In this paper, the stability of voltage source converter-based autonomous AC microgrids (MGs), which are interconnected through back-to-back converters (BTBCs), is analyzed. The small-signal stability analysis is based on a detailed, comprehensive and generalized small-signal modeling of the AC interconnected MGs (IMGs), which is possible for any number of MGs and interconnections. The large-signal stability of the IMGs is investigated for the case of the initial BTBC DC voltage as a part of paper contribution. A new margin/criterion is determined for the initial DC voltage in different situations of the BTBC operation. According to the proposed criterion, a fundamental difference between very weak MGs and conventional strong grids in the BTBC voltage stability is addressed. Using eigenvalue analysis and participation matrix, the main participating state variables and corresponding parameters in the dominant critical modes are recognized for an equilibrium point. Sensitivity analysis involves changing initial values of the state variables, parameters, and forcing functions to study their different values and find acceptable ranges of the parameters. Particularly, the considerable contribution of the BTBC in the critical modes is found out by analyzing the initial DC voltage, DC voltage controller and PLLs. In order to observe possible unstable situations and verify the transient studies, real-time simulations are provided for two and three MGs interconnected through BTBCs using OPAL-RT digital simulator. The IMGs can be robustly stable only by specifying the stabilizing ranges of the sensitive parameters to the critical modes and selecting their appropriate values.
