A test bench for the evaluation of synchronisation techniques for grid-connected converters

Robust grid synchronisation of power electronic converters is essential for their use with Distributed Generation Systems. A considerable number of techniques have been proposed to address this issue, but often their performance is not fully validated using a consistent experimental setup. Furthermore, even when experimental validation is used, there is still a lack of rigour in many of the evaluative methodologies. This paper proposes a generic test bench based common standards that can evaluate different grid synchronisation techniques on a common basis. The operation of the test bed is verified by comparing two well known specific synchronisation algorithms. The results demonstrate how the test bench can be used to evaluate the performance of a given grid synchronisation algorithm, identify its drawbacks and provide a basis for either implementation improvements or replacement with a better strategy, for any given application.