Testing of Smart Converters for Grid-Code Compliance With Power-Hardware-in-the-Loop

Using power-hardware-in-the-loop is a solution for testing the behavior of devices on an emulated grid, with greater flexibility and avoiding the introduction of disturbances or critical operating conditions in the utility grid. This paper highlights the implementation of such a setup, its challenges and the solutions to cope with its limitations. The emulated grid is then used for the experimental validation of a 10kVA converter, regarding fault-ride-through, dynamic reactive current support and frequency and voltage based droop control, leading to the identification of design improvement recommendations.