Holistic modeling, design and optimal digital control of a combined renewable power system

This paper deals with the holistic modeling approach of a combined Photovoltaic, Wind and Fuel Cell power system. The method is using the DK5 modeling/design environment from Mentor Graphics and is based on the new Handel-C programming language. The goal of the work carried out was to achieve an optimized holistic digital control system design, followed by its rapid prototyping into a single Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). This would also enable easy connection (by adapting the model/controller) to the grid. The holistic functional simulation of the system is performed in the same environment as its controller hardware implementation and timing analysis. The controller design was then downloaded in hardware onto a RC10 development board containing a Xilinx Spartan FPGA and was successfully tested experimentally. This approach enables the design and fast hardware implementation of efficient controllers for Distributed Energy Resource (DER) hybrid systems.