Power hardware-in-loop testing of advanced inverter functionalities

This paper describes an advanced testing approach and a laboratory testbed developed specifically for evaluating controls, communications and protection functionalities of individual inverters and/or multiple inverters operating in parallel on distribution systems. The testbed utilizes power hardware-in-loop for interfacing commercial power electronic based devices to real-time simulator systems representing a simulated model of a target medium voltage distribution circuit. The testing approach is described and compared with conventional testing methods. A number of the laboratory test results are presented, demonstrating the capability of the testing approach in characterizing inverter operation and performance.