A review on optimal placement methods of distribution generation sources

Distributed Generation (DG) sources have attracted serious attention due to their potential solution for some issues, like the deregulation in power system, increasing the power consumption and the shortage of transmission capacities. The optimal placement of DG is necessary for maximizing the DG potential benefits in power system such as maintaining and/or improving reliability and stability. There are several research studies to determine the optimal DG location by their imposed constraints and objectives. However, the systematic principle for this issue is still an unsolved problem. This paper is reviewed some of the most popular DG placement methods, including 2/3 Rule, Analytical Methods, Optimal Power Flow and Evolutionary Computational Methods (Genetic Algorithm, Fuzzy Systems and Tabu Search). The related applications and advantages of each technique are expressed briefly. This paper provides helpful information and resources for the future studies in this area.