Secondary Frequency and Voltage Control of Islanded Microgrids via Distributed Averaging

John W. Simpson-Porco, Qobad Shafiee, Florian Dorfler, Juan C. Vasquez, Josep M. Guerrero, Francesco Bullo

Published 2015-04-26Version 1

In this work we present new distributed controllers for secondary frequency and voltage control in islanded microgrids. Inspired by techniques from cooperative control, the proposed controllers use localized information and nearest-neighbor communication to collectively perform secondary control actions. The frequency controller rapidly regulates the microgrid frequency to its nominal value while maintaining active power sharing among the distributed generators. Tuning of the voltage controller provides a simple and intuitive trade-off between the conflicting goals of voltage regulation and reactive power sharing. Our designs require no knowledge of the microgrid topology, impedances or loads. The distributed architecture allows for flexibility and redundancy, and eliminates the need for a central microgrid controller. We provide a voltage stability analysis and present extensive experimental results validating our designs, verifying robust performance under communication failure and during plug-and-play operation.