Constrained control framework for a stand-alone hybrid (Stirling engine)/supercapacitor power generation system

• Published in: Applied energy Vol. 118; no. 1; pp. 192 - 206
• Main Authors: Alamir, M., Rahmani, M.A., Gualino, D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2014; Elsevier
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Architecture; Automatic; Capacitors; Control systems; Electric potential; Energy; Engineering Sciences; Exact sciences and technology; Law; Nonlinear control; Power generation; Saturation constraints; Stirling engines; Supercapacitor; Supercapacitors; Voltage regulation; Supercapacitor; Stirling engines; Power generation; Saturation constraints; Nonlinear control; Voltage regulation; Power production; Saturation; Control constraint; Engine power; Stirling engine; Voltage; Regulation; Electric power production
• ISSN: 0306-2619; 1872-9118
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2013.12.044

•A complete state feedback controller for the voltage conditioning stage of a hybrid power plant is proposed.•The controller explicitly handles the state and controller constraints.•The developed control methodology can be applied to various power electronics architectures. In this paper, a complete control architecture is proposed for the voltage conditioning stage of a hybrid power generation system composed of a Stirling engine coupled with a supercapacitor. Such a solar energy-based generation system aims at providing electricity to off-grid regions. The novelty of the proposed architecture is that it completely handles constraints on all the state variables of the electric stage while providing near to optimal performances in terms of settling time. The derivation of the control law enables a deep understanding of the main issues involved in the success of the closed-loop control. Moreover, the resulting feedback laws are real-time compatible and are given in a complete explicit form.