Model-Free Optimal Control of Inverter for Dynamic Voltage Support

Inverter-based resources (IBRs) are required to provide dynamic voltage support (DVS) during voltage dips to enhance the low-voltage ride-through capability. In this article, a model-free control method is developed to achieve the optimal DVS (ODVS) without relying on the knowledge of grid parameters. Delving into the optimum trajectory of the ODVS problem, it is found that the current constraint and the maximum active power constraint of IBRs are both binding, or one of them is binding. This inspires us to search for the optimum in a closed-loop way by a perturb-and-observe (P&O)-based optimum seeking (OS) controller with either the power factor angle or the reactive current being the manipulated (perturbed) variable. The system is guaranteed to converge asymptotically to the optimum provided the stepsize sequence is diminishing and non-summable. The proposed model-free optimal control is finally implemented within a single-stage photovoltaic (PV) system, where dynamic simulations demonstrate the optimal and fast DVS performance. Moreover, the implementation strategy for other types of IBRs that are not self-protected by nature is also discussed.