Abstract

A decentralised control method that deals with current sharing issues in dc microgrids (MGs) is proposed in this study. The proposed method is formulated in terms of `modified global indicator' concept, which was originally proposed to improve reactive power sharing in ac MGs. In this work, the `modified global indicator' concept is extended to coordinate dc MGs, which aims to preserve the main features offered by decentralised control methods such as no need of communication links, central controller or knowledge of the microgrid topology and parameters. This global indicator is inserted between current and voltage variables by adopting a virtual capacitor, which directly produces an output current sharing performance that is less relied on mismatches of the multi-bus network. Meanwhile, a voltage stabiliser is complementary developed to maintain output voltage magnitude at steady state through a shunt virtual resistance. The operation under multiple dc-buses is also included in order to enhance the applicability of the proposed controller. A detailed mathematical model including the effect of network mismatches is derived for analysis of the stability of the proposed controller. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control strategy are validated by simulation and experimental results.