An enhanced controller for shunt active filter interfacing renewable energy source and grid

Develoving efficient interfacing technologies to interconnect renewable energy sources with grid is a promising research area in renewable energy related applications. The interfacing unit becomes crucial as renewable energy sources when directly connected to grid, can inject harmonic components that may deteriorate the quality of power. This paper proposes a mechanism to use shunt active filter as an interface between renewable energy sources and grid with a modified and efficient control scheme. The shunt active filter with this modified controller controls the real power supplied by the grid (source) in addition to its usual functions such as reactive power compensation, power factor correction and harmonic elimination. Performance of the modified Icosφ controller is compared with that of IRPT control algorithm. Two nonlinear loads are considered here namely AC voltage controller as soft starter for induction motor and a diode bridge rectifier feeding resistive load. Simulation of proposed system proves the effectiveness of using a shunt active filter as the interfacing unit for grid integrated renewable energy systems.