Electric Power Components and Systems

ISSN: 1532-5008 (Print) 1532-5016 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uemp20

Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected

PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based Hybrid System Using
Robust Maximum Power Point Tracking Controller
Sandipan Patra, Ankur, Modem Narayana, Soumya R. Mohanty & Nand
Kishor
To cite this article: Sandipan Patra, Ankur, Modem Narayana, Soumya R. Mohanty & Nand
Kishor (2015) Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based
Hybrid System Using Robust Maximum Power Point Tracking Controller, Electric Power
Components and Systems, 43:20, 2235-2250, DOI: 10.1080/15325008.2015.1082680
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15325008.2015.1082680

Published online: 21 Oct 2015.

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Date: 31 January 2016, At: 21:17

Electric Power Components and Systems, 43(20):22352250, 2015

C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Copyright 
ISSN: 1532-5008 print / 1532-5016 online
DOI: 10.1080/15325008.2015.1082680

Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected

PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based Hybrid System Using
Robust Maximum Power Point Tracking Controller
Sandipan Patra,1 Ankur,2 Modem Narayana,3 Soumya R. Mohanty,3 and Nand Kishor3
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Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT) Rourkela, India

GE India, Hyderabad, India
3
Department of Electrical Engineering, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, India
2

CONTENTS
1. Introduction
2. Hybrid DG System
3. Control Strategies of HS
4. Simulated and Experimental Results and Discussion
5. Conclusion
Acknowledgments
References
Appendix A

AbstractThis article addresses power quality improvement in a 3 grid-connected photovoltaicfuel cell based hybrid system using
hybrid filter topology. In the context of the extraction of maximum
power due to the uncertainty of solar insolation and temperature in
the hybrid system, backstepping control is addressed for the DCDC boost converter. A space vector pulse-width modulation control
technique is implemented for the voltage source inverter for the grid
integration objective. Compensation of the distorted waveform at the
point of common coupling is accomplished by a suitable controller
design using the hybrid filter. The series of simulation results in MATLAB environment (The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts, USA)
followed by prototype experimental validation reflects the superiority
of the proposed controllers to achieve power quality improvements.

1.

Keywords: robust control, backstepping, hybrid system, space vector

pulse-width modulation, power quality, hybrid filter
Received 8 February 2013; accepted 25 July 2015
Address correspondence to Mr. Ankur, GE India, Begumpet Passport Office
Road, Hyderabad 500016, India. E-mail: ankurlko32@gmail.com
Color versions of one or more of the figures in the article can be found online
at www.tandfonline.com/uemp.

INTRODUCTION

Distributed generation (DG) has become an important energy

option due to utility restructuring, technology evolution, public environmental policy, and an expanding electricity market.
Still, as of today, central power systems remain critical to the
nations energy supply, but their flexibility to adjust to changing energy needs is limited due to large and capital-intensive
plants and transmission and distribution level grid. The need
for high capital investments and transmission and distribution
losses has led to power shortages and unreliable and costly
power supply. In this circumstance, DGs where renewable energy sources are used can be considered an important alternative energy to enhance the total power generation. This will
simultaneously minimize environmental pollution, especially
greenhouse gases, for which the negative impact on climate
has already been observable. Advancements in power electronics and developments in new technology have led to fuel
cells (FCs), wind turbines, photovoltaic (PV), improved power
quality (PQ), and reliability of the DG-based hybrid power system. Hence, DG can fulfill customer demands in stand-alone
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NOMENCLATURE
A
diode ideality factor of photovoltaic cell
d
duty cycle of boost converter
E0
reversible cell potential in fuel cell
photovoltaic current
I ph
diode saturation current of photovoltaic cell
Is
I p , V p output voltage and current of photovoltaic array
fuel cell stack current
Ifc
L , I L boost converter inductance and current across inductor

as well as grid-connected mode as per situation requirements,

and the surplus power generation can be fed to the grid, thereby
increasing the reliability of power supply. Also, the undesirable
environmental characteristic variations in wind speed and solar radiations make wind and PV power generation unreliable
and create PQ problems. In this context, these energy sources
may be integrated along with conventional power generating
resources to formulate a hybrid system (HS) for increasing
quality and reliability of power supply [14]. But there are
many issues to be seriously and critically considered with the
DG connected to the utility grid, such as PQ problems and
design of a suitable controller for the extraction of maximum
power to tackle the intermittent nature of a PV system.
The intermittent nature is primarily influenced by the variation of solar insolation and temperature, among other things.
In this context, maximum power point tracking (MPPT) augmented by a robust controller is indispensable in extracting
maximum output power under uncertainty in the parameter
variation. But in the case of rapid fluctuation in solar intensity
or temperature, with conventionally used incremental conductance (I&C), perturb and observe (P&O) performance deteriorates significantly. Thus, the robust control design is a suitable
solution to accomplish the objective. From the various types
of robust control, such as sliding mode, backstepping has been
widely implemented in the literature [57]. The backstepping
technique is a suitable strategy for robust control, the concept
of which is exploited to implement with MPPT control design
[5]. The aim of backstepping control is to guarantee stability
by designing a Lyapunov function from system state variables
and simultaneously design a feedback control law [8]. The performance of such a controller is carried out with conventional
I&C design to illustrate its superiority.
The sluggish response of an FC can be compensated by
integrating it with a battery energy storage system (BESS)
that can store energy during sunny days and release power
during nighttime and cloudy days [9]. The incorporation of a
PV system BESS with an FC is a viable option for continuous

Np
Ns
p
Rsh
Rs
uc
Vba
Vf

number of photovoltaic cells connected in parallel

number of photovoltaic cells connected in series
partial pressure of substance in fuel cell
parallel resistance of photovoltaic cell
series resistance of photovoltaic cell
insulated-gate bipolar transistor switch control input
battery voltage
operating DC voltage of fuel cell

uninterruptable power supply. Thus, the PV-FC with the integration of a BESS is integrated as an HS that is connected to the
DC bus. Further, at the point of common coupling (PCC), the
linear and non-linear loads are connected, for which the issue
of PQ in the distribution system is a concern. The increasing
application of power converters and DG has heightened the interest in PQ in recent years, and the mitigation objective with
various filter designs has been addressed in the literature.
DG systems comprised of PV and FCs are mostly based on
grid-connected converters as an interface between the source
and the grid. They require a suitable control strategy to be
designed to guarantee system stability and reliability. PQ mitigation [10] exploits the capabilities of the DC/AC converter
in a renewable power generation system, which is based on the
space vector theory, and analysis is confirmed by computer
simulation results. The work in [11] focused on steady-state
PQ issues in which the harmonic load flow program was implemented in symmetrical components to investigate the influence
of several control strategies in a single-phase inverter. The influence of single-phase DG units in the three-phase four-wire
distribution network is discussed by use of statistical indices
that combine power system unbalance and the existing harmonics.
Paulillo et al. [12] and other research [13, 14] presented the
use of an FC-based DG system to investigate the aspects related
to PQ, especially harmonic and voltage imbalances. A small
single-phase FC-based energy generation and compensation
system was proposed in [15]; that system was suggested as
reliable for residential applications and improved the PQ even
in a weak power grid.
The use of distributed static compensator (DSTATCOM)
systems as a compensator operating in current control mode
is addressed to improve PQ in low-voltage distribution grids
[16]. A hybrid PQ solution in a test system consisting of distributed passive filters, a universal PQ conditioner (UPQC),
and DG units was presented in [17]. In this system, single
passive filters were designed and connected to eliminate main

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FIGURE 2. Mathematical model of PV cell.

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2.
FIGURE 1. Proposed HS.

harmonics and compensate reactive power for each non-linear

load. The PQ improvement in unbalanced DG units with a
small PV generator and small wind turbines in a three-phase
four-wire system was described in [18]. The features of an
active power filter are incorporated in the control circuit of
the current controlled-voltage source inverter (VSI) that interfaces the DG to the grid [19]. A passive filter is widely
used in the literature for compensation at the PCC; however,
the filter responses depend upon the system impedance and
are not suitable for various loads. Considerable research has
been done on the active power filter and its control technique
[20], but the compensation performance is tremendously affected in the case of sudden load change and supply voltage
distortion. To overcome the problem in the passive filter and
active power filter, a hybrid filter is proposed for the compensation objective. The control strategy is based on the victorial
theory on dual formulation of instantaneous reactive power,
so the voltage waveform injected by the active filter is able
to compensate the reactive power and load current harmonics
to balance asymmetrical loads. The proposed algorithm also
improves the behavior of the passive filter.
This article focuses the hybrid filter application in a gridconnected HS comprised of PV and an FC with a BESS as
storage system combination. Due to the intermittent nature of
a PV system, such as variation of solar insolation and temperature, robust control with MPPT and backstepping is implemented for extraction of maximum power. Although the design
of backstepping control for MPPT exists in the literature, its
application in a grid-connected HS in the context of PQ enhancement is new. Further, a power management scheme is also
introduced to maintain the DC bus voltage as constant. The
proposed system simulation model is developed based on the
MATLAB/Simulink (The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts,
USA) to verify the performance of the control methods, and
an experimental prototype setup is carried out to verify the
feasibility and excellent performance of the system.

HYBRID DG SYSTEM

The robustness problem of PV systems for parameter uncertainty can be alleviated by its integration with other energy
sources, such as with an FC to form an HS as shown in Figure
1. Further, the sluggish response of an FC can be improved by
combining it with a BESS so the whole system can provide
a continuous and constant power supply to a DC bus. A VSI
is connected to invert the DC voltage into three-phase AC,
which is further connected to the grid. At the PCC, the linear and non-linear loads are connected. A hybrid filter is also
connected at the PCC to compensate the source voltage and
current, providing quality power to the grid.
2.1.

Photovoltic Module

To obtain power, many PV cells are connected in different

parallel and series circuits on a panel (module), The PV array
is a group of a PV modules electrically connected in a parallel
series to generate current and voltage [21].
To form an array, PV cells are connected in parallel and
series. The equivalent model shown in Figure 2 with the voltage
current characteristic equation is given by


q V
I Rs
+

N p 1
I P V = N p I ph N p Is e AkT Ns

Np

Rsh

V
I Rs
+
Ns
Np


,

(1)

where Np and Ns are the number of cells connected in parallel

and series, respectively.
2.2.

FC

In this article, the solid oxide FC (SOFC) is considered in the

development of the FC model because of its simplicity and
quicker response to load changes [22]. By Nernsts equation,
DC voltage Vf across the stack of the FC at current Ifc is given
by following equation [23]:



p H2 pO20.5
RT
r I f c , (2)
V f = N0 E 0 +
ln
2F
p H2 O
where

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FIGURE 4. Hybrid filter connected to non-linear load.

FIGURE 3. SOFC model.

Vf is the operating DC voltage (V),

E0 is the reversible cell potential,
p is the partial pressure of the substance,
r is the internal stack resistance,
Ifc is the stack current,
N 0 is the number of cells in the stack,
R is the gas constant (J/mol K),
T is the cell temperature (K), and
F is Faradays constant.
The chemical process inside the FC is shown in Figure 3.
2.3.

BESS

To meet the peak load demand, an extra energy source battery is

necessary as PV and FC together is sometimes insufficient. The
aim of the BESS is to maintain the DC-link voltage as constant,
and by its charge level, the direction of power flow is decided.
In this way, regardless of battery charging or discharging, the
voltage of the DC bus can be stabilized at a constant value.
2.4.

Hybrid Filter

With significant development of power electronics technology,

the proliferation of non-linear loads, such as static power converters, has deteriorated PQ in power transmission/distribution
systems. Notably, voltage harmonics resulting from current
harmonics produced by the non-linear loads have become a
major reason for the enhanced PQ issue.
In the present study, a hybrid filter is constituted by a combination of a series active filter and a passive filter connected
in parallel with the load. The control strategy is based on
the victorial theory with dual formulation of instantaneous
reactive power, so the voltage waveform injected by the active filter is able to compensate the reactive power and load
current harmonics and to balance asymmetrical loads. The
proposed algorithm also improves the behavior of the pas-

sive filter. Traditionally a passive filter is used to eliminate

the current harmonics when it is connected in parallel with
the load. This compensation equipment has some drawbacks,
due to which the passive filter cannot compensate to extend
remarkably the distorted voltage and current waveforms [24].
Further, the compensation characteristics depend on the system impedance. As a matter of fact, the filter impedance has
to be smaller than the source impedance to eliminate source
current harmonics. In addition to that overload, the probability
of series and parallel resonance causes the limited application
of the passive filter for the compensation objective.
Similarly, active filter controllers based on PQ theory need
low-pass filters to separate the average and oscillating parts of
instantaneous powers [25, 26]. Dynamic performance of the
active filter is thus not guaranteed Considering the above limitation for PQ improvement in a grid-connected HS, a hybrid
filter is incorporated.
Figure 4 shows the hybrid power filter configuration. The
tuned LC filter is connected in series with the non-linear load.
The hybrid filter consists of two main parts: a three-phase fullbridge voltage source pulse-width modulation (PWM) inverter
and a DC-side capacitor. The DC side capacitor is designed
to store the necessary reactive energy and to reduce the voltage fluctuation under load variation. The LC passive filter is
connected in series with the load, and its impedance is high at
tuned frequencies and blocks them to appear in the utility side.
This decreases the active power filter rating. The active part is
connected in shunt between the AC source and series passive
filter. The hybrid power filter works to ensure sinusoidal source
current in phase with the positive fundamental component of
source voltage even if harmonics and/or imbalance appear in
it [27].

3.

CONTROL STRATEGIES OF HS

This section aims at the design of controllers that will be

able to ensure (i) global stability of a closed-loop system; (ii) a

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Patra et al.: Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based Hybrid System

2239

FIGURE 6. Model of PV array with backstepping control.

it achieves lower oscillation around the MPPT than does the

P&O method.
I&C MPPT control basically depends on the fact that the
slope of the PV system power voltage characteristic becomes
zero at the peak point of the curve. The slope remains positive
in the left half when the power is increasing and negative in
the right half when the power is decreasing with increments
in voltage. The I&C flowchart is given in Figure 5; as it is a
well-known technique, it is not described in detail herein.
The effect of atmospheric parameter variation is a very
difficult problem to compensate, which can be minimized by a
robust control design. For this robust control design, the model
considered is shown in Figure 6. It consists of a PV array
module charging the battery via a boost converter. The aim
of the converter is to take power from the PV array terminals
and transfer it to the battery, and the transferred voltage is
controlled by the duty cycle defined by MPPT controller.
For the synthesis of the solar power generation control system by applying Kirchhoff s law in the above circuit,
c V p = I p I L ,
L IL = V p (1 u c )Vba ,

FIGURE 5. Incremental conductance (IC) MPPT control.

(3)
(4)

where
perfectly robust MPPT design; specifically, the controller must
enforce the PV voltage to track as accurately as possible even
in rapid change in temperature and solar; (iii) a unity power
factor (PF) in the grid; and (iv) a suitable controller for a hybrid
filter to improve the PQ.
3.1.

Controlling the Boost Converter to Meet MPPT

The MPPT technique is used to run the PV system so that it

draws the maximum power from the PV array regardless of
weather or load conditions. There are many different methods
for MPPT, but I&C is widely used because it offers a good
yield under rapidly changing atmospheric conditions. Also,

L and IL are the converter inductance and current across the

inductor,
c is the value of the capacitor,
Vp and Ip are the output voltage and current of the PV array,
uc is the insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) switch control
input (for an open switch, uc = 0, and for a closed switch,
uc = 1), and
Vba is the battery voltage.
Using the state averaging method, the switched model can
be redefined as follows:
c V p = I p I L ,

(5)

Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 43 (2015), No. 20

2240

L IL = V p d  Vba ,

(6)

This is the designed desired inductor current, so

where d  is the duty cycle of the converters off stage.

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3.1.1.

ce = n ke e.

Design of Backstepping Controller

The interleaved boost converters are governed by a control signal generated by the backstepping controller. This controller
is developed to maximize the power of the solar generating
system. The controller tracks a desired array voltage designed
on-line by using the MPPT algorithm by varying the duty cycle of the switching converter. The key idea of backstepping
control design is to generate virtual control in steps for a complicated system so that a simpler single-inputsingle-output
system in each step can be dealt with systematically; the next
step is always designed on the basis of previous step. Finally,
the stability of the complete system is judged by the Lyapunov
function [6].
An assumption made for robust controller design:

upper bounded by a positive constant such that

I p is

Ip
, where is a positive number.
The purpose is to maximize the power extracted from a solar
generating system Pp by tracking a continuously changing
array voltage Vd (Vd is the desired array voltage) so that V p
Vd as t by continuously varying the duty cycle of the
off-state of the switched control signal.
The generation of the reference voltage as shown in [28]
calculated from
Vop = Vx + Vx b ln(b b e(1/b) ),

e = Vd V p ,

(8)

n = I L Id ,

(9)

where Id is the desired inductor current.

Step 1: Let the following tracking error be introduced. From
the definition of the tracking errors in Eqs. (8) and (9),
e = Vd V p .

(10)

Now the following can be calculated:

1
e = Vd (I p n Id ),
(11)
c
and the value of Id is chosen in such a way that derivative of
error becomes a negative function of error;
Id = c Vd + I p ke e.

Step 2: The objective now is to enforce the error variables

to vanish. To fulfill the above objective, the following can be
found:
1
(V p d  Vba ) Id ,
L
L n = V p d  Vba L Id .
n =

(12)

(14)
(15)

Now choose d  for stabilization of the system. The control

input d  will be designed based on the stability analysis. Duty
ratio d  is designed as follows:




1 Lke Vd V p + V p

d =
,
(16)
Vba +Lc Vd + k1 sat(n) + e + kn n
where ke , k 1 , and kn are control gains, and sat() is the saturation
function.
A convenient choice of the control signal to stabilize the
whole system with state vector is (1z, 2z). The augmented
Lyapunov function candidate is considered as
V =

1 2 1 2
ce + Ln .
2
2

(17)

The objective is to make V non-positive definite.

3.1.2.

Stability Analysis

A non-negative Lyapunov function is considered as follows:

(7)

where b is a constant 0.087, Vx is open-circuit voltage, and Vop

is the optimal voltage; Vref = 0.7 Vop .
To quantify the state control objective, tracking errors denoted by e and n are defined as follows:

(13)

V =

1 2 1 2
ce + Ln .
2
2

(18)

Taking the derivative of this Lyapunov function,



V = e [ke e + n] + n kn n e k1 sat(n) L Ip ,
(19)

(20)
V ke e2 kn n 2 k1 |n| L
Ip
|n| .
If k 1 is chosen in such a so that k1 L , then
V ke e2 kn n 2 .

(21)

The values of ke and kn are taken as any positive constant, as

cited in Appendix A (Table A1). Thus, V is a negative definite
function, and the system is stable. According to the values
chosen in simulation, V is
V 1.1e2 3.85n 2 ,
which is negative definite, and thus, the system designed is
stable. The operation steps of the proposed backstepping controller are summarized in Figure 7.

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FIGURE 9. SVPWM control technique for VSI.

and the minimum and maximum charge levels are defined.

Subsequently, it is compared by a predefined SOC level, and
accordingly, the charge will flow as shown in Figure 8. According to the three cases depicted in the flowchart, the battery can
be charged and discharged. In the first and third case, charging
and discharging of the battery occurs respectively. In the second case where the SOC lies between the SOCmin and SOCmax
level, the charging and discharging phenomena depend on the
generated power and power consumption.
3.3.
FIGURE 7. Operation steps of backstepping controller.

3.2.

Power Management System

Power flow control strategy is mainly decided by the charge

level of the battery bank, also known as the state of charge
(SOC). The main objective for this control strategy is to provide a constant voltage to the DC bus. The battery storage
capacity should not deteriorate after repeated charging and
discharging cycles. As power is generated by the FC, a solar cell is thus summed up; if PV is unable to supply power
during the charging time due to partial shading or inadequate
availability of sun light, the FC contributes power so the cumulative power of these two systems provides redundant power.
The flow of power is thus decided by finding the battery SOC,

FIGURE 8. Flowchart of power flow management.

Space Vector PWM (SVPWM) Based VSI

Due to easy realization and implementation, SVPWM technology is widely used in inverters. For calculating the vectors
of the SVPWM to generate the pulse wave of the VSI, the
trigonometric function is involved and the sector selection is
considered. For the rapid change in power electronics application, the accuracy of SVPWM is very high although the
technique is complicated [29, 30].
Figure 9 shows the closed-loop control technique of a VSI
using the SVPWM technique.

FIGURE 10. Control scheme to calculate compensation voltage for the hybrid filter.

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Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 43 (2015), No. 20

FIGURE 11. HS connected to grid.

3.4.

Control of Hybrid Filter

The control scheme for the hybrid filter [31] is discussed in this
section. On the load side, the voltage vector and source side of
the current vector are considered. The component of the
voltage and the current vector are obtained by transformation. The real instantaneous power is obtained by the product
of the component of voltage and current, and the mean
value is obtained with the help of a low-pass filter. The fundamental component of the current is obtained by the scheme
shown in Figure 10. A 3- VSI is implemented in the hybrid
filter as the main circuit (Figure 4). Real power demand by the
load should be equal to the power supplied from the main and
the power converter is assumed to be lossless; thus, the DC
capacitor average voltage is maintained as a constant value.
During the transient, such as a sudden change in load, power
imbalance occurs. Therefore, the DC capacitor average voltage
is reduced. At the same time, the current magnitude of the main
supply should be increased to increase the real power supplied
from the source. On the other hand, as the DC capacitor voltage
rises, the source current must be decreased. In this context, the
DC capacitor voltage reflects the information about the real
power flow. Further, to maintain constant DC bus voltage,
it is compared with a reference voltage and then fed to a
proportional-integral (PI) controller. Thus, the control of the
amplitude of the source current is obtained by the PI controller
output.
3.5.

System Configuration

The control scheme in the system configuration was described in detail in the previous section. Furthermore, the HS
component, i.e., PV-FC, is connected to the DC bus through

the diode to avoid reverse power flow. The BESS is connected

by a bi-directional converter to the DC bus.
4.

SIMULATED AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

AND DISCUSSION

The control scheme described in previous sections is implemented with the considered HS (as shown in Figure 11) in a
MATLAB platform. All parameters (insolation, temperature
variation, load connected to the system, etc.) are considered in
the simulation and are shown in Appendix A (Table A1).
4.1.
4.1.1.

Time-domain Analysis
Robustness of the System

The variation of solar insolation and temperature is shown

in Figures 12(a) and 12(b), and the variation of data during
the simulation process of these two parameters is given in
Appendix A (Table A2). Figures 12(c)12(e) show the PV output voltage waveform with variation of temperature and solar
insolation. In Figure 12(c), the temperature varies from 298 to
320 K with constant insolation of 600 W/m2. The output voltage without the controller exhibits persistent oscillation. On
the other hand, the output voltage with backstepping maintains
its steady-state output voltage after 0.15 sec. Similarly, Figure
12(d) shows the comparative assessment of the voltage profile
with the variation of radiation from 600 to 740 W/m2 with
constant temperature of 305 K. Figure 12(e) shows the simultaneous variation of radiation and temperature with a comparative assessment of output voltage, thus the controller design
of backstepping is robust to maintain constant output. Figure
12(f) shows the output current of the PV module. Figure 12(g)
illustrates the PV output power with the robust backstepping

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Patra et al.: Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based Hybrid System

FIGURE 12. Variation of data during the simulation process:

(a) radiation varied, (b) temperature varied, (c) temperature
varied and radiation constant, (d) temperature constant and
radiation varied, (e) temperature and radiation varied, (f) PV
output current, (g) PV output power, (h) FC output power, and
(i) DC bus voltage comparison.

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Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 43 (2015), No. 20

where an unbalanced load is considered. The improvement

in the current profile at the PCC is thus obvious with the
incorporation of a hybrid filter. The detailed THD and power
factor improvement in all four cases are given in Appendix A
(Table A4). Figure 14(h) suggests that the voltage and current
of phase A are about in the same phase, and thus, power factor
is near unity. Additionally Table A4 summarizes the measured
THD and power factor data in each case.

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4.2.
FIGURE 13. Hybrid power filter behavior: (a) source current
of phase A without filter, (b) with passive filter, and (c) with
hybrid filter.

controller and without a backstepping controller. It shows that

the maximum power is extracted from the PV module during
the rapid change in temperature and radiation when a backstepping controller is attached. Figure 12(h) shows the FC
output power. Due to the sluggish response of the FC, the DClink voltage maintains a constant value after 0.5 sec, which
is shown in Figure 12(i). The BESS with the proper power
management scheme can maintain constant DC-link voltage.
4.1.2.

PQ Improvement at PCC

In the present analysis, PQ improvement is also studied. Figure 13 exhibits the PQ improvement with incorporation of a hybrid filter over a passive filter. The change of load for different
case studies is given in Appendix A (Table A3). Figure 13(a)
shows the current waveform of phase A at the PCC without
the filter when both linear and non-linear loads are connected;
Figures 13(b) and 13(c) show the same with a passive filter
and hybrid filter, respectively. A comparison has been done in
terms of total harmonic distortion (THD) and power factor in
Appendix A (Table A3). It is shown that hybrid filter exhibits
better performance than the passive filter.
Four types of case studies have been considered: (I) linear
and non-linear balanced load without a hybrid filter, (II linear
and non-linear balanced load with a hybrid filter, (III) linear
and non-linear unbalanced load without a hybrid filter, and (IV)
linear and non-linear unbalanced load with a hybrid filter. The
fifth and seventh harmonic components of the source current
are suppressed by the LC passive filter. The source voltage
and source current waveform and fast Fourier transform (FFT)
analysis of the source current THD of phase A without using
the hybrid filter is presented in Figures 14(a) and 14(b); the
same results are shown with incorporation of a hybrid filter in
Figures 14(c) and 14(d). A comparative assessment is made of
source current with and without a hybrid filter in Figure 14(e).
Case III and Case IV are depicted in Figures 14(f) and 14(g),

Experimental Setup

To verify the effectiveness of the proposed controllers and

power management strategy, a hardware prototype with the
specification mentioned below is developed and tested. The
design values of the boost converter are L = 1.5 mH, C =
120 F, R = 50 , Vin = 12 V, and Vout = 30 V at a switching
frequency of 15 kHz.
The PWM pulses generated using a Xilinx (San Jose, CA,
USA) Spartan-6 LX45 field-programmable gate array (FPGA)
are fed to the designed prototype boost converter to analyze
and investigate the effect of the backstepping controller based
MPPT. The methodology for the hardware is developed for
real-time digital signal processing (DSP) applications on a
reconfigurable logic platform using a Xilinx system generator
integrated with MATLAB. The Xilinx (San Jose, CA) Spartan6 LX45 FPGA board has an oscillator frequency of 100 MHz
and gives an output voltage of 3.3 V. This voltage is not sufficient to drive the switching device (MOSFET IRF 540, New
Jersey Semiconductor Products Inc., USA); therefore, an amplifier and optocoupler circuit is employed for making the gate
pulses 10 V. The dsPlC60F2410 (Microchip Technology Inc.,
AZ, USA) high-performance digital signal controller is used
for designing the power management strategy in the proposed
system. The hardware setup built for the implementation of
the proposed method is shown in Figure 15.
Figure 16 shows the waveforms of the hardware prototype
of the experimental setup. Figures 16(a) and 16(b) reflect the
two waveforms of the gate pulses without and with a backstepping controller, respectively, using the Xilinx FPGA. It is
very clear that with the use of backstepping, the system generates a distortion-free gate pulse for the MOSFET IRF 540
switching device. PCC voltage and source current before and
after compensation with a non-linear load are shown in Figures 16(c) and 16(d). The PCC voltage is slightly distorted
due to the current harmonics. From Figure 16(a), it can be
seen that the source current is highly distorted due to the connection of a non-linear load. The THD of the source current
before compensation was about 18%. It is observed that with
incorporation of the hybrid filter, the source current becomes
more sinusoidal, as presented in Figure 12(d). The THD of the
source current is reduced to 4% using the proposed compen-

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Patra et al.: Power Quality Improvement in Grid-connected PhotovoltaicFuel Cell Based Hybrid System

FIGURE 14. (a) Source current and voltage of Case I, (b)

THD plot of phase A source current, (c) source current and
voltage of Case II, (d) THD plot of phase A source current
with filter, (e) source current comparison of cases I and II, (f)
source current and voltage of Case III, (g) source current and
voltage of Case IV, and (h) source current and voltage of phase
A with hybrid filter.

Downloaded by [Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University] at 21:17 31 January 2016

2246

Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 43 (2015), No. 20

FIGURE 15. (a) Hardware prototype of the proposed system, (b) Spartan-6 LX45 FPGA connected with PC, and (c)
digital signal processor dsPlC60F2410 for power management
strategy.

sation technique, which follows the IEEE 519 standard (5%).

The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the
hybrid filter with the proposed control strategy.

though a rapid variation in temperature, and radiation is taken

for the PV system. Thus, the backstepping controller is designed successfully for the robustness of the system.
The facility of ancillary services like that of harmonic and
reactive power compensation was further analyzed in Section
4.1.2 (PQ Improvement at PCC); it is also analyzed quantitatively in Appendix A (Table A4). The practical scenario of
PV system operation most often consists of connection of both
linear and non-linear load (unbalanced), i.e., Cases III and IV.
Close observation suggests an appreciable difference in the
level of THDs obtained without a hybrid filter. It is worth noting that even for unbalanced load conditions with or /without a
filter, the THD level remains low and the power factor remains
high (Cases III and IV). Thus, the voltage and current remain
nearly in phase.
However, as observed in Case IV, the presence of a hybrid
filter in the circuit narrows this gap; further, the power factor
is also observed to be high.
Thus, the choice of connection for a hybrid filter in the
circuit depends on cost factor unless PQ requirement is not to
be compromised.

5.
4.3.

Quantitative Analysis

Case studies presented in previous sections confirm the robustness of the proposed controller for maximum power tracking
as well as PQ improvement at the PCC using a hybrid power
filter. In Section 4.1.1 (Robustness of the System), MPPT with
a backstepping controller was shown to exhibit constant power

CONCLUSION

In a grid-connected HS, PQ enhancement is carried out by

suitable design of a hybrid filter. Qualitative analysis is carried
out through a series of simulation results to demonstrate the
superiority of its design for compensation of distorted signals
retrieved at the PCC in the presence of various types of load
connected to it. Quantitative results for improvement of THD
are shown in tabular form to support the simulation results.
Further exploration of the backstepping technique is implemented for the MPPT design. The power management algorithm is also addressed to keep the DC bus voltage constant.
In addition, a laboratory prototype has been built and tested,
which further supports the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The experimental setup was built in the power electronics
lab of International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)
Bhubaneswar under the guidance of Dr. Prakash Kr Ray. His
meticulous guidance and constructive and valuable suggestions added a deeper analysis of the subject under study.

FIGURE 16. (a) Generated gate pulse for the boost converter
using I&C method, (b) generated gate pulse for the boost converter using backstepping method, (c) source voltage at PCC,
and (d) source current with and without filter with incorporation of non-linear load.

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Time (sec)

Temperature (K)

Solar radiation (W/m2)

298
320
298
320

600
610
720
740

0
0.03
0.06
0.09

TABLE A2. Variation of temperature and insolation

APPENDIX A
Time (sec)

Grid and load types

Grid voltage
Grid frequency
Grid impedance
DC load
Linear load
Non-linear load
PV, backstepping, boost chopper,
converter, and controller
Diode ideality factor A
Temperature coefficient CT
Series resistance of cell Rs
Parallel resistance of cell Rsh
Band energy gap Eg
Reference cell temperature Tref
Reference photo current Iph,ref
Reference solar irradiance Sref
Number of PV cells in series
Number of PV cells in parallel
Output voltage of chopper
Boost chopper parameters
Backstepping controller
FC, boost chopper, converter, and
controller
FC rated power
Boost chopper parameters
Boost chopper controller
Converter structure
Controller
Battery, converter, and controller
Number of battery units in series
Number of battery units in parallel
Output voltage of battery unit
Rated output power

415 V, L-L RMS

50 Hz
R = 0.02 , W and L = 0.001 H
(between each load)
R = 15 , L = 20 mH
R = 15 , L = 20 mH in each
phase
R = 30 , L = 20 mH with
uncontrolled rectifier

1.3
0.00023 A/K
0.0064 
1573 
1.173 eV
298 K
3.75 A
1000 W/m2
10
2
70 V
L = 60 mH, C = 240 F, fsw =
10 kHz
k 1 = 0.12, Kn = 3.85, ke = 1.1

10 kW
L = 1 mH, C = 1 mF, fsw =
10 kHz
Open-loop control, switch duty
cycle = 10%
Three-phase VSI
SVPWM
10
2
12 V DC
2 kW, 226 A.hr

TABLE A1. Technical data and parameters

00.5
0.51.0
1.01.5

DC load

Linear load

Non-linear load

On
Off
Off

Off
On
Off

On
On
On

TABLE A3. Load switching in the system

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Power factor

THD (%)

Linear load
Non-linear load
Both loads
Linear load
Non-linear load
Both loads

0.13
18.9
19.7
0.99
0.983
0.984

Hybrid
filter

Case I

0.11
4.6
4.9
0.99
0.985
0.997

Passive
filter
0.13
12.1
13
0.99
0.9825
0.9845

Hybrid
filter

Phase a

0.13
11.9
12.75
0.99
0.983
0.984

Hybrid
filter

Phase b

0.13
19.1
20.1
0.99
0.98
0.98

Hybrid
filter

Phase c

0.08
2
2
0.99
0.98
0.992

Hybrid
filter

0.1
5.0
5.2
0.99
0.98
0.99

Passive
filter

Phase a

TABLE A4. THD and power factor before and after the use of hybrid filter

0.1
1.89
2
0.99
0.985
0.998

Hybrid
filter

Case II

Case III

0.08
3
2.5
0.99
0.98
0.99

0.1
4.98
5.7
0.99
0.98
0.99

Passive
filter

Phase b

Case IV

Hybrid
filter

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0.08
3
2
0.99
0.99
0.99

Hybrid
filter

0.1
5.1
5.5
0.99
0.98
0.99

Passive
filter

Phase c

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Electric Power Components and Systems, Vol. 43 (2015), No. 20

BIOGRAPHIES

Downloaded by [Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University] at 21:17 31 January 2016

Sandipan Patra completed his B.Tech. in electronics and instrumentation engineering from West Bengal University of
Technology, India, and his Masters degree in electrical engineering with specialization in power electronics and application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) design from Motilal
Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT), Allahabad.
Currently he is a Ph.D. research scholar at NIT Rourkela. His
areas of interest include PQ, multi-level inverters, DG, and
signal processing applications in power electronics.
Ankur received his B.Tech. in electronics engineering from the
Institute of Engineering and Rural Technology, Allahabad, and
his Masters degree in control and instrumentation engineering
from MNNIT Allahabad. Currently he is an engineer at GE
India. His research interests include renewable energy and
DG.
Modem Narayana received his B.Tech. in electrical and electronics engineering from Sri Venkateswara University College of Engineering, Tirupati, India, in1996 and his M.Tech.
from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, College of

Engineering (JNTUCE), Hyderabad, India, in 2004. Currently

he is a Ph.D. research scholar at MNNIT Allahabad in the Electrical Engineering Department. His research interests include
renewable energy, PQ, and power system studies.
Soumya R. Mohanty received his Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India. Currently, he is
an assistant professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, MNNIT, Allahabad, India. His research interests
include digital signal processing applications in power system
relaying, PQ, and pattern recognition applications to DG-based
systems.
Nand Kishor received his Ph.D. from IIT, Roorkee, India.
Currently, he is an associate professor with the Department
of Electrical Engineering, MNNIT, Allahabad, India. Since
August 2012, he has been working as a Marie Curie Experienced Researcher (Marie Curie Fellow) with the Electrical
Engineering Department, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.
His research interests include artificial intelligence (AI) applications in power systems, DG, wireless sensor networks, and
digital signal processing applications in power systems.