On the Synchronization of Parallel Power Converters via Emulation of Linear Mechanical Oscillators

There exist some modular mechanical systems that exhibit inherent synchronization capabilities. Among these, arrays of pendula connected to the same moving platform, under some particular conditions that are analyzed in this work, tend to approach the synchronous in-phase or antiphase motion. Such an appealing behavior can be replicated within modular electronic circuits equipped with multiple power converters to achieve the coordination of all units. The approach consists in recasting the mechanical equations of motion of interconnected pendula to the equivalent electrical circuit by impedance or mobility analogy. This allows obtaining a self-synchronizing network without the need of explicit communication between the modules. The effectiveness of the proposed distributed controller is assessed through experimental tests. Therefore, the fundamental points of novelty are the derivation of two (series and parallel) self-synchronizing electrical linear circuits through analogy with mechanical models and the introduction of a distributed voltage-source controller for parallel operation of converters based on a fully linear model. The proposed methodology is effective for both parallel-output converters with independent inputs (as in microgrid applications) and parallel-input and parallel-output converters (as in high-current applications).