ABSTRACT
Power electronics play a crucial role in integrating renewable energy sources into modern power systems. To ensure their reliable deployment, advanced testing methods such as Power Hardware-in-the-Loop (PHIL) are essential for evaluating their behavior under realistic grid conditions. This paper investigates the impact of the Hardware of Interest (HoI)—a three-phase grid-following DC/AC converter—on the stability and accuracy of PHIL setups. A loop-based transfer function model is developed to represent the PHIL system, including the HoI dynamics, power interface, and real-time simulator. Using this model, a sensitivity analysis is performed to examine how the converter's control parameters—particularly the current controller bandwidth—affect PHIL stability and accuracy. Perturbation-based frequency-domain scans are conducted in MATLAB/Simulink and experimentally validated on a 45 kVA PHIL platform.
F. Ashrafidehkordi, G. Buticchi, P. Kotsampopoulos and G. D. Carne, "Impact of the Converter Controller on Power Hardware-in-The-Loop Testing Stability and Accuracy," in IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics, vol. 6, pp. 1862-1873, 2025, doi: 10.1109/OJPEL.2025.3623169.
KEYWORDS: Accuracy, Power system stability, Testing, Stability criteria, Power electronics, Low-pass filters, Transfer functions, Couplings, Circuit stability, Mathematical models, Power hardware-in-the-loop, power electronics testing, stability analysis, accuracy analysis, grid-connected converter