Voltage Control Strategies in Power Electronics

Voltage control in power electronics underpins the reliable conversion and regulation of electrical energy in applications ranging from renewable‐energy interfacing to uninterruptible power supplies and microgrids. Core approaches include single‐loop regulators, which directly adjust inverter output voltage via proportional–integral schemes, and dual‐loop structures that embed an inner current loop for active damping and enhanced stability. Advanced methods such as model predictive control forecast the converter response to optimise switching actions, while passivity-based control leverages energy‐shaping principles to ensure robust performance against disturbances. Direct deadbeat control seeks rapid disturbance rejection by placing closed-loop poles at the origin, and adaptive observers compensate for parameter variations in real time. Key challenges across these strategies involve minimising total harmonic distortion, maintaining stability under grid-forming conditions, and ensuring resilience to load changes and component tolerances. From islanded microgrids to grid-connected converters, voltage control advances are driving higher power density, greater efficiency and improved dynamic response in global power‐conversion systems.

Research from Nature Portfolio

No recent Nature Portfolio content available.

Voltage Control Strategies in Power Electronics publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in voltage control strategies in power electronics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Voltage-Source Converter (VSC): power‐electronic device that synthesises an AC voltage waveform from a DC source using semiconductor switches.

LC Filter: passive network of inductors and capacitors positioned at a converter output to attenuate switching harmonics.

Single-Loop Control: regulation scheme that directly controls output voltage via one feedback loop, commonly employing PI regulators.

Dual-Loop Control: hierarchical arrangement with an outer voltage loop and an inner current loop, providing active damping and faster dynamic response.

Model Predictive Control (MPC): advanced regulator that uses a system model to predict future behaviour and optimises switching decisions over a finite horizon.

Passivity-Based Control (PBC): energy‐shaping methodology that enforces system passivity to guarantee stability under disturbances and parameter variations.

Grid-Forming Converter: converter that controls both voltage magnitude and frequency to establish and regulate the voltage profile in an electrical grid.

References

1. Comparative Study of Discrete PI and PR Controls for Single-Phase UPS Inverter. IEEE Access (2020).
2. Passivity-Based Analysis and Design of Linear Voltage Controllers For Voltage-Source Converters. IEEE Open Journal of the Industrial Electronics Society (2020).
3. Controller design-oriented analysis of grid-forming converters for stability robustness enhancement. Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering (2022).
4. Multifunctional Cascade Control of Voltage-Source Converters Equipped With an LC Filter. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (2021).
5. Improved Direct Deadbeat Voltage Control with an Actively Damped Inductor-Capacitor Plant Model in an Islanded AC Microgrid. Energies (2016).
6. Optimal Tuning of the Current Loop for Dual-Loop Controlled Grid-Forming Converters Based on Active Damping Optimization. IEEE Access (2021).
7. An Adaptive Model Predictive Voltage Control for LC-Filtered Voltage Source Inverters. Applied Sciences (2021).