Distributed Primary and Secondary Power Sharing in a Droop-Controlled LVDC Microgrid with Merged AC and DC Characteristics

In an ac microgrid, a common frequency exists for coordinating active power sharing among droop-controlled sources. A common frequency is absent in a dc microgrid, leaving only the dc source voltages for coordinating active power sharing. That causes sharing error and poorer voltage regulation in dc microgrids, which in most cases, are solved by a secondary control layer reinforced by an extensive communication network. To avoid such an infrastructure and its accompanied complications, this paper proposes an alternative droop scheme for low-voltage dc (LVDC) microgrid with both primary power sharing and secondary voltage regulation merged. The main idea is to introduce a non-zero unifying frequency and a second power term to each dc source by modulating its converter with both a dc and a small ac signal. Two droop expressions can then be written for the proposed scheme, instead of the single expression found in the conventional droop scheme. The first expression is for regulating the ac frequency and active power generated, while the second is for relating the dc voltage to the second power term. The outcomes are better active power sharing and average voltage regulation in the dc microgrid, coordinated by the common injected ac frequency. These expectations have been validated by results obtained from simulations.