| Stable operation of the electrical system in the context of microgrid and smart grid technologies is imperative to enable their large scale adoption. Even though many of the analytical tools that are applied to large power systems are readily applicable to microgrids, there are certain key aspects that render some of these tools inadequate and require others to be adapted. This work is aimed at an evaluation of several stability criteria applied to a microgrid environment, which comprises distributed generators, storage devices and loads operating on a droop-control strategy. Stability criteria based on impedance matching at the point of application allow the prediction of instabilities in the grid-tied and islanded cases. Analytical, simulation and experimental results show interesting and intuitive relationships between the parameters of the microgrid components and the stability boundaries. These relationships can be utilized to establish design tools for ensuring robust operation of microgrids. |
