Design of Proportional-Resonant Controller with Zero

Steady-State Error for a Single-Phase Grid-Connected

Voltage Source Inverter with an LCL Output Filter
Ahmad Ali Nazeri Federico Martin Ibanez Sakda Somkun
Peter Zacharias Center for Energy Science and School of Renewable Energy and
Centre of Competence for Distributed Electric Technology (CEST) Smart Grid Technology (SGtech)
Power Technology (KDEE-EVS) Skolkovo Institute of Science and Naresuan University
University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany Technology (Skoltech) Phitsanulok, Thailand
[Link]@[Link] Moscow, Russia sakdaso@[Link]
[Link]@[Link] [Link]@[Link]

Abstract—The single-phase grid-connected voltage source only two values (+Vdc and –Vdc). In the literature, the VSI with
inverters with LCL filters are widely implemented in the grid three or more levels is called multilevel inverters [3]. This
using traditional Proportional Integral (PI) controllers. The paper presents only the controller of a two-level single-phase
Proportional Resonant (PR) controller introduces new features VSI. However, the same procedure can be used for a
such as tracking of the sinusoidal waveform with zero steady- multilevel single-phase or three-phase converters. The control
state error and better disturbance rejection capability in of the VSIs has been extensively studied in [2], [3]. For grid-
comparison with the PI controller. The mentioned benefits lead connected VSIs, an open loop controller is not allowed
to a better power factor and system stability. This paper because the VSIs need to be in synchronism with the grid.
proposes a comprehensive design methodology of the PR
Therefore, VSIs requires a synchronization unit, which is
controller in an inverter with an LCL filter. Also, a comparison
of the PR and PI controller is presented. In this analysis, the
usually a phase-locked loop (PLL) [2], and an output current
optimal values of the PR controller are found based on the phase control loop. The basic control loop, which is conventionally
margin of the entire control loop of the converter. The performed by a proportional integral (PI) current controller
simulation of the 1.5 kVA VSC with an LCL filter with a PR with the single-phase grid-tied VSI, is shown in Fig. 1. The PI
controller in MATLAB/Simulink® and real-time simulator controller has limitations such as poor tracking capability with
validates the design and shows the stability margin of the zero steady-state error, poor disturbance rejection and the need
proposed methodology. for transformation in three phase systems. However,
employing a PI controller, the active and reactive powers can
Index Terms--Proportional integral controller, proportional be extracted using id and iq in the synchronous reference frame
resonant controller, stationary reference frame, total harmonic (SyncRF).
distortion, voltage source inverter.
Fig. 2 shows the basic diagram of the converter with the
control loops. The proportional resonant controller (PR)
I. INTRODUCTION achieves zero steady-state error, improves the tracking of a
The distributed generation systems (DGs) such as solar sinusoidal reference waveform, and has better disturbance
power plants, wind farms, hydropower plants are widely rejection capability compared to the traditional PI controller.
interfaced with single-phase and three-phase grid-connected The ideal PR controller offers “infinite gain” at the selected
voltage source inverter (VSIs). The VSIs can be used in frequency range and a finite gain at the selected switching
bidirectional mode of operation as the power can be injected harmonic frequencies to achieve zero steady-state error at the
from the DGs to the electrical grid (inverter mode) or from the desired frequency [4]. In addition, the selective harmonic
grid to the DGs (rectifier mode) where backup systems such as compensator can also be in parallel to the PR controller to
batteries, super-capacitors or flywheel are used to store the compensate the harmonic frequencies such as 3rd, 5th, 7th, and
surplus power and this power can be reused in case of 9th without affecting the performance of the controller [5].
emergency [1], [2]. Also, VSIs can also transfer reactive Moreover, the transformation from/to the dq to/from Įȕ and
power to the grid so they can work as static compensators [2]. the cross-decoupling paths are no more needed because the PR
There are several circuits for a VSI, the most popular is the works in the Įȕ frame as the line current [6]. Therefore, in
two-levels voltage source inverter, which is shown in Fig. 1. addition to this controller, an LCL filter is used in the VSIs to
“Two levels” means that the voltage in the output can have attenuate high frequency harmonics injected to the grid.

‹,(((
 Figure 2. The overall system configuration of a single-phase grid-connected
bidirectional VSI with an LCL filter employing PR controller.

Then, the reference currents are compared to the measured

currents id and iq and the current errors (eid and eiq) are
generated. The transformed currents as (id and iq) can be used
to generate the desired active and reactive powers
respectively. The eid and eiq are the inputs to the PI controllers.
The output signals of the PI controllers are transformed into
the SRF and are given to the PWM generator to create the
desired output voltage (vc) of the inverter. The transfer
Figure 1. Single-phase grid-connected VSI with an output filter employing
function of the PI controller is
a PI controller in the synchronous reference frame.
§ T s +1· .
G PI ( s ) = K PI ¨ I ¸ (1)
However, the resonance of the LCL filter can produce © TI s ¹
instabilities in the system so the controller and the filter should where KPI is the proportional gain and TI is the integral time
be carefully designed to tackle instability. This paper proposes of the PI controller and s is the Laplacian variable.
a step by step design methodology for a PR current control for
a single-phase grid-connected VSI with an LCL output filter. It B. VSI with PR Controller
includes a detailed analysis for calculating the PR controller
Fig. 2 shows the overall system configuration of a single-
parameters for the optimal phase margin that gives the
phase grid-connected bidirectional VSI with an LCL filter and
transient response and bandwidth. To validate the design
PR current controller. Reactive power control is used to inject
methodology, the converter is connected to the grid for
the desired reactive power. A DC source that can be a battery
regulating the voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC)
or a DC/DC converter [7], [8]. In the first case, no voltage
by transferring active and reactive power. The paper is
controller is needed, the battery provides an almost constant
organized as follows: Section II reviews the control schemes
value. In the second case, a DC bus voltage control is needed
of the system, Section III presents the design of an LCL filter.
to keep Vdc constant, thus the control loop of the DC side is
Section IV analyses the PR controller and presents the design
shown. The grid voltage and currents are expressed as
procedure and simulations that validate the design are
extensively shown in section V. Finally, the conclusions are in ~
v s ( t ) = V s cos ω s ( t ) (2.a)
section VI.
i ( t ) = Iˆ cos(ω t + φ )
s s s

II. SYSTEM CONFIGURATION AND CONTROL i s ( t ) = Iˆ P c o s ω s ( t ) − IˆQ s in ω s ( t ) . (2.b)

METHODOLOGIES where IˆP = Iˆs cos φ is the peak value of the active current
A. VSI with PI Controller (in- phase with the grid voltage) and IˆQ = Iˆs sin φ is the peak
Fig. 1 shows the single-phase grid-connected VSI with an value of reactive current (in quadrature with the grid voltage)
output filter and the PI controllers. The grid current (is=iĮ) is [9]. To simplify the analysis, the variables are transformed to
measured and shifted by (-90o) to generate the second phase s

(iȕ) by the orthogonal signal generator (OSG). The stationary the complex plane by x s (t ) = ℜ e ª« x (t ) º» . The complex
¬ ¼
reference frame (SRF) currents (iĮ and iȕ) are transformed to id s
and iq in the synchronous reference frame (SyncRF) using the variable is defined as x (t ) = xα (t ) + jxβ (t ) where the real and
inverse Park transformation. The reference currents (id,ref and imaginary part are the components of the Clarke
iq,ref) are either taken from the DC bus voltage control loop or transformation. Applying KVL and KCL to the output filter,
the power control loop. the derived state equations of the converter are:

,(((0LODQ3RZHU7HFK
 G
d i s s (t ) G G
Ls + Rs is s (t ) = v ss (t ) − vcf (t ) (3.a)
dt
G
d v cfs (t ) G s G
Cf = i s ( t ) − ic s ( t ) (3.b)
dt
G
d i s (t ) G s
Lc c + Rc ics (t ) = vcf (t ) − m a (t )v dc (t ) . (3.c)
dt
where the subscript (s) indicates that the variables are in SRF.
Lc and Ls are the inverter side and grid side inductances with
the winding resistances Rc and Rs respectively. Cf is the filter
capacitance. The ma is the modulating signal given to the
PWM switches. The grid current (is) is controlled by the PR
current controller, which is already in SRF (Įȕ) and is
compared with the reference current (is,ref (t)). The error goes (a)
through a zero-order hold (ZOH) to the PR controller. The
ZOH is added because of the computational and processing
delay caused by the digital PWM. The transfer function of the
ideal PR controller with harmonic compensator (HC) is given
KIR s Kih s
GPRs (s) = KPR + + ¦ .
s + ωg h=1,3,5.. s2 + ( hω
2 2
)
2 (4)
g

where KPR is the proportional gain, KIR is the resonant integral

gain, ωg is the nominal grid frequency. The KIR in (4) has half
of the resonant integral gain compared to the practical gain
proposed in [5]. This improves the stability while zero steady-
state error is still achieved even under uncertain parameters of
the VSIs at the slow control loop bandwidth. To ensure the
system’s stability in the implementation of the PR controller,
the infinite gain is replaced by a finite gain with harmonic (b)
compensator is shown in (5) (practical PR controller) [4]. This
modification still enables the PR controller to track the input
phase angle and achieves zero steady-state error [4], [6].
2 K IR ω c s 2 K ih ω c s
G PRs ( s ) = K PR + + ¦ (5)
s 2 + 2ω c s + ω g2 h =1,3,5.. s 2 + 2ω s + ( hω )2
c g

where the cut-off frequency ωc<< ωg and h is the harmonic

order.
From Fig. 2, the output of the PR controller (vconv,ref ) is
passed through the ZOH and to feed the PWM generator,
which creates the gate signals and finally the converter’s
output voltage (vc). The desired reactive power is injected to
the grid to support the voltage profile at the PCC employing (c)
the proper design of the reactive power loop in the PI
Figure 3. The frequency response of (a) different controllers, (b) the
controller. Fig. 3.a shows the open loop Bode plot of a
practical PR controller with a varying ωc parameter, (c) unbalanced SyncRF
conventional PI transfer function, a PI controller with the park PIdq and practical PR controller with HCs.
and inverse park transformation (as in Fig.1), which moves the
transfer function to the grid frequency and the ideal and
practical (non-ideal) PR controllers extracted from (4) and (5) (KPR) as the magnitude response yields to the traditional PI
respectively. Note that the PR controller in the SyncRF (dq) proportional constant at higher frequencies. The transient
behaves similar to the PI controller with the transformations system response would be faster with larger (KPR). Fig. 3.b
but having a better attenuation in the harmonics [12]. depicts the effect of the ωc for the practical PR given in (5). It
Moreover, the crossover frequencies of the controller can be is recommended to use the practical PR controller by
seen in the figure with their respective phase margin. The ideal adjusting the ωc to achieve the desired bandwidth and the
and practical PR controllers have two crossover frequencies, phase margin with finite gain to avoid system instability.
where the phase margin of the practical PR can be widened by KPI = 0.1, KI = 20, ωg = 314 rad/s and ωc = 10 rad/s were
adjusting the ωc. For the PR controller (Fig. 2), the transient chosen in the Bode plot of Fig. 3.a, and b. Fig. 3.c shows the
response of the controller is governed by the proportional gain ideal and non-ideal PR controller given in (4) and (5) [4].

,(((0LODQ3RZHU7HFK
 The ideal PR with a higher peak (blue) is equal to the The first order time delay (Td) is approximated to the one
unbalanced SyncRF in dq frame and it is more selective to the and a half of the switching periods (1.5Ts) [3]. The open
desired harmonics. The unbalanced SyncRF has greater phase loop transfer function is given as
margin due to the absence of the cut-off frequency ( ωc) [9], § ·§ 1 ·§ KR ·
K s
[12]. The design methodology follows two steps: the first step G OLs ,PR ( s ) = ¨ K PR + 2 IR 2 ¸¸ ¨ ¸¨ ¸. (11)
is to choose the proper KPR to stable the controller with the
¨
© s + ωg ¹ © 1 + Td s ¹ © 1 + TR s ¹
good transient response, and then, choose the KIR to provide where TR = (Lc+Ls), KR = Vdc / (Rc+Rs), and Ts = 1 / fs. The
steady state-phase and amplitude error without making the plant 1+TRs is approximated to TRs [3]. The proportional term
phase margin too small [5]. KPR, which is responsible for the dynamics of the system
regarding the bandwidth, phase and gain margins, which is
tuned similarly to the PI controller [9]. The Extended
III. DESIGN PROCEDURE OF AN LCL FILTER
Symmetrical Optimum (SO) is used to determine the
The total harmonic distortion (THDis) of the injected grid proportional and integral gains of the PR controller with
current can be much reduced by the proper design of the LCL constant disturbance (vs) [10]. The closed-loop transfer
filter. However, the resonance of the LCL filter causes the function of the system is compared with the third order
system to be unstable. This must be avoided by the careful standard equation, which yields to
filter design. The LCL filter parameters are designed based on
β 1/ 2 s / ωn + 1
the system rated voltage Vs =230 V, apparent power Sn = 1.5 G s (s) = 3 . (12)
kVA, DC link voltage Vdc =400 V, the nominal grid frequency
CL , PR
s / ω n + β s / ω n2 + β 1 / 2 s / ω n + 1
3 1/ 2 2

ωg = 2ʌ.50 rad/s and the switching frequency fs = 10 kHz [10]. where ωn = ωc. The PR parameters can be calculated [3], [10]
First, calculate the base impedance and base capacitance as
TR TR
K PR = and K IR = . (13)
V2
Z b = s and C b =
1 . β K R Td ββ 1/ 2 K R Td2
(6)
Sn ωg × Zb where ȕ is used to select the optimum phase margin (PM)
Second, the allowable current ripples (ΔiLf max) on the (θm). The PM (θm) is chosen based on
inverter side is taken as
§ β −1 ·
θ m = arctan ¨ ¸. (14)
kVA × 2 . © 2β
1/ 2
Δ iLf max = ripples % × (7) ¹
Vs The stability of the system mainly depends on the
Third, the inverter side inductance (Lc) is calculated based resonance frequency given in (9) with proper adjustment of
on the unipolar sinusoidal PWM switching technique as the ȕ between 4 to 16, which relates θm from 36o to 60o
keeping the overshoot and settling time of the controller
Vdc performance [9], [12]. Fig. 4 shows the open loop Bode
Lc = . (8)
8 × Δ iLf max × f s diagram with the gain and phase crossover frequencies of the
The filter capacitor is calculated as C f = x ⋅ C b . where “x” system including PR controller and LCL plant. Three
crossover frequencies are observed: ωg1, ωg2 and ωg3 with the
decides the percentage of the reactive power required by the
filter capacitor (Cf) The grid side inductance (Ls) in (10) is respective PM θg1, θg2 and θg3 respectively. By adjusting the ȕ
calculated based on the stability condition given in (9) in case of the controller, the KPR and KIR of the PR controller can be
of the grid current feedback employing PR controller [11]. adjusted to achieve the optimum range of the phase margin
(θm) as given in (13). Moreover, there are two more PMs
f sw f related to the crossover frequencies at the filter resonance and
> f r > sw (9.a) the system is stable with the PR controller at all PMs.
2 4
10 f g ≤ f r ≤ f sw / 2 (9.b)
TABLE I. SYSTEM AND LCL FILTER PARAMETERS
Lc
Ls =
(ω 2
r × Lc × C f ) − 1
(10) Parameters Values
Line voltage (RMS), Vs 230 V
Keeping the resonance frequency (fr) of the LCL filter in
the stability range in (9) ensures the stability of the system Nominal grid frequency, ωg 2ʌ.50 rad/s
where stability issues arise if the higher control frequencies DC output voltage, Vdc 400 V
are used to achieve higher control bandwidth [10], [11]. Apparent power, Sn 1.5 kVA
System and LCL filter parameters are given in Table I. Base Impedance Zb and base capacitance Cb 35 Ÿ, 90 F
Converter side inductor with 16% of permissible 3.4 mH
IV. DESIGN AND CONTROL OF PR CONTROLLER ripples with respect to the rated current gives Lc
Grid side inductor, Ls 0.35 mH
The design procedure of the PR controller is based on the
design of a PI controller [10]. Equation (4) is used (ideal PR Filter Capacitor, Cf with x =2.5% (x < 5%) 2.25 F
controller). The Cf is neglected to simplify the analysis only Resonance frequency, fr 6 kHz
for the design of the PR controller. Thus, the total inductance Switching frequency, fs 10 kHz
is L = Lc+Ls. Equivalent switching frequency, fsw 20 kHz

,(((0LODQ3RZHU7HFK
 IEEE-519 (rectifier operation) standards. The bidirectional
VSI with a PR controller and LCL filter was implemented in a
real-time simulator, which was connected to the real loads at a
reduced voltage. Fig. 7 shows the grid voltage (Vs), grid
current (Is), the current reference (Is,ref) and the error between
the Is,ref and Is, which is taken from the real-time simulator. A
SyncRF PLL was implemented in the real-time simulator to
extract the frequency and phase angle ωs(t), θs(t) and the peak
value of the grid voltage ( Vˆs ). Fig. 8 depicts the step change in
the grid current (Is) where the Is becomes stable after three
cycles. Note that as the inverter injects real power, Is is in
phase with the grid voltage (Vs). Fig. 9 shows the Bode plot of
the closed-loop system. The measurements were taken using a
Figure 4. The frequency response of the system with ȕ = 10. real-time simulator with a time step of 50 s.

The PM of the system can also broaden employing the

practical PR controller as in (5) and the system would be
stable at all PMs. Moreover, the maximum peak overshoot is
much reduced by regulating the KPR and KIR with the improved
damping by selecting the proper range of ȕ.

V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The simulation of a VSI with a PR controller was Figure 5. The simulated transient response of the VSI (Rectifier/Inverter
performed in the MATLAB/Simulink®. The whole inverter operation) with a step change in (id,ref) and (iq,ref) with line current is (t) error.
from Fig. 2 was simulated. The PR controller parameters KPR
is 0.128 and KIR is 127.9 with chosen ȕ = 10 extracted from
(13). The major difference between the PI and PR controller is
that: the active and reactive powers can be extracted in the
unbalanced SyncRF employing PI controller via id and iq (Fig.
1) while the available powers cannot be extracted in the SRF
PR controller. In the latter case, the active power and reactive
power control loops are needed to inject respective power to
and/or from the grid to regulate the voltage at PCC (Fig. 2).
Fig. 5 shows the simulated transient response of the rectifier
operation of the single-phase VSI and an output LCL filter
with 1 kW of the resistive load. At t = 0.02s a step change in
the id,ref is applied at a resistive load of 1 kW where a step
change at t = 0.06s is applied in the iq,ref with 750 Var of the
reactive load.
It can be seen that the grid current (is) is fully following the
reference current (is,ref) with zero steady-state error with the Figure 6. Harmonic order of the injected grid current is (t).
step change in active and reactive currents. Moreover, at
t = 0.1s shows the simulated transient response of the inverter
operation of the single-phase VSI where the power flows from
DC/AC. At t = 0.14 s a step change is applied in the iq,ref with
1500 Var of the reactive load and the reference current (is,ref) is
fully following the grid current with zero steady-state error.
The reference active and reactive currents (id,ref, iq,ref) can also
be seen with a step change in the error between the reference
and measured currents. Moreover, the ripple attenuation of the
grid current (is) can be seen with respect to the inverter current
(ic), which are much mitigated by the LCL filter. The VSI
operates in the bidirectional mode where power flows to
and/or from the grid to regulate the grid voltage at the PCC.
Fig. 6 exhibits the THDis of the grid current (is) around 0.71%
employing PR controller with HC and an allowable current
ripple of 16% in the design of the inverter side inductance of
the filter. The injected ripples in the grid current are less than Figure 7. Inverter operation of single-phase grid-tied inverter in PR
the 5% following the IEEE-1547 (inverter operation) and controller with grid current error in real-time simulator.

,(((0LODQ3RZHU7HFK
 It was connected to a signal generator in parallel with a VI CONCLUSION
small resistor emulating the grid. A small-variation was A design procedure and control of the PR controller with an
introduced in the current reference and the current output was output LCL filter for a single-phase bidirectional VSI was
measured emulating the grid. A small-variation was presented. The LCL filter parameters were obtained by
introduced in the current reference and the current output was considering the stability margins of the resonance frequency to
measured. The gain and phase were obtained using the gain- dampen the resonance of the filter and to mitigate the injected
phase meter HP 3575. Notice the LCL filter resonance switching harmonic ripples to the grid. Moreover, the PR
frequency is at 6 kHz and the linear model coincides with the controller parameters were tuned with the extended SO
measurements with ȕ = 10. Fig. 10 shows the experimental method to get the broader phase margin, which helps in the
test bench with a real-time simulator. stability of the system. A comprehensive comparison of the PI
and PR controller has been presented, where PR has a better
transient response, zero steady-state error and better sinusoidal
tracking capability. The time delay was introduced in the
design of the controller, which helps in selecting ȕ for the
optimum phase margin of the complete system with the PR
controller and the LCL filter. Also, a distortion analysis was
performed and shown that the PR controller has lower
harmonic distortion. Moreover, the proposed model was
implemented in the real-time simulator with the real connected
loads to verify the simulation results.

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