THIS ARTICLE PRESENTS A PREDICTIVE CONTROL STRATEGY TO CONTROL A PHOTOVOLTAIC PLANT BASED ON BIFACIAL PHOTOVOLTAIC (BPV) PANELS CONNECTED TO THE ELECTRICAL GRID THROUGH A THREE-PHASE NEUTRAL POINT CLAMPED (NPC) POWER CONVERTER. ELECTRICITY GENERATION PLANTS BASED ON NONCONVENTIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGIES ARE AFFECTED BY THE AVAILABILITY OF THE NATURAL RESOURCE AND GRID CHANGES. TO ACHIEVE OPTIMAL USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND EQUIPMENT, BPV CELLS MUST OPERATE AT THE MAXIMUM POWER POINT AND THE CURRENTS INJECTED INTO A GRID MUST BE IN PHASE WITH THE VOLTAGES. DUE TO THE HIGH NUMBER OF STATES, ONE IMPORTANT DRAWBACK OF CONVENTIONAL PREDICTIVE CONTROL IN THE NPC CONVERTER IS ITS COMPUTATIONAL BURDEN. THE PROPOSED CONTROLLER AVOIDS THE USE OF A COST FUNCTION AND CAN ACHIEVE THE SAME CONTROL OBJECTIVES WITH ONLY 20% OF THE COMPUTATIONAL COST OF THE CONVENTIONAL STRATEGY. TO ACHIEVE THIS REDUCTION THE PROPOSED STRATEGY EXPLOITS THE OPERATING AREA OF THE CONVERTER, SEPARATING THE POSSIBLE VOLTAGES IN HEXAGONS, WHICH RESULTS IN A SHAPE LIKE A HONEYCOMB. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS SHOW THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PROPOSED METHOD IN DIFFERENT OPERATING CONDITIONS.

HIGH ENERGY DEMAND HAS CREATED MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS IN MANY COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. THE WORLD IS EXPERIENCING A CRISIS THAT DRIVES US TO TAKE ACTION AND CONTRIBUTE TO NEW DEVELOPMENTS AND RESEARCH TO INFLUENCE THE ENERGY TRANSITION THROUGH A COMBINATION OF CONTROL STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THESE PROCESSES. THIS PROMOTES THE USE OF NON- CONVENTIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY TO SUSTAIN LIFE AND PROMOTES SUSTAINABLE AND EFFICIENT PROCESSES. THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING NEW APPLICATIONS, USING NEW TECHNOLOGIES, AND DESIGNING APPROPRIATE CONTROLS TO OPTIMIZE PROCESSES THAT REQUIRE ENERGY CONVERSION. THE FOCUS OF THIS WORK IS THE DESIGN, SIMULATION, AND IMPLEMENTATION TESTING OF AN OPTIMAL CONTROL IN THE MULTILEVEL NEUTRAL POINT CLAMPED (NPC) TOPOLOGY. THE PROPOSED CONTROL, BY USING AN OPTIMAL STATE FEEDBACK BASED ON THE LINEARIZED MODEL OF THE CONVERTER, ALLOWS TO OPTIMIZE THE USE OF ENERGY IN THE REFERENCE VARIATIONS. THE RESULTS SHOW THE CORRECT CURRENT CONTROL, FOLLOWING THE REFERENCES IMPOSED BY THE POWER CONTROL WITH SPECIFIC DYNAMIC AND OVERSHOOT, INCLUDING THE DC LINK CAPACITORS UNBALANCING COMPENSATION.

THE RAPID DYNAMIC RESPONSES OF PREDICTIVE CONTROL ALGORITHMS ARE WIDELY ACKNOWLEDGED. HOWEVER, ACHIEVING ACCURATE STEADY-STATE REFERENCE TRACKING HINGES NOT JUST ON A PRECISE MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF THE SYSTEM BUT ALSO ON ITS PARAMETERS. THIS DOCUMENT PRESENTS A PREDICTIVE CONTROL SCHEME AUGMENTED WITH INTEGRAL STATE FEEDBACK TAILORED TO A PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) APPLICATION. IN SCENARIOS WITH UNCERTAIN SYSTEM PARAMETERS, STEADY-STATE ERRORS CAN PARTICULARLY IMPACT REACTIVE POWER REGULATION, WHERE THE ABSENCE OF AN INTEGRAL TERM IN THE LOOP EXACERBATES THIS ISSUE. THE ROBUSTNESS AND SENSITIVITY OF BOTH PREDICTIVE CONTROL AND THE PROPOSED ENHANCED PREDICTIVE CONTROLLER ARE THOROUGHLY EXAMINED. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS ARE INCLUDED TO VALIDATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS APPROACH.