A consensus-based secondary control layer for stable current sharing and voltage balancing in DC microgrids

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a secondary consensus-based control layer for current sharing and voltage balancing in DC microGrids (mGs). To this purpose, we assume that Distributed Generation Units (DGUs) are equipped with decentralized primary controllers guaranteeing voltage stability. This goal can be achieved using, for instance, Plug-and-Play (PnP) regulators. We analyze the behavior of the closed-loop mG by approximating local primary control loops with either unitary gains or first-order transfer functions. Besides proving exponential stability, current sharing, and voltage balancing, we describe how to design secondary controllers in a PnP fashion when DGUs are added or removed. Theoretical results are complemented by simulations, using a 7-DGUs mG implemented in Simulink/PLECS, and experiments on a 3-DGUs mG.