Multi-Variable H∞ Control Approach for Voltage Ancillary Service in Autonomous Microgrids: Modelling, Design, and Sensitivity Analysis.

This paper proposes a multi-variable robust control scheme for voltage regulation in a diesel-photovoltaic-supercapacitor hybrid power generation system operating in stand-alone mode. First, we study the influence of system parameters on the dynamic behavior of open-loop system measured outputs by means of a stability analysis method based on Monte Carlo simulation. Next, by applying H-infinity control theory, an H-infinity-based voltage controller is proposed to robustly force the voltage magnitude of a point of common coupling such as to satisfy design specifications. A cascaded two-level control architecture, where this controller acts as an upper control level and provides references to classical PI-based current tracking controllers placed on a lower level, is developed. A comprehensive methodology that casts the specific engineering demands of microgrid operation into an H-infinity control formalism is detailed. Effectiveness of the proposed voltage robust control strategy is validated via MATLAB(R)/Simulink(R) closed-loop time-domain simulations. Finally, we perform a sensitivity analysis of robust performance of the designed H-infinity controller in the presence of various load disturbances and model uncertainties through a series of closed-loop time-domain simulations carried out in MATLAB(R)/Simulink(R).