Power converters modeling in Matlab/Simulink for microgrid simulations

Abstract

Smart grid is a developing field for energy researchers. It offers technological improvements to have more controllable, reliable and sustainable power grids. Especially, the decreasing trend of fuels has pressurized to pay researchers' attention to renewable energy sources such as solar systems and wind turbines. The renewable energy sources generate electric power in different characteristics. Therefore, power converters are needed to integrate these sources in a grid to provide power flows among the sources and loads. This study presents Matlab/Simulink models of power converters and dynamic load structure, which are useful for smart grid simulations. These simulations can be used for research and educational purposes. Characteristic parameters of the models are suitable for existing devices. For power converters, Pulse-width Modulation technique is utilized that it is widely used in industry. The designed power converters and dynamic load models are tested in a microgrid application. The simulation results show that the designed power components are useful for smart grid simulation studies. © 2016 IEEE.