Real-time impedance-based stability assessment of grid converter interactions

This paper proposes a method to monitor the impedance-based stability margin of grid-connected converters in real-time. A three-phase converter is configured to inject a broadband perturbation on top of its nominal output current to enable online identification of grid impedance. The ratio of converter and grid impedance is computed in real-time by utilizing the measured grid impedance and the analytical impedance model of the inverter. A Nyquist contour is plotted based on the impedance ratio. The contour can be used to assess impedance-based stability margin and to allow, e.g., adaptive tuning, more efficient post-fault diagnostics or to enable re-selection of control parameters. The method is implemented on a dSPACE real-time control platform and the associated Control Desk software. The paper also discusses potential limitations and suggests future improvements. A short video is available online to further illustrate the method.