Grid-tied power converter with GPS capability for smart grid applications

This paper proposes a bi-directional grid-tied converter with GPS capability for smart-grid applications. The novelty of this converter is that time-stamped grid voltage angle received via network communication channels has been used to synchronize the converter to the grid. Therefore, all grid-tied converters in a microgrid with this development will not require line voltage sensing and phase-locked loops. The power section and modulation was built on a CompactRIO 9064 that also had a GPS timesource. In a larger power system, a nearby PMU can be used for the time source. A PMU capable controller is placed at the point of common coupling to measure the electrical angle of the microgrid. The electrical angle is time stamped with GPS time and communicated to the power converter which is then used for grid synchronization. This paper presents the results obtained during operation of the PMU capable converter in both rectifying mode and inversion mode.