Abstract
•Integral backstepping based nonlinear controllers are proposed for the DC microgrid.•Performance of the controllers are observed under different operating cases.•The proposed control framework ensures the stability of the whole DC microgrid.•Real-time hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests are done for the validation.
Direct current (DC) microgrids are gaining popularity due to their simpler structure and high energy efficiency. This paper investigates the design of an integral backstepping controllers for the DC microgrid involving renewable distributed generators and hybrid energy storage system (HESS). At first, the generic DC microgrid mathematical model is derived. Then, the controllers are designed for PV unit, wind unit, and HESS with the main control objective to regulate the common DC bus voltage. After that, the asymptotic stability of the DC microgrid is ensured through the control Lyapunov function. Finally, the energy management system is adopted to ensure the power balance under variable power generation. The performance of the proposed framework is verified by simulating it on MATLAB/Simulink and comparing the results with adaptive Lyapunov redesign and sliding mode control. Also, the effectiveness of the developed control approach is further validated through real-time controller hardware in the loop experiments.