Optimal Power Flow Controller for a Hybrid Renewable Energy System Using Particle Swarm Optimization

An optimized power flow controller for a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) connected to utility grid is presented. The main objective is to regulate the flow of real and reactive power to the load and, to utilize maximum available power from HRES. Two control loops, current and power control are designed using conventional PI regulators. Due to the random nature of renewable energy sources, an intelligent algorithm is required to regulate the constants of PI controllers. The parameters of PI regulators are optimally tuned employing Particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO). The unique feature of search process is it happens over a set of variable input parameters. The optimum value obtained is valid for the given set of input parameters. The set of input parameters are usually the most frequently occurred values of solar irradiation and wind velocity in that region. This process nullifies the requirement of an online search algorithm. The validity of the proposed method can be verified from the simulation results.