Ant-Lion Optimizer algorithm based Fractional order Proportional-Integral-Derivative controllers for islanded operation of an inverter based microgrid

In the present work an Ant-Lion Optimizer (ALO) based Fractional Order PID (FOPID) controllers are used in an islanded voltage source inverter (VSI) based microgrid system to maintain the grid node voltages at the set values. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the designed FOPIDs a 3-bus microgrid system has been designed having three Distributed Generators (DGs). ALO technique tunes the FOPID controller's parameters thereby, providing the desired node voltages and the grid frequency even when the system undergoes different operating conditions. The controller's performance is assessed for disturbances like switching of loads. Subsequently, comparison of performance between ALO based FOPID controllers with other types of controllers such as PSO based FOPID controllers have been carried out. The results show that the ALO based FOPID controllers exhibit improved performance of the microgrid.