A Novel AC/DC Microgrid Topology Using the 3-Port Converter With Improved Power Management and an Offline Solar MPPT Algorithm

Currently, the world is in the midst of a major energy transition, where renewables and microgrids are positioned to play a pivotal role in restructuring the power system network. In light of this fact, this work details the development of a novel hybrid microgrid topology using the 3-port converter. The topology provides a single-stage power conversion platform between multiple subgrids within the system and allows a seamless transition of the microgrid operation from grid-connected to islanded mode and vice-versa. Additionally, this work introduces a power management strategy that optimizes the power flow among various entities in the system while considering different operating conditions. Further, a new offline solar MPPT scheme is proposed using a predictive approach that minimizes the system’s computational load and sensor count. The entire functioning of the proposed hybrid microgrid is verified using MATLAB Simulink, controller hardware-in-the-loop (CHIL) operation performed on OPAL-RT (OP4510) HIL simulator, and experimentation performed on the developed hardware prototype.