Hardware in the loop testing of converter control in solar PV and BESS based islanded microgrid

Over the past decades, microgrids have garnered significant attention due to their ability to offer resilient power supply and efficiently integrate renewable energy sources (RESs). The test model includes an islanded microgrid having common voltage source converter for solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage system, characterized by low inertia. To minimize the effect of reduced inertia caused by lack of synchronous generators and also to cope up with the variation in power output from different renewable energy sources, an adaptive virtual inertia and damping based control, is incorporated through voltage source converter control, utilizing swing equation of the synchronous generator. However, it is imperative to verify the proposed control strategy before implementation in an actual plant. In that direction, this paper discusses the practicality of the proposed control in the real-time using Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop (CHIL) platform. So, the plant is built in real time simulator OP4512 and the proposed control is implemented using practical microcontroller TMS320F28379D. Subsequently, configuration and modelling of ADC and EPWM are explained. CHIL testing platform demonstrates flawless compatibility with the converter control, having a system model running in real time. Simulation results are compared with that of HIL results for various loading configurations, hence proving the efficacy of the proposed control strategy.