International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

ISSN:2051-3240, Vol.44, Special Issue.2

651

Grid Interconnection of PV Solar Energy Systems at

the Distribution Level with Power Quality
Improvement
Ahsan Q. Omran Aladi
M.Tech in Energy Systems,
Centre for Energy Studies Department,
JNTUH College of Engineering, Hyderabad, India
Email:ahsanq87@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
This paper describes improved methodology of power
quality at utility end in a grid system connected with
renewable source of energy for power generation. With
development of new functionalities solar energy based
Photovoltaic cells are upcoming energy source with higher
efficiency. With the increase in load demand, the
Renewable Energy Sources (RES) are increasingly
connected in the distribution systems which utilizes power
electronic Converters/Inverters. The Photo Voltaic (PV)
Panel is modeled based on associated equations. The use of
non-linear loads in the power system will lead to the
generation of current harmonics which in turn deteriorates
the power quality. The Problems like current unbalance,
current harmonics and also of injecting the energy generated
by renewable energy source. The inverter is controlled on
the basis of hysteresis control and thus it can be utilized as a
power converter injecting power generated from RES to the
grid. When the power generated from RES is more than the
total load power demand, the grid-interfacing inverter with
the proposed control approach not only fulfills the total load
active and reactive power demand but also delivers the
excess generated sinusoidal active power to the grid at unity
power factor. This work is carried out using
MATLAB/SIMULINK software.

Keywords-Photo Voltaic cell, Inverter, Power Quality,

Distributed generation.

1. INTRODUCTION
This paper presented here shows unique and effective
methodology for planning a grid connected to renewable

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source of energy as solar energy and Harmonic Mitigation

in system using Active Filter on utility side. Solar power is
harnessed through PV panels and harmonic distortion is
filtered using Shunt Active filter.
Due to increasing air pollution, global warming concerns,
diminishing fossil fuels and their increasing cost have made
it necessary to look towards Renewable Energy Sources
(RES) as a future energy solution. In finding solutions to
overcome a global energy crisis, the Photo Voltaic (PV)
system has attracted significant attention in recent years.
The government is providing incentives for further
increasing the use of grid-connected PV systems.
Renewable Energy Sources are increasingly integrated at the
distribution level due to increase in load demand which
utilize power electronic converters. Due to the extensive use
of power electronic devices, disturbances occur on the
electrical supply network. These disturbances are due to the
use of non-linear devices. These will introduce harmonics
in the power system thereby causing equipment
overheating ,damage devices ,EMI related problems etc.
Active Power Filters (APF) is extensively used to
compensate the current harmonics and load unbalance. This
will result in additional hardware requirements. So, in this
paper, the existing PV inverter acts as Shunt Active Power
Filter (SAPF) that is capable of simultaneously
compensating problems like current unbalance, Current
harmonics and also of injecting the energy generated by
RES. The shunt active filter is a voltage source inverter
(VSI), which is connected in parallel with load. Shunt
Active Power Filter has the ability to keep the mains current
balanced and sinusoidal after compensation for various
Load condition.

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652

Fig.1 Proposed System

Elimination of current harmonics, compensation of reactive
power, Correction of power factor Photovoltaic cells
converts solar energy to direct electric energy. Other virtues
of solar energy are:

1. It requires less time to install and start up new unit for

generation.
2. It has no rotating parts, hence no noise, no maintenance
and long life with less maintenance.
3. Solar energy is abundantly available on earth.
4. Problem of low efficiency and higher initial cost can be
overcome by advance technology solar PV panel.
5. This energy source is non-polluting and available
continuously free of cost. The paper ends with a
conclusion on future works.
The proposed , the grid-interfacing inverter can effectively
be utilized to perform following important functions: 1)
transfer of active power harvested from the renewable
resources (wind, solar, etc.); 2) load reactive power demand
support; 3) current harmonics compensation at PCC; and 4)
current unbalance. The proposed control approach not only
fulfills the total load active and reactive power demand but
also delivers the excess generated sinusoidal active power to
the grid at unity power factor.

2.

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

Active power filters are power electronic devices that cancel

out unwanted harmonic currents by injecting a
compensation current which cancels harmonics in the line
current. Shunt active power filters compensate load current
harmonics by injecting equal but opposite harmonic

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compensating current. Generally, four-wire APFs have been

conceived using four leg converters. This topology has
proved better controllability than the classical three-leg
four-wire .In this paper, it is shown that using an adequate
control strategy, even with a three phase four-wire
system, The topology of the investigated APF and its
interconnection with the grid is presented. It consists of a
three leg four-wire voltage source inverter. In this type of
applications, the VSI operates as a current controlled
voltage source. The proposed system is Three Phase
Four wire which consists of Photovoltaic system
connected to the dc-link of a grid-interfacing inverter.
The voltage source inverter is a key element of a PV
system as it interfaces the renewable energy source to
the grid and delivers the generated power. The
Photovoltaic system is connected to grid with an
inverter coupled to dc-link. The dc-capacitor decouples
the Photovoltaic system from grid and also allows
independent control of converters on either side of dc-link.

3. PV PANELS
Solar cell is basically a photovoltaic cell form of p-n
junction. It when exposed to sunlight absorbs some energy
greater than band-gap. This creates some hole-electron
pairs proportional to incident radiations. These carriers are
affected by internal electric fields of p-n junction and forms
photo current proportional to solar insolation. PV cells have
non linear characteristics which vary with radiation intensity
and temperature.
PV cells produces less than 3W at 0.5 to 0.6 Volts, so cells
are connected in series to produce enough power. The
terminal equation for the current and voltage of the array of
PV panels are given as

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ISSN:2051-3240, Vol.44, Special Issue.2

(1)
(2)
(3)

(4)
Ip = Light generated current
Vpv = Terminal voltage of the cell
ID = Diode current
Io = saturation current
Ish = shunt current
q = electron charge
k = Boltzmann constant
T = Temperature
Rs = Series Resistance
Rsh = shunt Resistance
High-penetrated grid-connected PV systems, which are
known as a type of DG in the megawatt range, are rapidly
developed. These cover the majority of the PV market in
different countries worldwide. The main components of a
grid-connected PV system includes a series/parallel
mixture of PV arrays to directly convert sunlight to DC
power and a power-conditioning unit that converts DC
power to AC power; this unit also keeps the PVs operating
at maximum efficiency.
The general diagram of grid connected PV systems.
Notably, in many cases, energy storage devices such as
batteries and super-capacitors are also considered the third
component of grid-connected PV systems. These devices
enhance the performance of PV systems, such as power
generation at night, reactive power control over the PV
systems, peak load shifting, and voltage stabilizing of
grids.

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4. SIMULATION OF THE PHOTOVOLTAIC

ARRAY
The photovoltaic array can be simulated with an equivalent
circuit model based on the photovoltaic model. Two
simulation strategies are possible. Circuit model using one
current source (Im) and two resistors (Rs and Rp). This
circuit can be implemented with any circuit simulator. The
value of the model current I calculated by the computational
block that has V, I, I0 and I pv as inputs. I0 is obtained and
Ivp is obtained. This computational block may be
implemented with any circuit simulator able to evaluate
math functions. Another circuit model composed of only
one current source. The value of the current is obtained by
numerically solving the I-V equation. For every value of Va
corresponding I that satisfies the I-V equation is obtained.
The solution can be implemented with a numerical method
in any circuit simulator that accepts embedded
programming. This is the simulation strategy proposed in.
Other authors have proposed circuits for simulating photovoltaic arrays that are based on simplified equations and/or
require lots of computational effort. In a circuit-based
photovoltaic model is composed of a current source driven
by an intricate and inaccurate equation where the parallel
resistance is neglected. In an intricate PSpice - based
simulation was presented, where the I-V equation is
numerically solved within the PSpice software. Al-though
interesting, the approach found in is excessively elaborated
and concerns the simplified photovoltaic model without the
series resistance. In a simple circuit-based photovoltaic
model is proposed where the parallel resistance is neglected.
In a circuit-based model was proposed based on the
piecewise approximation of the I-V curve. Although
interesting and relatively simple, this method does not
provide a solution to find the parameters of the I-V equation
and the circuit model requires many components. The
photovoltaic
model
circuits
implemented
with
MATLAB/SIMULINK (using the Sym Power Systems
blockset) and PSIM using the simulation strategy. Both
circuit models work perfectly and may be used in the
simulation of power electronics converters for photovoltaic
systems. The I-V curves of the Solarex MSX60 solar panel
simulated with the MATLAB/SIMULINK.

5. BOOST CONVERTER AND INVERTER

Boost converter increases voltage level for inverter and
control MPPT. Output voltage of boost converter is higher
than input voltage. Input current is same as inductor
current and hence it is not discontinuous as buck convertor
and hence input filter requirements are relaxed in boost
convertor.
If solar panels of high rating are implemented then
requirement of boost converter can also be relaxed and

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International Journal of Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering

ISSN:2051-3240, Vol.44, Special Issue.2

switching loss in converter can be saved. PV Panels

generate DC Voltage and to connect panels to grid DC
power has to be converted to AC Power. We require
inverter to convert DC to sinusoidal AC before connecting
to grid. Output voltage and frequency should be same as
that of grid voltage and frequency. Many inverter
topologies are available. In proposed scheme PWM (pulse
width modulated) Voltage Source Inverter is selected d-q
theory with phase. Output of the Inverter is near to
Sinusoidal. 6 switches are used and its switching is
controlled by discrete PWM signals. Electrical diagram for
inverter is shown in Fig.

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Fig.2.Schematic diagram of grid- connected photovoltaic

system Stand-alone and grid-connected are the two main
PV system configurations. This study concerns only the
second configuration that is used to feed electricity into the
grid distribution system and/or to power loads which can
also be fed from the grid. Many studies have characterized
in deep detail PV grid-connected systems. This section
presents a brief reminder about major parameters to be
considered. Figure 2 shows that the main function to be
assured is the conversion from dc to ac through an
inverter. These inverters are connected directly to the grid.
For a safety reason, the inverter should turnoff
automatically in case of power outage. The integration of
PV systems to electricity networks is covered by the IEEE
1547. Power quality, power regulation and safety are main
issues of these standards. Norms related to power quality
present specifications related to the following parameters:
1. Harmonics that produce distortions in the voltage and
current waveforms.

Fig. 2 PWM 3 phase inverter with passive filter

2. Power factor and dc injection that are mainly affected

by inverters and converters structures and control methods.

A. Major Characteristics of PV Grid connected

Systems

Fig: Control Scheme

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3.Voltage flicker that is due to transient interactions

between the converters and the grid.
4.Radio frequency interference that is caused by high
switching frequencies of the converters. Grounding
configurations and island operation are the main issues in
safety concerns. An islanding status occurs when the grid
doesnt provide power any more. In this case, the inverter
should shut down automatically. This operation should
happen not later than a time specified in the norms. If
grounding design doesnt follow required standards,
undesirable damaging phase to ground voltages may occur
before islanded status is reached. Regulation of the voltage
at the point of common coupling PCC (point where the
solar system is connected to the grid) is an important
matter that is also considered in norms related to
distributed resources. Voltage regulators are connected to
the PCC in order to prevent variation and unbalancing
phenomenon. If these regulators are not conveniently
specified, undesirable transient voltages may be produced
mainly when the PV system is subjected to fluctuations.
Harmonics results in voltage distortion which is a major
problem on utility side. Other problems related to
harmonics such as line loss reactive power, resonance
problem heating of equipments leads to reduction in
stability of system. Active filters provide a fair solution to
mitigate problems encountered due to harmonics on utility
side. Harmonic resonance is not an issue with this type of
filter. The active filters are used for nonlinear load having
time dependent harmonics.

6. VOLTAGE
(VSC)

SOURCE

CONVERTER

Voltage Source Converter (VSC) is a power electronic

device that connected in shunt or parallel to the system. It
can generate a sinusoidal voltage with any required
magnitude, frequency and phase angle. It also converts
the DC voltage across storage devices into a set of three
phase AC output voltages. It is also capable to generate or
absorbs reactive So, it will compensate the reactive power
through AC system. The type of power switch used is an
IGBT in anti-parallel with a diode.

7. CONTROLLER FOR APF

The dc link voltage, Vdc is sensed at a regular interval
and is compared with its reference counterpart Vdc*.The
error signal is processed in a PI-controller. The output of
the pi controller is denoted as Im. the reference. The
current templates (Ia*,Ib*,and Ic*) are obtained by
multiplying this peak value (Im) by the three-unit sine
vectors (Ua , Ub and Uc) in phase with the three source
voltages. These unit sine vectors are obtained from the
three sensed line to neutral voltages. The reference grid

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655

neutral current (In*) is set to zero, being the instantaneous

sum of balanced grid currents. Multiplication of
magnitude Im with phases (Ua ,Ub and Uc) results in the
three phase reference supply currents (Ia*,Ib*,and Ic*).
The grid synchronizing angle obtained from phase locked
loop (PLL) is used to generate unity vector template as
(5)
(6)
(7)
The instantaneous values of reference three phase grid
currents are compute as
(8)
(9)
(10)
The neutral current is considered as
(11)
The reference grid currents(Ia*,Ib*,Ic*and In*) are
compared with actual grid currents(Ia, Ib,Icand In) to
compute the current errors as
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
These error signals are given to hysteresis current
controller then generates the switching pulses for six
IGBTs of the grid interfacing inverter

8. HYSTERESIS CURRENT CONTROL

The hysteresis current control (HCC) is the easiest control
method to implement; it was developed by Brod and
Novotny in 1985 . The shunt APF is implemented with
three phase current controlled VSI and is connected to the
ac mains for compensating the current harmonics. The VSI
gate control signals are brought out from hysteresis band
current controller. A hysteresis current controller is
implemented with a closed loop control system and
waveforms are shown in Fig .3. An error signal is used to
control the switches in a voltage source inverter. This error
is the difference between the desired current and the
current being injected by the inverter. If the error exceeds
the upper limit of the hysteresis band, the upper switch of

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the inverter arm is turned off and the lower switch is

turned on. As a result, the current starts decaying

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In order to verify the proposed control approach to achieve

multi objectives for grid interfaced DG systems connected
to a 3-phase 4-wire network, an extensive simulation study
is carried out using MATLAB/Simulink. A 4-leg current
controlled voltage source inverter is actively controlled to
achieve balanced sinusoidal grid currents at unity power
factor (UPF) despite of highly unbalanced nonlinear load at
PCC under varying renewable generating conditions. A RES
with variable output power is connected on the dc-link of
grid interfacing inverter. An unbalanced 3-phase 4-wire
nonlinear load, whose unbalance, harmonics, and reactive
power need to be compensated, is connected on PCC.

Fig. 4: Waveform of Hysteresis current controller

the error crosses the lower limit of the hysteresis band, the
lower switch of the inverter arm is turned off and the upper
switch is turned on. As a result, the current gets back into
the hysteresis band. The minimum and maximum values
of the error.

9. SIMULATION RESULTS
The performance of the proposed structure is assessed by a
computer simulation that uses MATLAB Software. The
parameters of the proposed system are given in the tables
below. The performance of the system with proposed
control scheme is discussed, which includes the following
case studies
Simulink model of the PV solar system

Fig. 5 Grid Interconnect From PV Solar Energy Systems

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Total current of grid after injected the PV solar

energy systems

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Total voltage of grid after injected the PV solar energy

systems

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Fig. 10 Load Current

9. CONCLUSION
PV panels are connected in series and parallel to match
with grid voltage. Parallel connection increases current
level. This DC power is converted to AC using inverter.
Inverter is control to feed active power to the grid using
discrete PWM signals. There is harmonic injection in the
grid due to non linear load on utility side. To mitigate this
harmonics to IEEE 519 standards Shunt active filter with
VSI topology is used. Synchronous reference frame for
current control scheme is implemented for better results.

Total power of grid after injected the PV solar energy

systems

When the power generated from RES is more than the

total load power demand, the grid-interfacing inverter with
the proposed control approach not only fulfills the total
load active and reactive power demand but also delivers
the excess generated sinusoidal active power to the grid at
unity power factor and increases the efficiency of the
circuit. .

REFERENCES
[1] Mukhtiar Singh, Student Member, IEEE, Vinod
Khadkikar, Member, IEEE, Ambrish Chandra, Senior
Member, IEEE and
Rajiv K. Varma, Senior
Member, IEEE Grid Interconnection of Renewable
Energy Sources at the Distribution Level With
Power-Quality Improvement Features. IEEE
Transactions On Power Delivery, Vol. 26, No. 1,
January 2011.
[2]

Fig. 9 Load Voltage

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Y.Jaganmohan Reddy, K.Padma Raju, Y. Venkata

Pavan Kumar, "Use of DC Motor-Generator Set for
Power Quality Improvement in a Renewable Energy
Based Hybrid Power System. International Journal
on Recent Trends in Engineering & Technology, Vol.
05, No. 02, Mar 2011.

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ISSN:2051-3240, Vol.44, Special Issue.2

[3] Hung-Cheng Chen, Jian-Cong Qiu, and Chia-Hao Liu

Dynamic Modeling and Simulation of Renewable
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[4] D.M. Brod and D.W. Novotny, Current Control of VSI
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M.takeda et al, "Harmonic Current Compensation

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Synchronization With PID Controller Based on Shunt
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[7] Aswathy B. Raj , B. Shyam, Robins AntoSimulation

of Distributed Generation Power Inverter as Active
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[9] M. Aiello, A. Catalioti, S. Favuzza, G. Graditi,
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AUTHORS PROFILE
Mr. AHASAN Q. OMRAN
ALADI,
M.Tech
(Energy
Systems) in Center for Energy
Studies Department in JNTUH
College
of
Engineering,
Hyderabad, India. Born on 1984
in Babylon, Hilla-IRAQ.

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