A Method based on a Sliding Mode Observer for Fault Detection in Photovoltaic Solar Systems connected to AC Microgrids

This document proposes a method based on a Sliding Mode Observer for Fault Detection in Photovoltaic Systems connected to AC Hybrid Microgrids. The Fault Detection System compares the observer's response with the system behavior, and the obtained residual is used to determine if the fault flag should be raised. Three scenarios are considered: one is the normal operating scenario to validate the performance of the observer, while the other two scenarios introduce two types of fault, namely, incipient and random. The proposed Fault Detection method was validated using a Microgrid benchmark system that consists of two Photovoltaic Panels, two Battery Energy Storage Systems and linear and nonlinear loads. This strategy lays the foundation for future work on Hierarchical Control adaptation and Fault Tolerance. The dynamic results of the Fault Detection strategy will be verified and tested through digital simulations in Matlab / Simulink.