Modelling and simulation of Grid-connected PV System in
DIgSILENT/PowerFactory
ZHENG Fei, DING Mingchang, ZHANG Junjun
China Electric Power Research Institute
Nanjing 210003, China
E-mail: dingmingchang@epri.sgcc.com.cn
Keywords: PV, Grid-connected, DIgSILENT, Dynamic
Modelling, Control Strategy, Maximum Power Point
Tracking, MPPT.
Abstract
With a large number of PV power station integrated to the
grid, some problems such as the grid-connected stability,
relay protection, etc. brought out by it. In this paper, dynamic
modelling and control strategy of grid-connected PV power
stations were researched based on DIgSILENT. First, the
equivalent model for PV power station was established
consisting of PV arrays, power inverters, transformers,
transmission line and grid. Second, control system including
maximum power point tracking control, voltage and current
double-loop control and relay protection control was
modelled. Finally, based on a 10MW grid-connected PV
power station in the northwest of China, simulations were
given to verify the dynamic model and control strategy of PV
power station.
1 Introduction
The photovoltaic (PV) industry of China has been blossoming
since 2004, and the national cumulative installed capacity of
PV power station achieves 2947.7MW till the end of 2011.
However, the planning and operation of the original grid will
be impacted dramatically as more and more large-scale PV
power stations integrate to the grid, and the operation safety
of grid cannot be guaranteed if there are no enough research
and pre-planning on grid-connected PV station[1~4].
Establishing electromechanical transient model of large-scale
PV power stations and then executing stability and transient
simulation experiments is a quite useful method to analyse
and solve problems about PV station integrating to grid. A PV
array model with four standard property parameters was
established in MATLAB/Simulink in [5], which suits for
different lighting strength, environmental temperature and
multiple serial and parallel connection methods, and the
simulation results shows that the PV array model output is
similar with the actual output basically. [6] and [7] proposed
two different methods to revise the parameters of the PV cell
and obtain an accurate output characteristic. [8], [9] and [10]
focus on the implementation of maximum power point
tracking (MPPT) methods in MATLAB/Simulink while [11]
proposed a modified MPPT strategy which remarkably
improves the stability of the single-state grid-connected PV
system during rapidly changing process of light intensity. All
the researches mentioned above mainly focus on the electrical
characteristics of PV array and grid-connected inverter, which
basically meet the quality analysis and relay protection
research of small PV power station. However, dynamic
characteristics in security and stability analysis of large-scale
with high penetration PV power stations are still at a
preliminary stage [12~14], and the accuracy and credibility of
the recent work is low the since there is no enough actual
operating and test data.
Therefore, in this paper, a model based on a 10MW grid-
connected PV power station in the north-western of China is
established in DIgSILENT, and the control system including
maximum power tracking control, voltage and current double-
loop control and relay protection control was also modelled
by DIgSILENT Simulation Langue. Simulations were
executed to verify the dynamic model and control strategy of
PV power station. This paper presents principal and
implementing foundation for the further research on grid-
connected PV station.
2 The equivalents modelling of PV station
There are mainly direct modelling and indirect combination
modelling two methods for PV station’s equivalents
modelling. Direct modelling of the entire PV station is to
create a mathematical model with analogous input and output
characteristics, however the model cannot reflects the
dynamic characteristics of the internal system; indirectly
combination modelling is to model the various components
within the system, respectively, and connected through a
certain structure, so that the model reflects not only the
system's input and output characteristics, but also the dynamic
characteristics of the system since it contains the specific
parameters of each equivalent components. So, the method of
indirect combination modelling is implemented in this paper.
2.1 The PV station to be modelled
The station model researched in this paper is based on a
10MW grid-connected PV power station in northwest China,
whose topology is shown as Figure 1. The station consists of
10 power generation units and every unit consists of 2 sets of
500kW inverters. Here 2 sets of inverters integrate their
output currents and then boost the voltage from 0.4kV to
10kV by a 2-winding-transformer. The 10kV busbar links to
35kV distribution network through another 2-winding-
transformer.
35kV Busbar
2.1.2 Inverter
SG500LV type inverter and CPS SC500KTL type inverter are
used in the station and Table 2 lists the key parameters of the
PV inverter[16][17]. Both the two inverter are voltage-source
type with one DC-AC stage structure.

Electrical Specification SG500KTL CPS SC500KTL

Max. DC power 560 kW 550kW
Max. input DC voltage 1000 V 1000 V
Main Transformer
Room Start DC voltage 470 V -
Max. input DC current 1200A 1200A
To SVG To Distribution
Network MPPT voltage range 450~820V 450~820V
Rated output power 500kW 500kW
10kV Busbar Max. output current 1176A -
Rated grid voltage 270V 270V
Grid voltage range 210~310V 215~310V
Rated grid frequency 50/60Hz 50Hz
Max. efficiency 98.7% 98.5%
Transformer Transformer
To Stationÿs
1 10
Table 1: The key parameters of two types of PV inverter
Internal Transformer
... 2.1.3 Transformer
There is one 0.27kV/10kV 2-winding-transformer in every
1MW power generation units, and the transformer type is
v
n
re
e
tr

SCLBS10-1000/10, meaning that the transformer has a rated

A
V
P
ay

power capability of 1000kVA, a no-load loss of 1320W and a

rr

1#-10# Inverter Room load loss of 10300W.

Figure 1: Topology of a grid-connected PV station in The main transformer room consists of 4 sets of SCZB10-
northwest China 2500/35 type transformer, and boosts the AC voltage from
According to the indirect combination modelling principle, an 10kV to 35kV.
equivalent topology of PV station shown in Figure2 is
implemented in this paper, and the key components of the PV 2.2 Modelling of equivalent PV station
station will be introduced in detail as followed.
According to the equivalent topology of PV station shown in
Transformer 1 Transformer 2 Busbar A Grid Figure 2, an equivalent PV station model was built in
DC/AC DIgSILENT and its main circuit is shown as Figure 3.
grid-connecting
switch
PV Array Inverter Interconnection
Point A
Interconnection
Point B AC0.27kV AC10kV AC35kV
DC0.525kV
Figure 2: Equivalent topology of PV station L1 L2 T1 T2

PWM Inverter
=

External Grid
Array
2.1.1 PV Array C2
C1
PV array is the generation components of PV station, and Figure 3: Single line diagram of equivalent PV station in
there are CHSM6610P-230, CHSM6610P-235 and DIgSILENT
CHSM6610P-240 three types of PV module used in the
selected station’s PV array. Table 1 lists the key parameters 2.2.1 Modelling of equivalent PV Array
of the PV modules [15].
According to the power accumulating principle, the PV array
CHSM CHSM CHSM is equivalent to a large-scale PV module and the PV array
Electrical Specification 6610P 6610P 6610P model based on uniform illumination and Constant
230 235 240 temperature [18] is equivalently built in DIgSILENT by a
STC rated output (Pmpp)* 230 Wp 235 Wp 240 Wp controlled current source which is labelled “Array” in Figure
Rated voltage (Vmpp) at STC 28.78 V 29.16 V 29.54 V 3. The control algorithm of the current source is executed by
Rated current (lmpp) at STC 7.99 A 8.06 A 8.13 A
the DSL (DIgSILENT Simulation Language) model as Figure
4 shows. The CHSM6610P-235 module’s electrical
Open circuit voltage (Voc) at STC 37.35 V 37.56 V 37.77 V
specification is chosen as the typical parameters and the
Short circuit current (Isc) at STC 8.53 A 8.56 A 8.59 A
mathematical expression of PV array’s I-V character is
Table 1: The key parameters of three types of PV module written in the “Array Current Controller” block.
Here the light intensity is set as 1000W/m2, and the maximum power point tracking and it generators the
temperature is 25ć; The voltage at Maximum Power Point reference value Udc_ref for the “Voltage-Control Loop”
(MPP) Um is 524.88V, and the equivalent current at MPP Im is module, which generators the reference of active current id_ref
19053.84A; the open-circuit voltage Uoc is 676.08V, and short- for “Current-Control Loop” module. “Current-Control Loop”
circuit current Isc is 20235.84A. module implements the decoupling control of the PV
inverter’s output current in d-q reference frame.
Radiation
R “dq_Transformer” module and “Transformer_dq” module
Ipv
Array Current Control Current Source transform the variables between Į-ȕreference frame and d-q
T
Temperature reference frame. Overvoltage protection and overcurrent
protection are implemented to the grid-connected system by
Figure 4: DIgSILENT frame diagram of equivalent PV array “Protection” module.
Udc_ref
MPPT
2.2.2 Modelling of equivalent inverter Voltage-Control
U Loop
Udc
All the PV station’s inverters are equivalent to one large-scale Measurement
id_ref

inverter, and the inverter has a rated power capability of ir

id Current- Control
Pmd
ii
10MW with a structure shown as Figure 5. As can be seen, Iac
Measurement i
dq_Transformer
iq
Loop
Pmq Pmr

the inverter consists of 3 full-bridges and a LCL filter. iq_ref Transformer_

Inverter
cosphi dq Pmi

PLL iq_ref set

idc sinphi

L1 L2
Upv
Vac Protection
C1 Measurement

C2 Figure 6: DIgSILENT frame diagram of inverter’s control

system

Figure 5: Topology of equivalent PV inverter 3.1 MPPT algorithm

Suppose the DC-side capacitors of all the 20 sets of inverter A simple Perturbation and Observation method [20] of MPPT
are C1, C2… and C20, and then the equivalent capacitor C1 algorithms is applied in this paper. The “Sample and
is equivalent to all the 20 capacitors tied in parallel: Hold(EleSamp)” elements of DIgSILENT is used to sample
the current values of the PV array’s voltage and current, and
C1=C1//C2//…//C20=20*10000uF. (1) the “Register” element is used to generate the values of next
state. “Umpp Set” is a DSL model which selects the direction
The values of L1, L2 and C2 can be calculated in the same way, of perturbation and generates the reference voltage value of
and the design of LCL filter can refer to paper [19]. The
the PV array Udc-ref: Here u is set as 2V, and the initial
results are 0.015mH, 0.015mH, and 0.25uF.
value of Udc is set as 470V.
2.2.3 Modelling of equivalent transformer
Udc Udc
Udc(k)
According to the power accumulating principle, the Measurement Voltage Sample
transformer 1~10 tied in parallel in Figure1 can be equivalent
to one 10MW transformer with a load loss of 103kW as Figure Shifter 1
Udc(k+1)

3 shows. Clock
cl
Udc_ref
Observation
And
And the main transformer room is also equivalent to a 10MW Judgement
Idc(k+1)
transformer with a load loss of 87.4kW, which boosts the Shifter 2

voltage from 10kV to 35kV.

Idc Idc Idc(k)
Current Sample
Measurement
3 Control strategy design
Figure 6 shows the frame model of the control system built in Figure 7: DIgSILENT frame diagram of MPPT algorithm
DIgSILENT.
3.2 Two-loop control algorithm of the inverter
“Udc Measurement” is the measurement devices to obtain the
input voltage of the PV inverter, while “Vac Measurement” Referenced by paper [21] and [22], two-loop control algorithm
and “Iac Measurement” are the ones to obtain the output based on current is designed for PV inverter. The voltage
voltage and output current of the PV inverter. And “PLL” is control loop is shown in Figure 8 and the current control loop
the device to obtain the phase degree of the output current of shown in Figure 9.
the PV inverter. “MPPT” is the module to implement
As can be seen in Figure 8, the voltage PI controller handles Open the grid-connecting switch and shut down the PV
the error between the input voltage of inverter Udc and the inverter if the current at Interconnection Point A exceeds the
reference voltage of maximum power point Udc-ref, which limit value. Here the limit value is set as 1.5In and In is normal
consist of the outer voltage-loop; outer voltage-loop adjusts voltage value at Interconnection Point A.
the input voltage of inverter so that it follows the reference
i
voltage of maximum power point Udc-ref, fleetly. Current Protection
Sp
OR
Udc_ref
Ymax2 u
Voltage Protection
Udc - id_ref
1/(1+sT) non-windup PI

Figure 10: DIgSILENT frame diagram of protection

Ymin2 algorithm
Figure 8: DIgSILENT frame diagram of voltage control loop
4 Simulation experiments
In Figure 9, the inner current-loop decouples the current of
inverter as d and q components, and active current id and Simulation experiments were executed on the PV power
reactive current iq are regulated by PI controllers of station model and the results are given as below.
synchronous current vector to follow the references id-ref and
iq-ref; the output signals of current PI controllers are limited as 4.1 Inverter runs under normal state
the modulation signals Pmd and Pmq in dq0 reference frame,
which are sent to the “Transformer-dq” block to generate the Figure 11 and 12 show the phase voltages and the phase
inverter’s modulation signals Pmr and Pmi. currents at Interconnection Point A when the inverter runs
under normal state. As labeled, the three phase voltages uai, ubi
id_ref
Ymax3
and uci have balance phases with same amplitude of 220V,
Max
while the three phase currents iai, ibi and ici also have balance
id 1/(1+sT) - non-windup PI phases with same amplitude of 30.244kA.
ud
Pmd
Ymin3 module limiter Since power flowing in is refereed as the positive direction in
Pmq
Ymax4
uq DIgSILENT, in normal state, the PV inverter has an active
power of -10MW and a reactive power of zero, which can be
iq 1/(1+sT) - non-windup PI
seen from Figure 13 and verifies the set of two-loop control
algorithm.
iq_ref
Ymin4
uai ubi uci

Figure 9: DIgSILENT frame diagram of current control loop

SPWM control algorithm is included in inverter model in

DIgSILENT, and the driving system can be operated with just
Pmr and Pmi signals.

Here iq-ref is set as zero to ensure that output current and

output voltage have the same frequency and phase. Thus the
PV inverter runs with a full power factor 1 under current-loop
and voltage-loop control algorithm. Figure 11: Phase voltages in inverter side

3.3 Protection control algorithm iai ibi ici

Here overvoltage protection and overcurrent protection are

implemented to the grid-connected system, and the protection
model in DIgSILENT is given as Figure 10.
3.3.1 Overvoltage protection
Open the grid-connecting switch in Figure 1 and shut down
the PV inverter if the voltage at Interconnection Point A
exceeds the limit value. Here the limit value is set as 1.35Un
and Un is normal voltage value at Interconnection Point A.
3.3.2 Overcurrent protection
Figure 12: Phase currents in inverter side
 iai i ici
bi
Qi

Pi

Figure 16: The output currents of the PV inverter

Figure 13: Output powers of the PV inverter
4.2 Inverter runs under fault state
As shown in Figure 14, a three-phase voltage sag fault was set
to happen on 0.25s and clear on 0.35s at Interconnection Point
B as labeled in Figure 2, and the output voltages and currents
changed as Figure 15 and 16 shows.
A more severe fault simulation was executed to verify the
feasibility of the protection control strategy. As Figure 17
shows, the three-phase voltage sagged to 15% of its normal
value on 0.25s and cleared on 0.35s at Interconnection Point B,
and the voltage and current waveforms of the inverter changed
as Figure 18 and 19 shows.

As seen from Figure 14~16, the output voltages of PV inverter

felt to 110V (50% of the normal value) when the voltages at uan ubn ucn
Interconnection Point B sagged to 14.427kV (51% of the
normal value), and the phase voltages recovered to their
normal values smoothly within one frequency cycle when the
fault cleared. The output currents of the PV inverter stayed in
the same as normal state when the fault happened, but they
surged in different ranges when the fault cleared. The current
of Phase-A changed the most dramatically and it surged up to
116% of its normal value.
ubn ucn Figure 17: 3-phase voltage at Interconnection Point B sagged
to 15% of its normal value
uan
As can be seen, the phase voltages of the inverter also dipped
to 15% of their normal values when the fault happened.
However the phase currents of the inverter surged to 47.909kA
when the fault happened, up to 160% of their normal values,
which exceeded the overcurrent protection limit of the inverter.
So the grid-connecting switch opened and the PV inverter was
shut down, and then the output currents turned to zero as
Figure 19 shows.

Figure 14: 3-phase voltage at Interconnection Point B sagged

to 51% of its normal value
uai ubi uci
uai ubi
uci

Figure 18: The output voltages of the PV inverter dipped to

15% of their normal values

Figure 15: The output voltages of the PV inverter

 ibi
ici
iai
Figure 19: The PVinverter was shut down
5 Conclusions
1) The principal of equivalent modeling for PV station was
presented in this paper, and then a 10MW grid-connected PV
power station model was established in DIgSILENT based on
a PV station in northwestern of China.
2) The control strategy of the grid-connected PV model was
revealed in detail, including MPPT control, voltage and
current double-loop control and relay protection control.
3) The results of simulation verified the correction of station
model and the feasibility of control strategy. This paper helps
for the further research of PV station’s grid-connecting and
testing problems.
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