2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)
A Novel Control Strategy of Photovoltaic-Battery
System for Restraining the Photovoltaic Power
Fluctuations and Suppressing the Low Frequency
Oscillations of Power System
Zhirong Zeng, Hao Yi, Feng Wang, Fang Zhuo, Zhenxiong Wang
School of Electrical Engineering
Xi’an Jiaotong University
Xi’an, China
Abstract—Due to the dispersion and randomness of
photovoltaic (PV) power generation, the photovoltaic output
power is fluctuant. As the increasing penetration of photovoltaic
system, it plays an important role for the stability of power
system. In this paper, photovoltaic is combined with the battery
to form a photovoltaic-battery system. And a novel control
strategy is proposed to restrain the photovoltaic power
fluctuations and suppress the low frequency oscillations of power
system. The energy storage device of the photovoltaic-battery
system is composed of a battery and a BUCK/BOOST converter.
The PV array and energy storage device connect to the DC side
of the grid-connected inverter in parallel. The control strategy of
the BUCK/BOOST converter is composed of voltage loop and
current loop, which can make the PV array work at the
maximum power point and decide to charge or discharge the
battery. And the control strategy of the grid-connected inverter is
composed of speed loop, power loop and current loop, which can
make the grid-connected inverter output active power and
reactive power according to power references. Simulations are
carried out with MATLAB/SIMULINK. And the practicability of
the proposed control strategy is verified in simulations.
Keywords—photovoltaic-battery system; energy storage; control
strategy; photovoltaic power fluctuations; low frequency
oscillations
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, photovoltaic power is developing rapidly
and it will gradually become a quite important part of the
power structure. Due to the influence of light intensity and
temperature, photovoltaic power generation is characterized
by intermittent and random. It can easily lead to the
uncertainty of the grid-connected PV power stations. To
ensure the reliability of the whole system, the output power of
photovoltaic power generation system is required to be stable
[1]. Thus it is necessary to add energy storage devices to PV
systems [2]. Some methods are proposed to optimize the
storage dispatch for grid-connected photovoltaic-battery
system [3].
In power system, the speed and power angle of generators
will generate oscillations due to the lack of damping or the
Supported by Natural Science Foundation of China (No: 51407133) and
Project Funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (No: 2015T81027).
978-1-5090-1210-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
978-1-5090-1210-7/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE
negative damping after some disturbance such as short circuit,
long-distance heavy load switching and so on. At the same
time, the active power, reactive power and voltage of the
transmission line can also generate oscillations. This
phenomenon is called low frequency oscillations because the
general frequency of the oscillations is low (0.1-2.5Hz). If the
amplitude of the oscillations is invariable or even increasing, it
will make the generators out of step [4]. Therefore, it is
necessary to suppress the low frequency oscillations and
maintain the stability of the system by increasing the damping
of the system.
The low frequency oscillations of power system have been
studied by lots of scholars. Many kinds of reasonable analysis
methods and control strategies have been proposed. A new
approach for online identification of low frequency
oscillations modes of power system by using the improved
Hilbert-Huang transform is proposed in [5]. This method is
quite novel and useful. Some famous algorithms are used to
study the low frequency oscillations just like Prony algorithm
[6]. The low frequency oscillations of power system can also
be suppressed with Power System Stabilizer (PSS) [7]. PSS
has been proved to have a significant effect on the suppression
of low frequency oscillations, and it has been widely used.
However, as for regional low frequency oscillations, the
suppression capability of PSS is limited. Both of PSS and
Static Var Compensator (SVC) are used in [8] to suppress the
low frequency oscillations. Thus it is proved that a variety of
devices can be used together to suppress the low frequency
oscillations. Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
can also suppress the low frequency oscillations [9]. Energy
storage devices have shown the effectiveness of suppressing
the low frequency oscillations.
Photovoltaic-battery system has the ability to suppress low
frequency oscillations with the help of reasonable control
strategy. If the output power of photovoltaic-battery system is
less than the design capacity, the remaining capacity can be
used as a power regulator to suppress the low frequency
oscillations of power system. In this paper, the control strategy
of photovoltaic-battery system is divided into two parts. One
 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)
part is the control strategy of the BUCK/BOOST converter,
the other is the control strategy of the grid-connected inverter.
The simulations are based on MATLAB/SIMULINK.
Simulation results show that the proposed control strategy of
photovoltaic-battery system can effectively restrain the
photovoltaic power fluctuations and suppress the low
frequency oscillations of power system. And the details will
be introduced in the following sections.
II. STRUCTURE AND CONTROL STRATEGY OF
PHOTOVOLTAIC-BATTERY SYSTEM
A. Structure of Photovoltaic-Battery System
Fig.1 shows the structure of photovoltaic-battery system.
That system includes photovoltaic array, BUCK/BOOST
converter, battery and grid-connected inverter. The
BUCK/BOOST converter and battery form the energy storage
system. The PV array and energy storage system are
connected in parallel to the DC side of the grid-connected
inverter. PV array is always working at the maximum power
point with the control strategy of BUCK/BOOST converter.
Photovoltaic power fluctuations are restrained by charging or
discharging the battery. The grid-connected inverter output
active power and reactive power according to power
references respectively, and it can suppress the low frequency
oscillations of power system when required.
B. Control Strategy of Photovoltaic-Battery System
The control strategy of photovoltaic-battery system is
shown in Fig. 2. To simplify the problem and make the study
more feasible, this paper uses the single machine infinite bus
system to replace the actual power system. For the same
reasons, the battery used in this paper is ideal and its capacity
is very large. In other words, the overcharge and over
discharge of the battery are not considered in this paper.
Further research about these issues can be expanded in the
•
U pv C0
•
PV
C1
BUCK/BOOST converter
Fig. 1: The structure of photovoltaic-battery system
future. As shown in Fig. 2, the control strategy of photovoltaic-
battery system is mainly divided into two parts. One part is the
control strategy of the BUCK/BOOST converter, and the other
is the control strategy of the grid-connected inverter.
The control strategy of the BUCK/BOOST converter in
photovoltaic-battery system is composed of voltage loop and
current loop. This control strategy has two functions. The first
function is to make the actual value of PV array’s terminal
voltage equal to the theoretical value under which the PV array
can output maximum power. The second function is to control
the charging and discharging of the battery. As for the voltage
loop, its reference is the theoretical value under which the PV
array can work at the maximum power point. The feedback of
voltage loop is the actual value of PV array’s terminal voltage,
and it can be consistent with the theoretical value through the
control of PI controller. The reference of current loop is the
output of voltage loop’s PI controller. The feedback of current
loop is the output current of BUCK/BOOST converter, and it
can be consistent with the reference value through the control
of PI controller. Let Ppv and Pref represent the output power of
PV array and the output power reference of the grid-connected
inverter respectively. If Ppv>Pref , the BUCK/BOOST
converter works in BUCK mode. In this mode, the driving
signal of the second switch tube (K2) is 0, and only the first
switch tube (K1) works. If Ppv<Pref , the BUCK/BOOST
converter works in BOOST mode. In this mode, the driving
signal of K1 is 0, and only K2 works.
The control strategy of the grid-connected inverter in
power system with low frequency oscillations is composed of
speed loop, power loop and current loop. This control strategy
can make the grid-connected inverter output a certain active
power and reactive power to suppress the low frequency
oscillations of power system. The reference of speed loop is
generator’s speed in power system which is on normal
operation. And the feedback of speed loop is generator’s
actual speed in power system with low frequency oscillations.
Lf
Inverter
L2
C2 U bat
Battery
 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)

Generator T1 B1 B2 B3 Load2 T2 Infinite bus

X L1 X L2

T3
θ SPLL Load1 Inverter
PV
ω θ uoa , uob , uoc ioa , iob , ioc u pv
ies
Pref = P0 − K P (ω − ωref ) abc / dq abc / dq
θ PWM
Qref = − K Q (ω − ωref ) BUCK / BOOST Battery
uod uoq iod ioq *
iabc
Qref Pref Pout = uod iod + uoq ioq iod θ dq / abc
Qout = uod ioq − uoq iod i
oq
iod id* iq* PWM u pv
Pout
Pref ΔP iodref Δiod u pvref
PI PI ies*
Qout ioq ies Δu pv
Qref ΔQ ioqref Δioq Δies iesref
PI PI PI PI
Fig. 2: The control strategy of photovoltaic-battery system

The references of power loop can be calculated as The feedbacks of power loop are the actual value of the
following equation: active power and the reactive power which can be calculated
by the power calculation module. The references of current
 Pref = − K P (ωS − ωref ) + P0
 (1) loop are the outputs of the power loop’s PI controller, and
Qref = − K Q (ωS − ωref ) the feedbacks of current loop are actual active current and
actual reactive current of the grid-connected inverter.
Where KP is the proportional control factor of PI
controller to produce Pref, KQ is the proportional control
III. SIMULATION RESULTS
factor of PI controller to produce Qref. And ws is the actual
value of the generator’s speed, wref is the reference of the There are two simulations in this paper, and both of
generator’s speed. P0 is the value of the active power that them are carried out with MATALB/SIMULINK. The first
the grid-connected inverter should output when power simulation is about restraining the photovoltaic power
system is on normal operation. The upper and lower limits fluctuations and the second simulation is about suppressing
of Pref are: the low frequency oscillations of power system. The
simulation parameters are shown in TABLE I.
 Pref = Pmax ( Pref ≥ Pmax )
 (2) A. Simulation Results about Restraining the Photovoltaic
 Pref = Pmin ( Pref ≤ Pmin )
Power Fluctuations
Where Pmax is the maximum value of the active power In this simulation, in order to study the performance of
for photovoltaic-battery system to output, Pmin is the the proposed control strategy for restraining the photovoltaic
minimum value of the active power for photovoltaic-battery power fluctuations, the light intensity S is changed as Fig.
system to output. 3(a). During 0~6s, the light intensity is 400W/m2. During
Let S0 represent the total capacity of photovoltaic-battery 6~10s, the light intensity is 800 W/m2. During 10~15s, the
system. The upper and lower limits for Qref are: light intensity is 600 W/m2.
Qref = Qmax (Qref ≥ Qmax )
 (3) TABLE I. SIMULATION PARAMETERS
Qref = Qmin (Qref ≤ Qmin )
C0 2mF
Qmax and Qmin can be calculated as the following
C1 2mF
equation:
C2 1mF
 2 2
Qmax = S0 − Pref L2 0.5mH
 (4)
Qmin = − S02 − Pref2 Lf 1mH
 2016 IEEE 8th International Power Electronics and Motion Control Conference (IPEMC-ECCE Asia)
Fig. 3(b) shows the dynamic process about the actual
value (Upv) and theoretical value (Upvref) of PV array’s
terminal voltage when the light intensity changes as Fig.
3(a). The results of Fig. 3(b) prove that PV array can work
at the maximum power point accurately when the light
intensity changes.
Fig. 3(c) shows the dynamic process about the output
power of PV array (Ppv), the output power of the grid-
connected inverter (Pinv) and the output power of battery
(Pbat). Pinv, Ppv and Pbat should meet the following equation:
Pinv = Ppv + Pbat
The results of Fig. 3(c) can meet (5) accurately. That
means if the reference of Pinv is constant, the power flowing
into power system is still constant in the case of
photovoltaic output power fluctuations. So, it is proved that
the proposed control strategy of photovoltaic-battery system
can restrain the photovoltaic power fluctuations effectively.
B. Simulation Results about Suppressing the Low
Frequency Oscillations
In this simulation, there are two single machine infinite
bus systems, and the single machine infinite bus system is
regarded as power system. The first single machine infinite
bus system doesn’t connect with a photovoltaic-battery
system. The second machine infinite bus system connects
with a photovoltaic-battery system and adopts the proposed
control strategy. In both of the two systems, a serious three-
phase short circuit fault happened from 6s to 6.2s. Fig. 4
shows the dynamic process of the generator’s speed in the
two systems. The unit of generator’s speed is per unit. In
Fig. 4, w1 means the generator’s speed in the first system
and w2 means the generator’s speed in the second system.
According to Fig. 4, the first system needs about 14s to
eliminate the low frequency oscillations while the second
system only needs about 5s to eliminate the low frequency
oscillations. Hence, it is proved that the proposed control
strategy of photovoltaic-battery system can suppress the low
frequency oscillations effectively.
S(W / m 2 )
(a)
Voltage( V)
(b )
Power (W)
(c)
Time(s)
Fig. 3: The simulation results about restraining the photovoltaic power
fluctuations
Speed (pu)
(5)
Time(s)
Fig. 4: The simulation results about suppressing the low frequency
oscillations
IV. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a novel control strategy of photovoltaic-
battery system is proposed. It is divided into two parts. One
part is the control strategy of the BUCK/BOOST converter,
the other is the control strategy of the grid-connected
inverter. The control strategy of the BUCK/BOOST
converter is composed of voltage loop and current loop.
This control strategy can make the PV array work at the
maximum power point and decide to charge or discharge the
battery. The control strategy of the grid-connected inverter
is composed of speed loop, power loop and current loop.
This control strategy can make the grid-connected inverter
output active power and reactive power according to power
references. Simulation results have proved that the proposed
control strategy of photovoltaic-battery system can restrain
the photovoltaic power fluctuations and suppress the low
frequency oscillations of power system effectively.
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