School of Engineering & Applied Sciences,

Frederick University Nicosia, Cyprus

August, 2015

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 An LCL filter is often used to interconnect an inverter to the utility grid in order to
filter the harmonics produced by the inverter.

 So far, there is lack of a state-space mathematical modeling approach that considers

practical cases of delta- and wye-connected capacitors

 This paper describes a design methodology of an LCL filter for grid-

interconnected inverters along with a comprehensive study of how to mitigate
harmonics.

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 Simple type of filter that can be used is a series inductor,
 but its harmonic attenuation is not very pronounced
 High voltage drop is produced, hence the size of inductor becomes bulky.

 High Order LCL Filter is used as replacement of conventional L filter for

smoothing output current of VSC
 Higher attenuation along with cost savings,
 overall weight and size reduction of the components.
 Good performance can be obtained using small values of inductors and
capacitors.

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 Little information available describing the systematic design of LCL filters

 In order to design an effective LCL filter, it is necessary to have an appropriate

mathematical model of the filter.

 The objective of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive analysis and modeling

of the three-phase LCL filter for VSC converters, suitable for wind energy or
photovoltaic applications.

 Two configurations of three-phase full-bridge dc/ac inverter are compared:

 first, a set of wyeconnected filter capacitors with damping
 second, a deltaconnected filter output connection.

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 LCL Filter Modeling

𝐿1 = Inverter Side Inductor

𝐿2 = Grid Side Inductor
𝑅1 = Inverter Side Resistor
𝑅2 = Grid Side Resistor
𝑣1 = Input (inverter) voltage
𝐿2 = output system voltage
Fig. 1 LCL Filter Per Phase Model

Fig. 2 General schematic for grid-interconnected dc power source

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Wye connected capacitors

Fig. 1 LCL Filter Per Phase Model

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Wye connected capacitors

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Wye connected capacitors

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delta connected capacitors

Fig. 1 LCL Filter Per Phase Model

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 LCL frequency response
𝑖𝑔
𝐻𝐿𝐶𝐿 = 𝑣𝑖 important transfer function

The insertion of a series resistance

with the capacitor eliminates the
gain spike, smoothing the overall
response and rolling-off to −180◦
for high frequency, instead
of −270◦.

Fig. 4 Bode Diagram

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 Filter Design procedure

 Several characteristics must be considered in designing an LCL filter,

 such as current ripple, filter size, and switching ripple attenuation.
 The reactive power requirements may cause a resonance of the capacitor
interacting with the grid.
 Therefore, passive or active damping must be added by including a resistor
in series with the capacitor.

The following parameters are needed for the filter design:

 VLL, line-to-line RMS voltage (inverter output);
 Vph, phase voltage (inverter output);
 Pn, rated active power;
 VDC, dc-link voltage;
 fg, grid frequency;
 fsw, switching frequency; and
 fres, resonance frequency.

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Filter Design procedure
Input parameters

Calculate Base Values

Calculate 𝐶𝑓 and 𝐿1

Provide desired 𝑘𝑎

Calculate 𝐿2

Check 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠

Provide 𝑅𝑓

Output 𝐶𝑓 and 𝑅𝑓

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 Filter Design procedure

𝐸𝑛2
Base Impedance 𝑍𝑏 = 𝐸𝑛 = Line-Line Grid Voltage
𝑃𝑛
1
Base Capacitance 𝐶𝑏 =
𝜔𝑔 𝑍𝑏

For the design of the filter capacitance, it is considered that the maximum power
factor variation seen by the grid is 5%, indicating that the base impedance of the
system is adjusted as follows:

𝐶𝑓 = 0.05𝐶𝑏
The maximum current ripple at the output of dc/ac inverter is given by

It can be observed that the maximum peak-to-peak current ripple happens at m = 0.5, then

𝐿1 = Inverter Side Inductor

𝑉𝐷𝐶 = DC Link Voltage

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 Filter Design procedure

A 10% ripple of the rated current (𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 ) for the design parameters is given by

∆𝐼𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 0.1𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥

Where,

𝑃𝑛 2
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 3𝑉𝑝ℎ

Hence, 𝐿1 becomes

𝐿1 = 𝑉𝐷𝐶 (6𝑓𝑠𝑤 ∆𝐼𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 )

The LCL filter should reduce the expected current ripple to 20%, resulting in a ripple value of
2% of the output current.

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 Filter Design procedure

Now harmonic mitigation, the harmonic current generated by inverter to that of current
injected in the grid is given by:

where 𝑘𝑎 is the desired attenuation. 𝐶𝑓 = 0.01 ÷ 0.05 𝐶𝑏

 The constant r is the ratio between the inductance at the inverter side and the one at the grid side

 A resistor in series (Rf ) with the capacitor attenuates part of the ripple on the switching
frequency in order to avoid the resonance.

 The value of this resistor should be one third of the impedance of the filter capacitor at the
resonant frequency

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 Lcl FILTER DESIGN EXAMPLE
The specifications are
 𝐸𝑛 = 120 3, line-to-line RMS voltage;
 Ps = Pn = 5 kW, rated active power;
 VDC = 400 V, dc-link voltage;
 ωg = 2π60, grid angular frequency;
 fsw = 15 kHz, switching frequency;
 x = 0.05, maximum power factor variation seen by the grid;
 ka = 0.2 (20%), attenuation factor.

𝐸𝑛2 (120 3)2

Base Impedance 𝑍𝑏 = = = 8.64Ω
𝑃𝑛 5000

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Base Capacitance 𝐶𝑏 = = 307.16μF
𝜔𝑔 𝑍𝑏

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 Lcl FILTER DESIGN EXAMPLE

Using 10% allowed ripple

𝑃𝑛 2
𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 3𝑉𝑝ℎ = 19.641𝐴𝑚𝑝

∆𝐼𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 1.9641 𝐿1 = 𝑉𝐷𝐶 6𝑓𝑠𝑤 ∆𝐼𝐿𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 2.26𝑚𝐻

For 5% power factor variation

𝐶𝑓 = 15μF (wye connected) 𝐶𝑓 = 45μF (wye connected)

For 𝑘𝑎 =20%
𝐿2 = 0.045𝑚𝐻 (wye)
𝐿2 = 0.135𝑚𝐻 (wye)

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑠 = 6.1897𝑘𝐻𝑧 Satisfy criteria

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 Lcl FILTER DESIGN EXAMPLE

The damping resistor

𝑅𝑓 = 0.55 𝑜ℎ𝑚 (𝑤𝑦𝑒)

𝑅𝑓 = 0.185 𝑜ℎ𝑚 (𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑎)

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 GSC Converter Control

Various tests have been conducted stand-alone mode for a load with different power
factors; in all cases, the filter output voltage has THD less than 2%.
GSC Converter Control
 GSC Converter Control

The THD of injected current is higher in grid-connected mode, but

still less than the required specification of 5%
Thank
You
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