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Emerging Directions in Power Converter Control for Renewable Energy Systems and Microgrids

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 March 2025) | Viewed by 2339

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Universidad del Bío-Bío, Concepción 4051381, Chile
Interests: renewable energies; digital nonlinear, resonant, and predictive control for voltage or current source converters; microgrids; power converter control
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Guest Editor
Department of Electrical Engineering, Universidad de Talca, Curicó 3340000, Chile
Interests: digital control of modular multi-level converters to improve power quality and photovoltaic microinverters
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

To improve the sustainability of electricity generation in our national power grids, there has been increasing effort toward the utilization of renewable energies. However, connecting renewable energies to our electrical grids is not a simple task, as many renewable energies pose problems, such as system power injection. In addition, with the vast majority of renewable technologies being unreliable regarding their power generation, renewable energy systems have brought additional challenges to researchers who are trying to utilize this technology, especially in small scale microgrids. Several of the issues of incorporating renewable technology into microgrids have been solved with the utilization of power converters, with the main challenge now being how to control such technology to optimize behaviour within the power system. Due to the increased sensitivity and variability of the supply voltage to these power converters in microgrid environments, the control of the systems has become ever more paramount—and ever more complex—in microgrid design.

Therefore, this Special Issue aims to present the most recent advances in power electronics, focusing on power electronic control in renewable energy systems within microgrids from the perspectives of theory, modelling, control, new converter topologies, and algorithms.

The topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Power converter modelling for AC, DC, and AC–DC hybrid.
  • Power converters control for AC, DC, and AC–DC hybrid.
  • New topologies for power converters applied for renewable energies and microgrids.
  • Grid integration through power electronics.
  • Storage systems.
  • Bidirectional DC–DC converters in DC microgrids.
  • Renewable isolated microgrids.
  • Power converter control for photovoltaic systems.
  • Power converter control for wind power systems.
  • Power quality, reliability, and resilience.
  • Trends in power converters.
  • Predictive control for power converters.
  • Linear control for power converters.
  • Nonlinear control for power converters.
  • Green hydrogen systems.
  • Trends in solar, wind, and marine energy power systems.
  • Electromobility and its impact on microgrids.
  • Novel renewable energies and power topologies for microgrid applications.

Dr. Jaime Rohten
Prof. Dr. Javier Muñoz Vidal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • renewable energies
  • power converters
  • microgrids
  • electromobility

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 5603 KiB  
Article
Zero–Average Dynamics Technique Applied to the Buck–Boost Converter: Results on Periodicity, Bifurcations, and Chaotic Behavior
by Diego A. Londoño Patiño, Simeón Casanova Trujillo and Fredy E. Hoyos
Energies 2025, 18(8), 2051; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18082051 - 16 Apr 2025
Viewed by 279
Abstract
This study addresses chaos control in a Buck–Boost converter using ZAD technique and FPIC. The system analysis identified 1-periodic orbits and observed the occurrence of flip bifurcations, indicating chaotic behavior characterized by sensitivity to initial conditions. To mitigate these instabilities, FPIC was successfully [...] Read more.
This study addresses chaos control in a Buck–Boost converter using ZAD technique and FPIC. The system analysis identified 1-periodic orbits and observed the occurrence of flip bifurcations, indicating chaotic behavior characterized by sensitivity to initial conditions. To mitigate these instabilities, FPIC was successfully applied, stabilizing periodic orbits and significantly reducing chaos in the system. Numerical simulations verified the presence of chaos, confirmed by positive Lyapunov exponents, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the applied control methods. Steady-state and transient responses of the open-loop model and experimental system were evaluated, showing a strong correlation between them. Under varying load conditions, the numerical model accurately predicted the converter’s real dynamics, validating the proposed approach. Additionally, closed-loop control with ZAD exhibited robust performance, maintaining stable inductor current even during abrupt load changes, thus achieving effective control in non-minimum phase systems. This work contributes to the design of robust control strategies for power converters, optimizing their stability and dynamic response in applications that require precise management of power under variable conditions. Finally, a comparison was made between the performance of the Buck–Boost converter controlled with ZAD and the one controlled by PID. It was observed that both controllers effectively regulate the current, with a steady-state error of less than 1%. However, the system controlled with ZAD maintains a fixed switching frequency, whereas the PID-controlled system lacks a fixed switching frequency and operates with a very high PWM frequency. This high frequency in the PID-controlled system presents a disadvantage, as it leads to issues such as chattering, duty cycle saturation, and consequently, overheating of the MOSFET. Full article
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14 pages, 844 KiB  
Article
Experimental Validation of Damping Adjustment Method with Generator Parameter Study for Wave Energy Conversion
by Fabian G. Pierart, Matias Rubilar and Jaime Rohten
Energies 2023, 16(14), 5298; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16145298 - 11 Jul 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1513
Abstract
Effective control strategies are essential for optimizing wave energy production. While theoretical studies have explored various control approaches, experimental validation of these methods remains limited. This study proposes a damping adjustment method as a means to enable the experimental application of resistive control [...] Read more.
Effective control strategies are essential for optimizing wave energy production. While theoretical studies have explored various control approaches, experimental validation of these methods remains limited. This study proposes a damping adjustment method as a means to enable the experimental application of resistive control in wave energy systems. The system’s damping is adjusted through a variable electrical resistance coupled to the generator. A mathematical model is developed to capture the interaction between the wave energy converter, generator, and variable resistance. Experimental validation demonstrates a good fit between the experimental results and the mathematical model. Four different DC machines acting as generators are tested to evaluate the influence of the model’s parameters on control capability. Results indicate that DC machines with less internal resistance allow a wider range of damping and power adjustment by using external resistance. The proposed method shows promising results, emphasizing the significance of the DC machine parameters in achieving effective control over system variables. These findings contribute to the development of efficient and reliable control strategies for enhancing wave energy production at small scales. Full article
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