Collaborative Research: Highly Compact, Multi-port, GaN-Based Grid-Forming Inverter

与天气有关的灾害清醒地提醒人们，从电力能源向可再生能源过渡的过程中，伴随着“成长的烦恼”。解决这些挑战需要可再生资源的设计，以便在需要时支持电网，而不是在这些时候脱机。这就需要一种新的并网逆变器技术。该项目汇集了德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校和中佛罗里达大学的联合团队，共同开发高效率、高功率密度的电网成型解决方案，以实现更具弹性的电网。该团队此前已开发并验证了基本并网控制、多端口逆变器控制、多级三端口逆变器控制等多项关键创新。该项目支持美国向以可再生能源为基础的未来能源转型，并将通过提供集成、高效、可靠的太阳能+储能解决方案，使太阳能更高地渗透到电网中。这种光伏+储能的微型逆变器系统将为电网提供可靠的可再生能源资产，从而减少国家对化石燃料的依赖，并创建一个更具弹性和稳定性的电网。微型逆变器本身的存储集成可以产生新的商业模式，使业主和公用事业公司在电网控制和能源灵活性方面拥有新的自由度。该项目将导致电网形成控制方法的技术进步，以及基于三端口多电平逆变器的宽坏隙GaN功率器件的进步。在频率响应方面，该项目将研究并验证一种新的自适应频率位置（AFP）概念，该概念将使电网形成控制超越传统的同步发电惯性仿真。将研究创新的三端口多电平逆变器拓扑结构，并用于实现具有光伏和存储连接的高性能GaN微型逆变器。拟议的合作项目将使团队能够共同努力，推动GFM控制超出基本功能，研究多个电网形成和电网跟随逆变器一起工作时的稳定性，以及开发基于GaN的电网形成微型逆变器和测试平台。主要技术目标包括：1)优化成网电压控制环路带宽和滤波器设计。2)三端口微型逆变器的高级功能，除频率支持外，还具有黑启动、自动孤岛、MPPT、无功支持功能；3)超越惯性仿真的先进控制4)超越当前微逆变器技术的先进三端口微逆变器设计。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Weather-related disasters are sobering reminder of the "growing pains" that accompany the electric energy transition towards renewable generations. Addressing such challenges will require renewable resources to be designed to support the grid when needed instead of tripping offline during these times. This will require a new grid-forming inverter technology. This project brings together a joint team from the University of Texas Austin and the University of Central Florida, to develop a high efficiency, high power density grid-forming solutions to enable a more resilient grid. The team has previously developed and verified several key innovations such as the basic grid-forming control, control of multi-port inverter, and control of multilevel three port inverter. The project supports US’s energy transition to a renewable energy-based future, and it will enable higher penetration of solar energy into the grid by delivering an integrated, efficient, and reliable solar plus storage solutions. This PV plus storage microinverter systems will provide a reliable renewable energy asset for the grid, thereby lessening the nation’s dependence on fossil fuels and creating a grid that is more resilient and stable. The integration of the storage in the microinverter itself could generate new business models, enabling the owner and utility new degrees of freedom in grid control and energy flexibility. This project will result in technological advancements in grid-forming control methodology as well as the advancement of using wide bad-gap GaN power devices based three port multilevel inverter. In terms of frequency response, the project will study and valid a novel Adaptive Frequency Position (AFP) concept which will move grid-forming control beyond the traditional synchronous generation inertia emulation. Innovative three port multilevel inverter topology will be studied and used to realize a high performance GaN microinverter with PV and storage connectivity. The proposed collaborative project will enable the team to work together to advance the GFM controls beyond the basic functionality, study the stability when multiple grid-forming and grid-following inverters work together, as well as to develop a GaN based grid-forming microinverter and testbed. The main technical objectives include: 1) Optimization of grid-forming voltage control loop bandwidth and filter design. 2) Advanced functionalities for three-port microinverter with black start, automatic islanding, MPPT, reactive power support functionalities in addition to the frequency support; 3) Advanced control beyond inertia emulation 4) Design of advanced three port microinverter beyond the state of the art in microinverter technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.