Analysis of control strategies for smoothing of solar PV fluctuations with storage devices

Abstract

The irradiation variations caused by cloud changes can cause rapid power fluctuations in large photovoltaic (PV) plants. The increased PV power share of the grid adversely affects the quality of power and the reliability of the power supply. Energy storage systems (ESSs)are often used to mitigate power fluctuations in the grid through various control algorithms. These algorithms create an ESS power reference that opposes the variations of the PV and reduces them to an acceptable value. Despite their everyday use, there have been few performance comparisons among the various methods, especially battery status, and the battery can operate in several systems with various smoothing methods. The paper aims to analyze the ramp-rate and step-rate control methods for smoothing solar PV fluctuations based on the irradiation profiles in a DC microgrid (MG) environment. The battery in the system operates as a continuous energy application, and a supercapacitor (SC) is used to remove transients in the battery system. The combined battery-SC coordinated system improves the performance of the DC microgrid system. The battery cycle analysis and depth are conducted using the well-established Coulomb counting technique. MATLAB/Simulink validates the simulation results, and the OP-5700 HIL test bench conducts real-time results.

Keywords

• DC microgrid
• Fluctuations
• Renewable energy sources
• Storage devices
• Smoothing controls
• Battery