IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Vol. 14, No.

3, September 1999

810

ANALYSIS AND PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF THE ACTIVE FREQUENCY DRIFT

METHOD OF ISLANDING PREVENTION
M. E. Ropp, M. Begovic, A. Rohatgi
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, C A 30332-0250
Abstract: Islanding of photovoltaic (PV) systems can cause a
variety of problems and must be prevented. However, if the real
and reactive powers of the load and PV system are closely matched,
islanding detection by passive methods becomes difficult. Also,
most active methods lose effectiveness when there are several PV
systems feeding the same island. The active frequency drift method
(AFD), also called the frequency bias method, enables islanding
detection by forcing the frequency of the voltage in the island to
drift up or down. In this paper, AFD is studied analytically, using
the describing function analysis technique, and by simulation, using
MATLAB. It is shown that AFD has a nondetection zone (NDZ) in
which it fails to detect islanding, and that this NDZ includes a range
of unity-power-factor loads. Finally, the paper describes a novel
method using positive feedback which significantly shrinks the size
of the AFD NDZ.

Consider the system shown in Figure 1, which includes a

PV system, a local load (we have used a parallel RLC circuit
as a simplified version of the dynamic load models suggested
in [SI), a switch (recloser, circuit breaker, fuse, etc.), and the
utility voltage source. Equations (1) and (2) describe the real
and reactive power being consumed by the RLC load.
Equation (1) shows that if the real power production of the
PV system and the real power demand of the load are not
matched at the time when the switch is opened, then the RMS
voltage at node a in Figure 1, V*, must increase or decrease
until Plaad= P,, (assuming R to be constant over the time
interval of interest).

Keywords: islanding, grid-connected PV systems, active frequency

drift, inverter protection.

I. INTRODUCTION
Islanding of a grid-connected independent generator such
as a photovoltaic (PV) system, occurs when a section of a
utility system containing such generators is disconnected
from the main utility voltage source, but the independent
generators continue to energize the utility lines in the isolated
section. Islanding of PV systems is a concern primarily
because it poses a safety hazard to utility repair and
maintenance personnel [l]. There is also some concern that
islanding of PV systems may disrupt the arc-clearing function
of utility reclosers [2], or that out-of-phase reclosure may
occur and lead to damage to the PV system or utility
equipment.
PE-288-EC-0-07-1998 A paper recommended and approved by the
IEEE Energy Development and Power Generation Committee of the
IEEE Power Engineering Society for publication in the IEEE

Transactions on Energy Conversion. Manuscript submitted

December 29, 1997; made available for printing July 2, 1998.

Similarly, if the reactive power production of the PV

system and the reactive demand of the load are not matched,
then when the utility is disconnected Equation (2) indicates
that w, the frequency of the voltage at node a, must change
until Qload= Qpv. The mechanism by which this happens is
that the PV system will seek a frequency at which the
current-voltage phase angle of the load equals that of the PV
system. In most cases, since the PV system is controlled to a
phase angle of zero (to feed current into the grid at unity
power factor), the condition which defines the frequency at
which Qioad= QPV( = 0) is

arg{ R-

+ (jmL)- + j d }-I

=0

(3)

and the solution is the loads resonant frequency, which is

w,,, = (LC)-*. Such frequency and voltage changes can be
detected by passive overhndervoltage relays (OVWVVR)
and overiunderfrequency relays (OFWUFR).
However, a difficulty arises if the PV system generation
and the load demand are very closely matched when the
utility is cut off. In this case, the changes in voltage and/or
frequency may be insufficient to enable detection by the PV
system. Therefore, there is a need to develop special
islanding prevention techniques which can detect islanding
when the PV system and load are very closely matched.
In general, passive islanding detection methods (those
which watch the instantaneous node a voltage v, for some

0885-8969/99/$10.00 0 1998 IEEE

811

I \

Grid

PV array

Power
conditioning

breaker
(reclaser)

current waveform and go to zero in a shorter time than it

would have under purely sinusoidal excitation. This causes
the rising zero crossing of v, to occur sooner than expected,
giving rise to a phase error between v, and ipv The
I

..

Figure 1. Configuration of the system to be considered.

The load is a parallel RLC; the independent generator is
assumed to be a PV system.
abnormal condition) will fail with a closely matched PV
system and load, although there are some for which this is not
always true (i.e. harmonic monitoring) [4]. For this reason,
many active methods have been devised, most involving
some type of output variation (usually a periodic real power
reduction [ 1,5]). Unfortunately, these methods become less
effective if there are many PV systems in the island. The
reason for this that, unless the variations in the outputs of the
many PV systems are somehow synchronized, the change in
the total power generation caused by variation in the output
of one PV system is relatively small, and may be too small to
produce a detectable change in v,.
One active method which has received recent attention is
the active frequency drift method (AFD) [5],a method which
is easily implemented in a PV power conditioner with a
microprocessor-based controller and adds essentially zero
cost to such a system. In this method, the waveform of the
current injected into the utility grid by the PV system is
slightly distorted such that, when islanding occurs, the
frequency of v, will drift up or down, thus augmenting the
natural frequency drift indicated by Equation (2). One
example of a PV output current (ipv) waveform that
implements upward frequency drift is shown in Figure 2,
along with an undistorted sine wave for comparison. T,,,,, is
the period of the utility voltage, T,,, is the period of the
sinusoidal portion of the current output of the PV system, and
t, is a dead or zero time. The ratio of the zero time t, to half
of the period of the voltage waveform, T,,,,,/2, is referred to
as the chopping fraction (cf). During the first portion of
the first half-cycle, the PV systems current output is a
sinusoid with a frequency slightly higher than that of the
utility voltage. When the PV output current reaches zero, it
remains at zero for time t, before beginning the second half
cycle. For the first part of the second half-cycle, the PV
output current is the negative half of the sine wave from the
first half-cycle. When the PV current again reaches zero, it
remains at zero until the rising zero crossing of the utility
voltage. It is important to note that the zero time in the
second half cycle is not fixed by the PV system and need not
equal t,. When we apply such a current waveform to a
resistive load, its voltage response will follow the distorted

..

..
.

..

..
.

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..

..
.

.
1s

Figure 2. Example of a waveform used to implement the

AFD method of islanding prevention. A pure sine wave is
also shown for comparison.
the phase error. The voltage response of the resistive load
again has its zero crossing advanced in time with respect to
where it was expected to be, and the PV system still detects a
phase error and increases its frequency again. This process
continues until the frequency has drifted far enough from
nominal to be detected by the OFR. AFD thus can prevent
islanding for purely resistive loads. However, little study has
been done on AFD with nearly-resonant loads, which have a
unity displacement power factor (dpf) at the nominal
frequency but have finite L and C.
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, we investigate
whether AFD has a nondetection zone (NDZ) for any unitydpf loads, including ones with finite L and C. It will be
shown that, in fact, AFD does possess such an NDZ. Then,
we will describe a simple technique using positive feedback
which largely eliminates this NDZ, thereby significantly
improving the islanding-detection effectiveness of AFD.
11. ANALYSIS OF AFD

A. An analytical approach
In order to characterize the performance of AFD, we
utilized a simple analytical approach based on the describing
function analysis technique [6,7]. We first noted that the
system can be separated into linear and nonlinear subsystems
as shown in Figure 3. The nonlinear subsystem is the PV
system, and the linear subsystem is the parallel RLC load.
We then assumed that, for the purposes of this simplified
analysis, the higher-order harmonics in the AFD waveform of
Figure 2 can be neglected. This assumption is reasonable

812

because the higher-order Fourier coefficients of the

waveform in Figure 2 are very small, as shown by the Fourier
Nonlinear subsystem
Linear subsystem
(PV system)
. .
(RLC load)
spectra in Figure 4. In this case, v, is a function only of the
fundamental component of ipy. From Figure 2,it is evident
that the addition of the zero times has resulted in an ipv
waveform which is neither odd nor even. Therefore, the
I
I
Fourier series representation of this waveform will have both
sine and cosine terms, or, equivalently, the fundamental will Figure 3. Block diagram of the system in Figure 1 after
waveform. The utility disconnection.
have a phase shift with respect to the ipv
amount of this phase shift can be determined using Figure 5 .
In this figure, we have redefined the zero phase reference by
moving it by 4 2 , thus creating a waveform ipv*, The shift
2 1.8E-03
E
results in ipv*being odd (ipv*(t) = -ipv*(.t)), and therefore its
1.8E.03
Fourier series consists only of sine terms, and the
-3
8 1.4E-03
fundamental component of ipv* has no phase shift with
respect to ipv* [7]. The time difference between the zero
2c 1.2E-03
crossing of the fundamental component of ipv*and the start
1.OE-03
of the sinusoidal portion of iPv* is tJ2. This is the same as
5
the time relationship between ipv and its fundamental, since
-- 8.OE-04
&DE-04
ipv and ipv*differ only by the assignment of the starting point
(zero phase reference). Recall that the frequency at which
,& 4.OE-04
U
the PV system and load powers were matched without AFD
0 2.OE-04
8
was the loads resonant frequency. However, with AFD and
b O.OEtO0
E
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 1 1 1 2 1 3 1 4 1 5
the assumptions just described, at the resonant frequency of
U
0
the load the voltage va will be in phase with the fundamental
Harmonlc number ifundamental = 60 HA
component of ipv. Therefore, when the system reaches the
loads resonant frequency, v, still leads ipvin time by tJ2 Figure 4. Fourier spectra of the waveform in Figure 2 for
(since v, is in phase with the fundamental of ipv),
and the PV several values of cf.
system will continue to increase the frequency since it still
detects a phase error between ipv and v,. We can thus see that
the frequency at which ipvand v, are in phase must satisfy

(Y

44

arg{R-

+ (jd)-+ j

d } = 0 . 5 ~t ., = 0 . 5 ~cf.

(4)

Once the frequency of v, has reached the w which satisfies

(4), there is no phase error between v, and ipv,
and the PV
system no longer increases its frequency, resulting in a steady
state.
For islanding to occur, the frequency w at which Equation
(4) is satisfied must lie within the frequency trip set points of
the PV system. Also, at the same time, the load impedance
(which is a function of frequency) cannot change by so large
an amount that the voltage v, goes outside the voltage trip set
points of the PV system. If cfis small and the magnitude of
the PV system current is assumed constant over the time
interval involved, then the load impedance condition may be
expressed as

where V,,,,, and Va,+ are the lower and upper voltage trip set
points respectively. Throughout this paper and for purposes
of illustration, we have assumed the frequency trip limits to
be k0.5 Hz from the nominal line frequency, the

Time (sec)

Figure 5. Plot of ipv* and its fundamental component.

ipv* is the same as ipv but with the starting point (zero
phase reference) redefined.
undervoltage trip is at 92% of the nominal voltage, and the
overvoltage trip is at 110% of the nominal line voltage.
We can use Equations (4) and ( 5 ) to map the NDZ of
AFD into an L-C plane by selecting CL R, and L, and then
varying C over a range near the value which resonates with
the chosen L For each C, we calculate the value of w which
satisfies Equation (4). If that value of w lies within the
frequency trip set points, and Equation ( 5 ) is also satisfied at
that o,then that RLC combination lies within the NDZ of

813
AFD. If 61 lies outside the frequency trip set points or I
1.20
Equation ( 5 ) is not satisfied, then the load lies outside the
AFD NDZ. MATLAB was used to carry out this long
sequence of calculations. Figure 6 shows an example of the
P
results of this procedure for R = 14.4 R, cf= 1%, 5% and
1.10
lo%, and several values of L and C. (Note: R = 14.4 C2
.'1
corresponds to a 1-kW load at 120 Vms.) The light
.E 1.05
horizontal dashed lines indicate the NDZ of a PV system
N
a
using only the OFWUFR, without AFD. Recall that our
1.00
purpose is to examine whether the NDZ of AFD overlaps
with that of the O F W F R . Figure 6 shows that this does not
0.95 1
happen for relatively large L and small C, but that the two
1.00E-04
1.00E-03
1.00E-02
1.00E-01
NDZs do overlap for small L and large C. Therefore, AFD
Inductance
(L)
fails to detect islanding for these loads. However, note that
the width of the NDZ decreases rapidly for inductances
smaller than about 1 mH. This is because of the sharpness of Figure 6. The NDZ of AFD found by the simplified
the resonant peak of the load's magnitude response in that analytical model for several values of cf. In these
range; with large C and small L, small deviations from simulations, R = 14.4 R. The shaded region is the
nominal frequency (which are caused by AFD) lead to large OFRAJFR NDZ.
changes in the magnitude of the load impedance, leading to a
detectable voltage deviation (assuming the magnitude of iPv
fixed) and PV system shutdown. With large L and small C,
30~
the magnitude response of the load is much flatter, and
25.therefore the voltage trips do not play a role in that range.
20.From Figure 6, it is clear that cfmust be fairly large (greater
than 1%) for AFD to be effective over a wide range of
$
15.resonant inductance-capacitance values. Unfortunately, it is
clear from Figure 2 that this can only be done at the expense
10of increased total harmonic distortion of the PV system's
output current (THD,). This distortion can be quantified by
5,
calculating the Fourier coefficients of the AFD waveform for
0
several values of cf: This was done, and the results, shown in
0
0.05
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.2:
Figure 7, indicate that the THD, is linear with CJ The
"Choppingfraction";percent of zero time per half-cycle
allowable limit of THD, therefore sets an upper limit on the
maximum usable value of cJ
Figure 7. Plot of the THD, vs. chopping fraction for the
Figure 8 shows the results of varying R on the NDZ of waveform in Figure 2.
AFD for a fixed c j Again, the light horizontal dashed lines
indicate the NDZ of the OFIUUFR. We see that increasing R
1.2
(that is, decreasing the load real power demand) causes a
larger overlap region between the NDZs of AFD and the
O F W F R , thereby decreasing the effectiveness of AFD,
1.1s
whereas the effectiveness of the method improves for heavier
loads. The NDZ becomes centered around unity-dpf loads at
1.1
higher C because the larger capacitors are more capable of
supporting the voltage v, during the zero portions of ipv,
1.05
reducing the effect of the AFD.
As a first-cut validation of the analytical model, we
1
investigated the case of a resistive load with a small amount
of capacitance added. This case was chosen because
0.95
experimental observations are available [SI and show that
1.00E-04
1.00E-03
1.00E-02
1.00E-01
AFD fails for such loads. The analytical model described
Inductance (H)
here predicts this as well; for a 14.4 R load and cf= 5%, it
predicts that the addition of between 14.4 and 14.6 pF will Figure S. The NDZ of AFD found by the simple
cause AFD to fail, establishing agreement between the analytical model for several values of R. In these
models and the behavior noted in the experiments.
simulations, cf= 5%. The shaded region is the OFWUFR
NDZ.
~

.
-

--a
E

814
B. A simulation approach
As a second approach to verifying the analysis just
described, we have modeled the system shown in Figure 1
using MATLAB. The model contains three sections: a PV
system model, a loadlv, model, and a zero crossing detector
(ZCD) model. The PV system is simply modeled as a
programmable current source whose output is the AFD
waveform in Figure 2. One idealization in this model which
bears mentioning is that it is assumed that the PV system
current jumps to zero and begins a new cycle on each rising
zero crossing of the utility, regardless of the previous value
of the output current. Under most circumstances, this
assumption makes no difference because the values of cf
being used are small.
The equations for the loadv, model are derived by
discretizing the differential equations of the load branch
currents, summing at node a, and solving for v,.
The ZCD model simply detects the rising zero crossing of
v, by detecting the appropriate change in polarity. It also
measures the period of v, by subtracting the time at which the
previous rising zero crossing occurred from the time of the
present zero crossing. The measured period of v, is updated
every cycle.
As before, to verify the model, we examined the cases of
a purely resistive load and a resistive load with a small
amount of added capacitance. Again, the model behavior is
consistent with the previously mentioned experimental
findings; AFD always drives the frequency of the resistive
load beyond the trip setpoints within one line cycle, but the
addition of a small amount of capacitance (a few microfarads
for a 14.4 R load) results in nondetection.
For nearly-resonant loads, the results agree well with
those found using the simplified analytical model. Figure 9
shows a plot of the frequency measured at each rising zero
crossing of v, as a function of time for the case R = 14.4 a, L
= I mH, cf = 5%, and C varying over a narrow range about
the value C = 7.036 mF which resonates with the given L at
60 Hz. The range of power factors of these loads is about
80% lagging to about 75% leading. The frequency of v,
increases or decreases initially, but then levels off, and for C
= 7.0 and 7.1 mF the final frequency is within the k0.5 Hz
trip thresholds.
The capacitances at which the final
frequency coincides with the trip thresholds are the NDZ
boundary capacitances. Continuing the process used to
obtain Figure 9 for several values of L, we have determined
these boundary capacitances, and therefore the NDZ of AFD,
using this model for cf = 5% and compared these results with
those found using the simplified analytical model. The
results are shown in Figure 10. The agreement between the
simplified model and the simulations is very good, within 5%
over the entire range of L and C considered. The reason for
the deviation of the simplified analytical model from the full
simulation at higher L values (smaller C values) i s that the
assumption that v, is only a function of the fundamental of ipv
is less valid there.

60.
C = 6.9 mF
BO.

60.4

Jl

C = 7.2 mF

0.05

0.1

0.15
0.2
Time Isad

0.25

0.3

Figure 9. Plot of frequency vs. time for L = 1 mH, R

14.4 R, and several values of C.

111. AN IMPROVEMENT TO AFD BASED ON POSITIVE

FEEDBACK
As a method of overcoming the weaknesses of AFD, we
propose a scheme in which positive feedback is used to
increase cf with increasing deviation of the frequency away
from nominal:
Cfk

= C f k - , + F(A@R)

(6)

where CA.,and wk.,are the chopping fraction and frequency

is a mapping of the
in the previous cycle, and F (I?%+%)
sampled frequency error Am, = m., -qonto the real numbers.
This scheme is referred to as AFD with positive feedback
(AFDPF).
The AFDPF scheme, with a properly chosen function F,
offers significant improvements over AFD.
We have
demonstrated some of these advantages using linear
AFDPF in which F is selected to be a linear function of Aw,.
(It is important to recognize that many other choices of F are
possible.) First, AFDPF prevents leveling off of the
frequency until much larger frequency errors are attained.
This has the effect of greatly reducing the size of the NDZ of
AFDPF with respect to that of AFD. This is demonstrated in
Figure 11, which shows an example of a situation in which
loads that were subject to islanding with an AFD-equipped
PV system, as shown in Figure 9, no longer island with linear
AFDPF. In Figure 9, we see that there is a fairly wide
nondetection zone, and in particular the curves for C = 7 mF
and 7.1 mF exhibit only small deviations from the nominal
line frequency. These loads would cause this system to
island indefinitely. However, in Figure 12, we see that with
the addition of positive feedback the frequency of v, for these
two loads now gets forced beyond the frequency trip limits,
meaning that the system no longer islands with these loads.

815

~_
_

_
~

_
_

l.E-05

l.E-04

___

1.603
l.E-02
Inductance (H)

1.E-01

Figure 10. Comparison of the NDZ of AFD for cf = 5%,

R = 14.4 Q, as computed by the full simulation model and

the simplified analytical model.

61.5,

...................................................................

Figure 11. Frequency of v, vs. time for PV system with

linear AFDPF and R = 14.4 Q, L = 1 mH,and cfo = 5%.

Linear AFDPF does still have an NDZ, but, in general, the

range of capacitances for a given inductance which lead to
nondetection is significantly reduced. For the linear AFDPF
used in this demonstration and with L = 10 mH, the range
was reduced from a width of about 24 pF to a width of less
than 1 pF, a reduction of more than six orders of magnitude.
Figure 12 shows the NDZs of AFD (cy= WO)
and linear
AFDPF (CA = 5%). Most importantly, Figure 12 shows that
the overlap region between the AFDPF NDZ and the
OFWUFR NDZ has been greatly reduced, meaning that
fewer loads will cause nondetection.
A second advantage of AFDPF over AFD is that cfcan
become negative if the frequency error is negative, provided
that F is properly chosen. This means that if the load,
another PV system, or any other device in the island caused
the frequency to decrease initially, the AFDPF PV system
could reinforce the downward frequency drift instead of
counteracting it. This is clearly seen in Figure 11 and is one
of the reasons for the reduction of the NDZ size seen in
Figure 12.
Finally, AFDPF has the potential to eliminate the problem
of reduced effectiveness in the case in which there are
multiple PV systems within the island. This is due to the fact
that the positive feedback action enables an AFDPF-equipped
PV system to reinforce whatever frequency deviation is
produced by the other PV systems, or by any other device in
the island. It is not required that all PV systems use AFDPF
for this synergistic effect to occur. For example, AFDPF
would work in conjunction with PV systems using harmonic
detection, because the THD of the AFDPF system's output
current will increase upon islanding, thereby increasing the
THD of v,. If all PV systems in the island were equipped
with AFDPF, they would detect islanding as a group in the
same way that they would individually, albeit perhaps in a
slightly longer time. One possible drawback to AFDPF is
that it has the potential to introduce subharmonics into its
output due to the effect of noise or insufficient sampling rate
in the measurement of Am,
IV. CONCLUSIONS

Figure 12. The NDZs of AFD and linear AFDPF.

In this paper, the active frequency drift method of

islanding prevention has been analyzed. We have described
the method and quantified the range of cfvalues which can
be used based on the allowable amount of THD,. We have
shown that the AFD method, although effective in the purely
resistive load case and in many other unity-dpf load cases,
does not protect against islanding under all conditions
because it possesses a nondetection zone which includes
many unity-dpf loads and overlaps with the NDZ of the
OFWUFR. In general, the NDZ of AFD has the least overlap
with the NDZ of the OFR/UFR, and is therefore most
effective, for loads with large L and small C, and for large
real power demands. We have described a simplified
analytical procedure for determining whether and at what
frequency an AFD-equipped PV system will island, given a

816
knowledge of the load, and have verified this procedure both
by simulation and by using the currently-available
experimental data. Finally, to correct the shortcomings of
AFD which were discovered during this analysis, we have
presented AFDPF, an improvement to AFD which enhances
its effectiveness in many ways, including reducing the size of
its NDZ and the size of the region of overlap of the NDZs of
AFD and the OFWUFR, allowing PV systems so equipped to
reinforce negative frequency deviations, and reducing the
loss of effectiveness in the multiple inverter case. Future
work will include: 1) further experimental validation of the
modeling results; 2) investigation of the effects of nonlinear
load components, motor loads, and constant-power loads; 3)
optimization of AFDPF by selecting the optimal F that
minimizes the size of the N D Z but avoids such problems as
steady-state instability and subharmonic production; and 4)
detailed analysis of AFDPF in the multi inverter case.

V. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the contributions of
the following people to this work: Richard Bass, Georgia
Institute of Technology; Ward Bower and John Stevens,
Sandia National Laboratories; Greg Kern, Ascension
Technology; Rob Wills, Advanced Energy Systems.

VII. REFERENCES
[I] J. Stevens, Utility Intertied Photovoltaic System Islanding
Experiments, Proceedings of the 17th IEEE Photovoltaic
Specialists Conference (1987), p, 1134-1 138.
[2] P. Longrigg, Effects on Electrical Distribution Networks of
Dispersed Power Generation at High Levels of Connection
Penetration, International Journal of Ambient Energy 3(4)
October 1992, p. 199-214.
[3] W. Mombauer, K.-H. Weck, Load Modelling for Harmonic
Flow Calculations, European Transactions on Electrical
Power Engineering 3(6) NovlDec 1993, p. 453-460.
[4] A. Kitamura, M. Okamoto, F. Yamamoto, K. Nakaji, H.
Matsuda, K. Hotta, Islanding Phenomenon Elimination Study
at Rokko Test Center, Proceedings of the 1st IEEE World
Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion (1994) pt. I , p.
759-762.
[5] G. Kern, SunSine300: Utility Interactive AC Module AntiIslanding Test Results, Proceedings of the 1997 IEEE
Photovoltaic Specialists Conference, Anaheim, CA.
[6] S. J. Ranade, N. R. Prasad, S. Omick, L. F. Kazda, A Study of
Islanding in Utility-Connected Residential Photovoltaic
Systems, Part I: Models and Analytical Methods, IEEE
Transactions on Energy Conversion 4(3) Sept 1989, p. 436445.
[7] J-J. E. Slotine, W. Li, Applied Nonlinear Control, Prentice-Hall
1991.

VIII. AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES

VI. LIST OF SYMBOLS

chopping fraction; the fraction of zero time in the AFD
waveform per half-cycle
power factor; the phase-angle power factor
dPf
of the load, excluding the effects of nonlinearity
instantaneous PV svstem outuut current (A)
iPV
zero time in the AFD waveform per half-cycle (sec)
t2
instantaneous voltage at PV system terminals or at node a
Va
(VI
load capacitance (F)
C
positive feedback function used in the AFDPF method
F
L
load inductance (H)
real power consumption of the load (W)
Pload
real power production of the PV system (W)
PPV
reactive power consumption of the load (VAR)
Qload
reactive power production of the PV system (VAR)
QPV
R
load resistance (a)
period of the sinusoidal portion of the AFD waveform
Tlpv
(sec)
TVutiI period of the utility voltage waveform (sec)
va, h igh upper threshold of the magnitude of va at which the
overvoltage relay will trip (V)
Va,~ow lower threshold of the magnitude of va at which the
undervoltage relay will trip (V)
impedance of the RLC load (a)
ZIoad
AW
deviation of the frequency of the node a voltage away
from the nominal utility line voltage (radlsec)
0
frequency of the voltage at the PV system terminals or at
node a (rad/sec)
cf

Michael E. Ropp (S94) earned the B.S. degree from the University
of Nebraska in 1991 and the M,S,E,E, degree from the Georgia
Institute of Technology in 1996. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate
at Georgia Tech, His research interests include photovoltaic
systems; power electronics; and communications.

Dr. Miroslav Begovic (S87, M89, SM92) received a Ph.D. in

Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1989. Upon
graduation, he joined the faculty of the School of Electrical and
Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, where he
currently holds the position of Associate Professor. Dr. Begovics
research activities are in the area of computer applications in power
systems monitoring and control, and photovoltaic systems.
Dr. Ajeet Rohatgi (M78, SM86, F91) received the B.S. degree
in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology,
Kanpur, India, in 1971, the M.S. degree in Materials Engineering
from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, VA, in 1973, and the Ph.D. degree in Metallurgy and
Material Science from Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, in 1977.
He is a Regents Professor and a Georgia Power Distinguished
Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering. He is the
founding director of the University Center of Excellence for
Photovoltaic Research and Education at Georgia Tech. His current
research interests include design and fabrication of high-efficiency
silicon solar cells; performance and reliability of photovoltaic
systems; silicon MOS devices; semiconductor material and device
characterization; defects and recombination in semiconductors; and
MBE and MOCVD growth of compound semiconductors for
optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices.