A novel method for optimal capacitor placement and sizing in distribution systems with nonlinear loads and DG using GA

A genetic algorithm (GA) is proposed for simultaneous power quality improvement, optimal placement and sizing of fixed capacitor banks in radial distribution networks with nonlinear loads and distributed generation (DG) imposing voltage–current harmonics. In distribution systems, nonlinear loads and DGs are often considered as harmonic sources. For optimizing capacitor placement and sizing in the distribution system, objective function includes the cost of power losses, energy losses and capacitor banks. At the same time, constraints include voltage limits, number/size of installed capacitors (at each bus) and the power quality limits of standard IEEE-519. In this study, new fitness function is used to solve the constrained optimization problem with discrete variables. Simulation results for two IEEE distorted networks (18-bus and 33-bus test systems) are presented and solutions of the proposed method are compared with those of previous methods described in the literature. The main contribution of this paper is computing the (near) global solution with a lower probability of getting stuck at a local optimum and weak dependency on initial conditions, while avoiding numerical problems in large systems. Results show that proposed method could be effectively used for optimal capacitor placement and sizing in distorted distribution systems.