duty of the q-SBI leads a significant change
in the output impedance. The steady-state relation between the
shoot-through duty and Zout is given by the following:
ZL
Zout A −B = . (10)
k
GAUTAM AND FULWANI: ADAPTIVE SMC FOR THE SECOND-ORDER HARMONIC RIPPLE MITIGATION 8257

Fig. 6. Z o u t A −B (p.u.) versus D stss , and k versus D stss .

Fig. 5. (a) Actual q-SBI circuit. (b) and (c) Equivalent circuits at the steady
state.

Here, ZL is the impedance of the inductor branch and k =

(1−3D stss ) 2
4(1−D stss ) is the transformation ratio. The derivation of k is
given in the following.
Fig. 5 shows equivalent circuits of the q-SBI. The inverter
load is transformed into an equivalent load impedance, say, Z
as shown in Fig. 5(b). Now, suppose Zeqv is the equivalent value Fig. 7. α with respect to per unit bus output voltage x2 (p.u.).
of the load impedance Z seen at the input in the direction of the
load [see Fig. 5(c)]. From Fig. 5(b), we have the following: in Fig. 6, it can be concluded that Zout A −B increases with the
x2r increase in the value of Dstss and decrease in the value of k. In
Z= . (11)
Xo the following section, a new adaptive sliding-mode controller is
From Fig. 5(c), we have the following: proposed, and a relation between Dstss and control parameters
of the switching function is established.
E
Zeqv = . (12)
x1r A. Proposed Controller
(1 − 3D stss )x 2 r 2(1 − D stss )X o
For the q-SBI , E = 2 and x1r = 1 − 3D stss . Sub- Sliding-mode control approach is used to design the proposed
stituting these values in (12) give the following: controller in this paper. Two important steps to follow while the
designing of the sliding-mode controller are: 1) switching func-
(1 − 3Dstss )2 x2r
Zeqv = . (13) tion design and 2) control law design. The proposed switching
4(1 − Dstss ) Xo
function σ is defined as follows:
Substituting (11) in (13) gives the following: 
σ : = e1 + αe2 + ν e2 dt (16a)
Zeqv = kZ. (14)
The load-side impedance should be multiplied by k to transfer α : = ψ(x2 − x2r )β = ψeβ2 (16b)
or to get the equivalent value of the load impedance at the ė2
input side and vice-versa. Hence, the equivalent value of ZL = α̇ : = βψeβ2 −1 ė2 = βα . (16c)
e2
ωL + r seen from the terminal points A − B in the direction
of the source, i.e., the output impedance seen at the A − B [see Here, α is the power function of e2 . ν and ψ are the positive
Fig. 5(a)] is given as the following: constant values, and β is an even positive integer. ψ keeps the
value of α within the limits. β shapes the profile of α such that
ωL + r the value of α remains close to zero at the steady state (say αm in )
Zout A −B = . (15)
k within the dc-link voltage-regulation bound, i.e., (1 ± R%)x2r .
Now, suppose M is the modulation index of the inverter, then Here, R% is the percentage output voltage regulation at the
for the q-SBI, the maximum possible value of the shoot-through dc link. The value of α rises monotonically when x2 crosses
duty, Dstm a x , is equal to 1 − M . It is mandatory to keep the the boundary of the permitted dc-link voltage-regulation bound.
value of M high and in the linear range (0–1) such that the THD Fig. 7 shows a typical profile of α versus the per unit bus voltage,
level in the output of the inverter remains within the desired x2 (p.u.). x2r is the base/reference voltage for per unit conver-
range (< 5%). In this paper, the value of M is chosen to be 0.8, sion. A plot for the typical profile of α is shown in Fig. 7. For
which implies Dstm a x = 0.2. Using (10), plots of Dstss versus this, the parameters are x2r = 220 V, ψ = 10−6 , ±R% = ±5%,
k, and Dstss versus Zout A −B per unit (p.u.) are shown in Fig. 6 and β = 4. The proposed switching function is a modified one
for L = 2 mH, f s = 20 kHz, and Dst = 0 to 0.2. From the plot from our earlier work [26], [27].
8258 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO. 8, AUGUST 2019

In the subsequent sections it will be proved that Zout A −B

becomes large for very small values of α at the steady state.
However, the value of α should be increased monotonically
when dc-link voltage x2 departs the voltage-regulation bound at
line- or load-transients. This is done to achieve fast convergence
of the system dynamics. This is the motivation for the design of
the α given by (16b).
The time derivative of σ is given as follows:
σ̇ = e˙1 + αe˙2 + α̇e2 + νe2 . (17)
Substituting (16c) in (17) we get the following:
σ̇ = e˙1 + α(β + 1)e˙2 + νe2 . (18) Fig. 8. Per unit Z o u t A-B (p.u.) versus α.
The reaching dynamics are chosen as [28]
Multiplying the numerator and denominator by α μ(3x−2 1 r −2X o )
σ̇ = −Γσ − Qsign(σ) Γ, Q ∈ R+ − {0}. (19) in the RHS of (22) and substituting (7) in it gives the following:
A finite-time reaching of the system dynamics on the sliding Dstss0 − α μ 1 −(1−2L ν ) 2
3x 2 r −α μx 1 r +2α μX o
surface (σ = 0) is ensured by (19). Here, Γ regulates the reach- Dstss ≈ . (23)
3(α μ 1 − 2 )
ing time, and Q can be calculated depending on the maximum 1− 3x 2 r −α μx 1 r +2α μX o
value of the disturbance. The analysis of the system against the 
At σ ≈ 0, 1 = −α 2 − ν 2 . Also, at the steady state, α ≈
system parameter disturbance is presented under the robustness
0 as per the proposed
 design of the α shown in Fig. 7. This
analysis.
implies α 2  ν 2 (where ν > 0). This gives 1 = −ν 2 .
Substituting this in (23) gives the following:
B. Control Law
Dstss0 + κ1 − κ2
By solving (5), (18), and (19), the shoot-through duty of the Dstss ≈ . (24)
1 + 3κ1
controller is calculated as follows: 
+
Here, κ1 = 3x 2 r −α μx 1 r2+2α2 μX o and κ2 = 3x 2 r −α 2L
α μν ν 2
Dst μx 1 r +2α μX o . It
should be noted that Dstss0 is the steady-state duty (for 2 or α =
E + (0.5αμ − r)(e1 + x1r) − 0.5(e2 + x2r) − αμxo + Lνe2 0), i.e., for an ideal q-SBI without having low-frequency ripple
=
αμ(1.5(e1 + x1r ) − xo ) − 1.5(e2 +x2r ) at the input of the inverter while Dstss is the steady-state duty
with ripple. However, in our case, the SHC ripple is reflected at
L(Γσ + Qsign(σ))
+ (20) the input of the inverter. Hence, at steady state α retains its value
αμ(1.5(e1 + x1r ) − xo ) − 1.5(e2 + x2r ) between 0 and ψ( 2 m a x )β . Dstss0 is modified by varying α such
(β + 1)L that Zout A −B increases and hence, the SHC ripple reduces at
where μ = C .
the source. Using (15) and (24), a plot of per unit Zout A −B (p.u.)
C. Shaping of Zout A −B Using Control Parameter α versus α is shown in Fig. 8. A decrease in the value of α causes
an increase in the value of Dstss and this increase in Dstss results
At sliding mode σ ≈ 0, (20) reduces to the following: into an increase in Zout A −B .
Dstσ ≈0 ≈
D. Existence of the Sliding Mode
E + (0.5αμ − r)(e1 + x1r) − 0.5(e2 + x2r) − αμxo + Lνe2
. To guarantee the existence of the sliding mode for the pro-
αμ(1.5(e1 + x1r ) − xo ) − 1.5(e2 + x2r )
(21) posed switching function, the following η-reachability condi-
tion given by (25) should hold true for the reaching dynamics
Suppose, a stable sliding mode is achieved, i.e., system dynam- given by (19):
ics converge and the steady state are reached. At the steady state,
e1 is equal to 1 (SHC ripple in the input current at the steady σ σ̇ < −η|σ|, η > 0. (25)
state) and e2 is equal to 2 (SHC ripple in the output voltage at Substituting (19) in the left-hand side (LHS) of (25) gives the
the dc link). These ripples pulsate over the dc offset (average following:
values of current and voltage). Also, the parasitic resistance r is
σ σ̇ = −σΓσ − σQsign(σ). (26)
very small and can be neglected. Considering these in (21), we
|σ |
have the duty at the steady state as follows: Substituting sign(σ) = σ in (26) gives the following:
Dstss ≈ σ σ̇ = −(Γ|σ| + Q)|σ|. (27)
−(0.5x2r −E) + αμ(0.5x1r −Xo) + 0.5αμ 1 − (0.5 −Lν) 2 Comparing (25) and (27) gives the condition η ≥ Γ|σ| + Q.
.
−1.5x2r + αμ(1.5x1r − Xo ) + 1.5αμ 1 − 1.5 2 Hence, the existence of the sliding mode is guaranteed for all
(22) η > Γ|σ| + Q provided Γ, Q > 0.
GAUTAM AND FULWANI: ADAPTIVE SMC FOR THE SECOND-ORDER HARMONIC RIPPLE MITIGATION 8259

Fig. 10. Phase-plane. (a) Region of attraction in red color: stable region about
the operating point. (b) Closer view.

TABLE I
SYSTEM PARAMETERS

Fig. 9. Eigenvalue plot. (a) Variation in α and ν both. (b) Variation in α only.
(c) Variation in ν only.

E. Stability of the Sliding Mode

Here, the stability of the sliding mode is proved using eigen-
values’ plot of the Jacobian matrix obtained from the lineariza-
tion of the non-linear closed-loop model of the q-SBI about
the operating point ( 1 , 2 ). The non-linear closed-loop system
dynamics in error coordinates are as follows:
Lė1 =
unacceptable limits. The limits of α can be designed as fol-
−μα[1.5rZo (e1 + x1r )2 + (e2 + x2r )2 − 1.5Zo E(e1 + x1r ) 1 +a 2
lows. Suppose in (24), κ1 = αa 3a−α a 4 and κ2 = a 3 −α a 4 . Here,
a5

1.5Zo μα(e1 + x1r ) − (1.5Zo + αμ)(e2 + x2r ) a1 = μν 2 , a2 = 2 , a3 = 3x2r , a4 = μx1r − 2μXo , and
−r(e1 + x1r)(e2 + x2r)+E(e2 + x2r)]+1.5LνZo e2 (e2 + x2r) a5 = 2Lν 2 . In (24), the value of Dstss can range from 0 to
+ 1. Therefore, the range of α can be solved for 0 < Dstss < 1.
1.5Zo μα(e1 + x1r ) − (1.5Zo + αμ)(e2 + x2r )
(28) Solving this as follows:
a5 − a2 − a3 Dstss0 2a2 + a3 (1 − Dstss0 ) + a5
C ė2 <α< . (30)
a1 − a4 Dstss0 (1 − Dstss0 )a4 − 2a1
1.5Zo (e1 + x1r )[r(e1 + x1r ) − (Lνe2 + E)] + (e2 + x2r )
= A phase-plane plot of the non-linear closed-loop system given
1.5Zo μα(e1 + x1r ) − (1.5Zo + αμ)(e2 + x2r )
by (28) and (29) is shown in Fig. 10(a). The parameters given
[(e2 + x2r ) + (Lνe2 + E) − r(e1 + x1r )] in Table I are used to obtain the plot. The inductor-current error
. (29)
1.5Zo μα(e1 + x1r ) − (1.5Zo + αμ)(e2 + x2r ) e1 is plotted on the x-axis and the dc-link voltage error e2 is
plotted on the y-axis. The proposed controller ensures stability
In Fig. 9(a), the eigenvalues are plotted for n values of 1 , 2 , and
about the operating point ( 1 , 2 ≈ 0). The region shown in red
α. For ±5% voltage regulation (i.e., ±5% x2r ), the n points of
color under the dashed-dotted lines (in black) is the region of
2 are from ao to ao + (n − 1)d. Here, ao = −10, n = 21, and
attraction toward the operating point. In Fig. 10(b), a closer view
d = 1. Also, at the steady state α ≈ 0 (because α= ψ 2 β ; here,
of the operating point is shown.
ψ = 1e − 6 and β = 4). For α ≈ 0, 1 = −ν 2 at σ ≈ 0.
This discussion concludes that the increase in the value of
Moreover, ν is also varied with α in Fig. 9(a). In Fig. 9(a), all
α makes the faster convergence of the system dynamics while
the eigenvalues are negative; this ensures system stability about
the decrease in the value of α causes reduction in the ripple at
the operating point ( 1 , 2 ). Furthermore, the effect of variation
the dc-input source. This makes the profile of α (see Fig. 7) a
in the value of α, keeping ν fixed, and the effect of variation in
suitable choice to fulfill the objective.
ν, keeping α fixed, are shown in Fig. 9(b) and (c), respectively.
From Fig. 9(b) and (c), the higher values of α and smaller values
F. Robustness Analysis
of ν result into the faster convergence of the system dynamics.
At the line–load transients, the value of α increases mono- Here, the robustness of the system against the uncertainty
tonically. However, the value of α should not increase to in the system parameters (C, L) is investigated. This analysis
8260 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO. 8, AUGUST 2019

verifies whether the sliding mode is established despite the pres-

ence of uncertainty in system parameters. The reachability con-
dition given by (19) is used for this analysis. The existence of
the sliding mode (σ = 0) is ensured if reachability condition is
satisfied. The dynamic model given by (5) can be re-written as
follows:

ė = Λ(f + gu) (31)

where f, g, and u are as follows:

     
e1 f1 E − r(e1 + x1r ) − 0.5(e2 + x2r )
e := , f := =
e2 f2 0.5(e1 + x1r ) − x0
Fig. 11. Proposed control scheme.
     
g1 1.5(e2 + x2r ) Z1 0
g := = , Λ :=
g2 −1.5(e1 + x1r ) + x0 0 Z2 Furthermore, (38) simplifies to the following:
1 1 σ σ̇ = −η1 |σ| (39)
Z1 = , Z2 = . (32)  
L C
Δρ2
η1 = (Γ|σ| + Q)Δρ1 − . (40)
Perturbations in inductance L and capacitance C will change Z1 sign(σ)
by ΔZ1 and Z2 by ΔZ2 . This implies Λ changes to Λ + ΔΛ =
[ Z 1 +Δ 0 The reachability condition holds true, provided that η1 > 0.
Z 2 +Δ Z 2 ]. Substituting this in (31) gives the following:
Z1
0
Suppose Δ Δ ρ 1 = ρm ax , where ρm ax is the maximum uncer-
ρ2

ė = (Λ + ΔΛ)(f + gu). (33)
Substituting (32) in (20) gives the following:
u = −(KΛg)−1 (Γσ + Qsign(σ) + ν(x2 − x2r ) + KΛf ).
(34)
Here, K represents a row vector, i.e., K = [1 (β + 1)α]. The
nominal dynamic model of the system is used for controller
design. It is to be established that this controller achieve sliding
mode within a finite time despite the parametric uncertainty in
the system. Using (18) and (33) gives the following:
σ̇ = K(Λ + ΔΛ)(f + gu) + ν(x2 − x2r ). (35)
Substituting (34) in (35) gives the following:
σ̇ = −[K(Λ + ΔΛ)((KΛg)−1 (ν(x2 − x2r ) + KΛf ) − f )
− ν(x2 − x2r)] − [K(Λ + ΔΛ)g(KΛg)−1 ](Γσ + Qsign(σ)).
(36)
The robustness of the system against the parametric uncertainty
is ensured if the reachability condition [given by (25)] holds
true. Substituting the LHS of (25) in (36) gives the following:
σ σ̇ = −σ[K(Λ + ΔΛ)((KΛg)−1 (ν(x2 − x2r) + KΛf ) −f )
− ν(x2 − x2r)]− σ[K(Λ + ΔΛ)g(KΛg)−1 ](Γσ + Qsign(σ)).
(37)
|σ |
Substituting σ = sign(σ ) in (37) gives the following:
 
Δρ2
σ σ̇ = − (Γ|σ| + Q)Δρ1 − |σ|. (38)
sign(σ)
Here, Δρ1 = K(Λ + ΔΛ)g(KΛg)−1 and Δρ2 = K(Λ +
ΔΛ)( (KΛg)−1 ( ν(x2 − x2r ) + KΛf ) − f ) − ν(x2 − x2r ).
tainty. Also, |sign(σ)| = 1. Using these values in (40) gives the
following:
|ρm ax | < |Γ|σ| + Q|. (41)
The parameter Q is designed such that Q > ρm ax to satisfy the
condition given by (39). Fig. 11 shows the schematic of the
proposed control scheme. It is noted that the conventional SMC
has a problem of chattering phenomenon due to high (ideally
infinite) and variable switching frequency. In this paper, a fixed-
frequency PWM SMC is used. Therefore, chattering issue is not
a major problem here. The objective of this paper is to mitigate
the problem of the SHC ripple at the input of the q-SBI without
affecting the dynamic performance of the system. The MPPT
is one of the requirements in the micro-inverter applications.
The MPPT operation is not considered in this paper; however,
a front-end converter with the q-SBI can be used to achieve the
MPPT operation.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
In this section, the proposed adaptive sliding-mode con-
troller is verified using the simulation results using MATLAB-
Simulink tool. The system parameters used in the simulation are
given in Table I. The simulation results are shown for the steady-
state operation and transients operation. Transients performance
results are shown for the line-transients and load-transients.
A. Steady-State Operation
In Fig. 12, the steady-state waveform of the input current x1
and the dc-link voltage x2 of the q-SBI for a fixed duty-cycle
(without the proposed controller) is shown. The peak-to-peak
SHC ripple in the input current is 48%, which is detrimental
to the source and components of the q-SBI and, hence, not
acceptable.
GAUTAM AND FULWANI: ADAPTIVE SMC FOR THE SECOND-ORDER HARMONIC RIPPLE MITIGATION
Fig. 12. Steady-state waveform of x1 and x2 with fixed duty (open-loop).
Fig. 13. Impact of α on the SHC ripple: Steady-state operation with variations
in the value of α.
Fig. 14. Plot of σ versus time.
The steady-state operation of the system with the proposed
controller is shown in Fig. 13. In Fig. 13, the effect of the
decrease in the value of α is shown. The reduction in the peak-
to-peak SHC ripple at the input side (in E, x1 ) is observed with
the decrease in the value of α. With the decrease in the value
of α from α = 0.4 to α = 0.001 (see right to left in Fig. 13), a
decrease from 46% to negligible in the peak-to-peak SHC ripple
in the input current x1 is observed. A plot of σ versus time is
shown in Fig. 14.
B. Transients Response
The transients results are shown for two different cases:
1) load-transients response and 2) line-transients response.
1) Load-Transients Response: The load-transients results
for the 500-W q-SBI are shown in Fig. 15. The transients re-
sponses for the different system variables (E, x1 , x2 , xo Vac ,
Iac ) are observed. The load is varied from 100% to 20% at
t = 1 s and from 20% to 100% at t = 3 s as shown in Fig. 15.
At load-removal and load-application, the undershoot and over-
shoot in the dc-link voltage from the reference voltage x2r are
less than 9%. The voltage settles down to the reference voltage
in less than 400 ms.
8261
Fig. 15. Simulation results for 100% to 20% load-transients.
Fig. 16. Simulation results for 100% to 50% load-transients.
Fig. 17. (a) Waveform of output ac voltage v a c . (b) FFT analysis of V a c .
In Fig. 16, the simulation results are shown for the load vari-
ations from 100% to 50% and vice-versa. In both the cases of
the load changes (load-application and load-removal), the un-
dershoots are less than 7% and the overshoots are less than
9% from x2r . The voltage settles down to the reference voltage
within 200 ms in both of the cases. An fast Fourier transform
(FFT) plot of Vac for five cycles is shown in Fig. 17. The per-
centage of THD in vac is less than 5%.
2) Line-Transients Response: The line-transients results
(variations in the input voltage E) are shown in Fig. 18. In
Fig. 18, E, x1 , x2 , and xo are shown. At t = 1 s, the input volt-
age is increased from 60 to 96 V. This causes an overshoot of
4% in the dc-link voltage from the reference voltage. This volt-
age settles back to the reference voltage in 0.15 s. At t = 2 s,
the dc-link voltage is decreased from 96 to 60 V. This causes
an overshoot of 9% in the dc-link voltage from the reference
voltage. This voltage settles back to reference voltage in 0.42 s.
8262
Fig. 18. Simulation results for line-transients.
Fig. 19. Experimental setup.
Fig. 20. Steady-state results: The ripple in the input current x1 is negligible
for α = 0.001.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The proposed controller is verified using a lab-prototype of
500-W q-SBI. Fig. 19 shows the experimental setup. The param-
eters for the experimentation are the same as in Table I except
ψ = 1 × 10−8 ; this is due to non-ideal system parameters. In
this figure, the q-SBI setup with voltage sensors, current sen-
sors, and gate-driver board, OPAL-real-time digital simulator,
lamp-load, and battery-bank are shown. Here, the experimental
results are presented for three different cases: 1) steady-state
operation test; 2) load-transients test; and 3) line-transients test.
CASE-I: Steady-State Operation Test: The steady-state oper-
ation results are shown in Fig. 20. The figure shows the steady-
state waveform of the input voltage E, the input current x1 , the
dc-link voltage x2 , and the dc-link current of the dc–ac inverter
of the q-SBI, xo . Clearly, it can be seen that the input current x1
has a negligible SHC ripple. This ensures the ripple reduction
by the proposed controller at the input. Also, the effect of α on
the ripple (similar to Fig. 13) is shown in Fig. 21. The zoomed
waveforms are also shown in Fig. 21. The peak-to-peak ripple
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO. 8, AUGUST 2019
Fig. 21. Effect of α on the SHC ripple in the input current of the q-SBI: Ripple
reduces with decrease in the value of α; for α = 0.9, the ripple in the input
current is 30%, which reduces to <5% for α = 0.001.
Fig. 22. Load-transients test with 80% load variation: 80% of load is added
to pre-connected 20% load at t = 0.2 s and removed at t = 0.88 s.
is 30% for α = 0.9 and < 5% for α = 0.001. This validates the
theoretical results presented in Section III-C.
CASE-II: Load-Transients Test: In Fig. 22, the transients re-
sults at the load variation are shown. At the output of the q-SBI,
an ac lamp-load of 500 W is used. The load-transients analysis is
done by applying 80% of the total ac lamp-load at t = 0.2 s and
removing it (keeping 20% of load connected) at t = 0.88 s. At
the application of the load, the dc-link voltage x2 shows an over-
shoot/undershoot of 13.6%/18.2% from the reference dc-link
voltage (x2r = 220 V). However, the voltage settles down at the
reference voltage within 160 ms. At the removal of the load, the
dc-link voltage shows an overshoot/undershoot of 12.3%/9%
from x2r = 220 V. The voltage settles down at the reference
voltage in 220 ms. There are slight variations in the input volt-
age and the output voltage of the q-SBI.
In Fig. 23, another load-transients results are shown for the
50% load variation. The dc-link voltage shows overshoot and un-
dershoot of 13.6% at load-application and 9% at load-removal,
respectively. The dc-link voltage takes 125 ms (approximately)
to settle down at the reference voltage.
CASE-III: Line-Transients Test: In Fig. 24, the line-transients
results are shown. In Fig. 24, the input voltage, the dc-link volt-
age, and the output ac voltage of the q-SBI are shown. In this
test, the input voltage is varied (manually) from 125 to 58 V at
t = 4 s and 58 to 125 V at t = 14 s. Throughout the variation in
GAUTAM AND FULWANI: ADAPTIVE SMC FOR THE SECOND-ORDER HARMONIC RIPPLE MITIGATION
Fig. 23. Load-transients with 50% load change: 50% of load is removed at
t = 0.32 s and added again at t = 3.36 s.
Fig. 24. Line-transients test: variation in input voltage E manually from
125 to 58 V and vice-versa.
TABLE II
SUMMARY OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
the input voltage, the dc-link voltage is regulated to the reference
dc-link voltage (220 V). Very small variations in the values of
x2 and Vac are observed. The test is performed manually using
unregulated power supply. Therefore, the input voltage shows
some distortions. The experimental results are summarized in
Table II. From Table II, it can be concluded that the SHC rip-
ple reduces significantly in the input current of the DC source
even with comparatively smaller size of L and C. Hence, even-
tually, this paper adds an adaptive sliding-mode controller to
the PWM method proposed in [10] and supplements the rip-
ple reduction target, despite the comparatively small size of L
and C.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper has proposed a new adaptive sliding-mode con-
troller for q-SBI. The proposed controller has been verified
using a 500 W q-SBI. The experimental results has been pre-
sented for steady-state operation and line–load transients. The
controller ensures ripple reduction at input of q-SBI. The
peak-peak value of the second-order harmonic current rip-
ple in input current reduces below 5% of average value of
the input current. The controller also ensures desired line–
load transients response. The controller shows <18.5% over-
shoot/undershoot in the DC link voltage at load-transients. There
8263
is negligible undershoot/overshoot in the DC bus voltage at
line-transients.
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 34, NO. 8, AUGUST 2019
Aditya R. Gautam (S’15) received the B.Tech. de-
gree in energy engineering and the M.Tech. degree in
electrical drives from the National Institute of Tech-
nology Bhopal, Bhopal, India, in 2011 and 2013, re-
spectively. He is currently working toward the Ph.D.
degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur,
Jodhpur, India.
His research interests include control, power elec-
tronics, and power quality studies of dc microgrids.
Deepak Fulwani (S’09–M’10) received the Ph.D.
degree in systems and control from the Indian Insti-
tute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Mumbai, India, in
2009.
He was with IIT Guwahati and IIT Kharag-
pur. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the
Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Jodhpur,
Jodhpur, India. His research interests include control
of networked systems and dc microgrids.