PV inverter with IEC 61850 MMS
Demonstration of remote control of a PV inverter by IEC 61850 MMS
Introduction
The main objective of the IEC 61850 standard is to enable substation automation by standardizing communication between devices from different manufacturers. Previously, each vendor had its own protocol and only devices from the same vendor could communicate together, which made combining different devices together difficult. To enable this communication, IEC 61850 standardized the naming and structure of substations so that all devices could speak the same language. The standard is object oriented and uses a special language called the Substation Configuration Language (SCL) to define the substation structure. Also, the standard defines multiple protocols to allow for different types of communication (e.g. Goose, MMS, Sampled Values).
The Manufacturing Message Specification (MMS) is supported by all Typhoon HIL devices except HIL 602. It uses the Linux operating system and on HIL devices that have two Ethernet connectors, its always necessary to use the bottom connector, as is the case for all protocols which use the Linux operating system. Unlike the Goose and Sampled Values, MMS uses TCP/IP, and for this reason it is slower than either the Goose or Sampled Values protocol. MMS protocol is a higher-level protocol used mostly for reporting and controlling as well as in SCADA systems. The MMS protocol is implemented through a MMS Server inside the Typhoon HIL toolchain. This example demonstrates the application of the IEC 61850 MMS protocol in order to implement a remote monitoring and control solution for a grid-connected PV plant.
Model description
Figure 1: Grid-connected average PV inverter model
Figure 2: PV inverter subsystem with added MMS server
Figure 3: MMS Server component properties
Simulation
This application comes with a pre-built SCADA panel shown in Figure 4. It offers the most essential user interface elements (widgets) to monitor and interact with the simulation at runtime, allowing you to further customize it according to your needs.
The functionality of this inverter is very straightforward. When the inverter is enabled, it will reach the maximum power point. There is also a possibility to set the reactive power in the Inverter Control options. In this example, there is a possibility to choose between two control modes:- HIL SCADA
- IEC 61850 MMS
Figure 4: SCADA panel
Figure 5: IED External client
Figure 6: External client functions
The device functions are grouped inside the following logical nodes (LN):
- Mandatory nodes (LLN0, LPHD1)
- Measurement function (MMXU1)
- Inverter function (DRCC1)
For reading or writing to the inverter we are only concerned with MMXU1 and DRCC1. These nodes allow you to enable/disable the inverter, as well as set reactive power. In order to turn the inverter on, it is necessary to set DRCC1>Beh>stVaL to “1”. In order to change the reference for reactive power, the value in VAr can be entered following the path DRCC1>OutVarSet>f[MX].
The Measurement function gives the possibility to read the data. There is the auto-update option which allows for data reading at specified intervals [ms]. For example, active power from the inverter is read by navigating to MMXU1> mag [MX]> f[MX] and clicking the green “play” button to auto-update.Figure 7: Reading data using IED Explorer

Figure 8: Results obtained when inverter is controlled via IED

Files | |
---|---|
Typhoon HIL files |
examples\models\communication protocols\iec 61850 mms pv inverter iec 61850 mms pv inverter.tse, iec 61850 mms pv inverter.cus, config_example.icd, settings.runx, PV_250KW.ipvx |
Minimum hardware requirements | |
No. of HIL devices | 1 |
HIL device model | HIL402 |
Device configuration | 1 |