# US 12,603,495 B2 · Fault current-limiting control method and device for photovoltaic grid-forming system

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- Number: US 12,603,495 B2
- Document ID: US12603495B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/678,167
- Filed: 2024-05-30
- Published: 2025-03-13
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2023-09-11
- Assignees: Zhejiang University
- Applicants: Zhejiang University
- Inventors: Yongheng Yang; Hao Ruan; Yinxiao Zhu
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12603495B2

## CPC

- H02H 9/02: responsive to excess current {(current limitation for voltage regulators G05F1/573; disconnection after limiting H02H3/025)}
- H02M 1/32: Means for protecting converters other than automatic disconnection
- H02J 3/381: {Dispersed generators}
- H02M 1/007: {Plural converter units in cascade (push-pull DC/DC converters with pre-regulator H02M3/3374; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC stage including a high frequency transformer H02M7/4807; DC-AC converters following a DC-DC conversion stage generating periodically varying voltages H02M7/4826)}
- H02M 7/53871: {with automatic control of output voltage or current}
- H02M 7/5395: by pulse-width modulation
- H02S 40/32: comprising DC/AC inverter means associated with the PV module itself, e.g. AC modules
- H02S 50/00: Monitoring or testing of PV systems, e.g. load balancing or fault identification
- H02M 3/158: including plural semiconductor devices as final control devices for a single load
- Y02E 10/56: Power conversion systems, e.g. maximum power point trackers
- H02H: EMERGENCY PROTECTIVE CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS (indicating or signalling undesired working conditions G01R, e.g. G01R31/00, G08B; locating faults along lines G01R31/08; emergency protective devices H01H)
- H02M: APPARATUS FOR CONVERSION BETWEEN AC AND AC, BETWEEN AC AND DC, OR BETWEEN DC AND DC, AND FOR USE WITH MAINS OR SIMILAR POWER SUPPLY SYSTEMS; CONVERSION OF DC OR AC INPUT POWER INTO SURGE OUTPUT POWER; CONTROL OR REGULATION THEREOF (transformers H01F; dynamo-electric converters H02K47/00; controlling transformers, reactors or choke coils, control or regulation of electric motors, generators or dynamo-electric converters H02P)
- H02J: ELECTRIC POWER NETWORKS; CIRCUIT ARRANGEMENTS OR SYSTEMS FOR SUPPLYING OR DISTRIBUTING ELECTRIC POWER; SYSTEMS FOR STORING ELECTRIC ENERGY
- H02S: GENERATION OF ELECTRIC POWER BY CONVERSION OF INFRARED RADIATION, VISIBLE LIGHT OR ULTRAVIOLET LIGHT, e.g. USING PHOTOVOLTAIC [PV] MODULES (obtaining electrical energy from radioactive sources G21H1/12; light sensitive inorganic semiconductor devices H10F; light sensitive organic semiconductor devices H10K30/00; thermoelectric devices H10N10/00; pyroelectric devices H10N15/00)
- Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION

## Abstract

Provided are fault current-limiting control method and device for photovoltaic grid-forming system. The method includes: obtaining voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and voltage signal and current signal in a stationary synchronous frame system based on voltage signal and current signal of converter at the common-coupling point; determining a fault depth based on the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point to determine active power reference of the inverter; generating voltage reference value and phase reference value of the inverter based on the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system and the active power reference of the inverter, to obtain current reference value through fixed virtual impedance; and obtaining inverter modulating wave based on the current reference value, and obtaining control signal of each switch transistor of the inverter after modulating the inverter modulating wave through SPWM.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A fault current-limiting control method for a photovoltaic grid-forming system, comprising:
acquiring a voltage of a capacitor on an input side of an inverter in the photovoltaic grid-forming system;
generating a switch transistor control signal based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter;
acquiring a voltage signal and a current signal of a converter at a common-coupling point in the photovoltaic grid-forming system;
obtaining a voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and a voltage signal and a current signal in a stationary synchronous frame system based on the voltage signal and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point;
determining a fault depth based on the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point, and determining an active power reference of the inverter based on the fault depth;
generating a voltage reference value and a phase reference value of the inverter based on the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system and the active power reference of the inverter;
converting the voltage reference value and the phase reference value of the inverter into a current reference value through fixed virtual impedance; and
obtaining an inverter modulating wave based on the current reference value, and obtaining a control signal of each switch transistor of the inverter after the inverter modulating wave is modulated by Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM).

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the generating a switch transistor control signal based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter comprises:
controlling a working voltage of a photovoltaic array by a flexible power point tracking controller based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter to obtain a difference value between a photovoltaic working voltage reference value and an actual working voltage value; and
generating the switch transistor control signal through a Proportional Integral (PI) controller and a modulation process based on the difference value between the photovoltaic working voltage reference value and the actual working voltage value.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining a voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and a voltage signal and a current signal in a stationary synchronous frame system based on the voltage signal and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point comprises:
obtaining the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point by calculating positive and negative sequence voltage based on the voltage signal of the converter at the common-coupling point; and
obtaining the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system by carrying out Clark transform on the voltage signal of the converter at the common-coupling point and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point, respectively.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

A fault current-limiting control device for a photovoltaic grid-forming system, configured to carry out the fault current-limiting control method for a photovoltaic grid-forming system according to claim 1, and comprising a flexible power point tracking (FPPT) controller, a fault current-limiting controller, a grid-forming controller, a short-time current-limiting controller and a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) modulator;
wherein the converter in the photovoltaic grid-forming system is controlled by the FPPT controller; the inverter in the photovoltaic grid-forming system is controlled by the fault current-limiting controller, the grid-forming controller, the short-time current-limiting controller and the PWM modulator which are connected in sequence;
the flexible power point tracking controller is configured to generate the switch transistor control signal based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter;
the fault current-limiting controller is configured to obtain the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system based on the voltage signal and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point, and is configured to determine the fault depth based on the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and determine the active power reference of the inverter based on the fault depth;
the grid-forming controller is configured to generate the voltage reference value and the phase reference value of the inverter based on the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system and the active power reference of the inverter;
the short-time current-limiting controller is configured to convert the voltage reference value and the phase reference value of the inverter into the current reference value through fixed virtual impedance; and
the PWM modulator is configured to obtain the inverter modulating wave based on the current reference value, and obtain the control signal of each switch transistor of the inverter by modulating the inverter modulating wave.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The device according to claim 4, wherein the grid-forming controller comprises an active power loop and a reactive power loop; the active power loop is configured to obtain a voltage phase reference value through the active power reference and a current frequency different value; and the reactive power loop is configured to obtain a voltage amplitude reference value through a current voltage difference value.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The device according to claim 4, comprising a Proportional Resonant (PR) controller, wherein
the PR controller is configured to acquire the current reference value after passing through a current-limiting process and obtain the inverter modulating wave based on the current reference value.

### Claim 7 (depends on 4)

The device according to claim 4, wherein the control signal of each switch transistor of the inverter is obtained by modulating the inverter modulating wave using SPWM modulation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 4)

The device according to claim 4, wherein the generating a switch transistor control signal based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter comprises:
controlling a working voltage of a photovoltaic array by a flexible power point tracking controller based on the voltage of the capacitor on the input side of the inverter to obtain a difference value between a photovoltaic working voltage reference value and an actual working voltage value; and
generating the switch transistor control signal through a Proportional Integral (PI) controller and a modulation process based on the difference value between the photovoltaic working voltage reference value and the actual working voltage value.

### Claim 9 (depends on 4)

The device according to claim 4, wherein the obtaining a voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point and a voltage signal and a current signal in a stationary synchronous frame system based on the voltage signal and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point comprises:
obtaining the voltage amplitude of the common-coupling point by calculating positive and negative sequence voltage based on the voltage signal of the converter at the common-coupling point; and
obtaining the voltage signal and the current signal in the stationary synchronous frame system by carrying out Clark transform on the voltage signal of the converter at the common-coupling point and the current signal of the converter at the common-coupling point, respectively.