Optimal placement of capacitors in distribution networks using a modified teaching-learning based algorithm

Abstract

This paper presents an efficient approach to determine the size of the capacitor bank and its placement in a radial distribution system. The objective of the above optimization is to place a proper size of the capacitor bank at a particular bus so as to reduce the power loss in the distribution system. Although the prime objective of the work in reduction of loss, during optimization other operational constraints of the system like, voltage limits at the distribution buses and the current limit of the lines have been considered. Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm is adopted in this work to find the optimal size of capacitors and its location in an existing radial distribution system. The proposed method is applied to 10 and 85-bus radial distribution systems and the obtained results are compared with other existing methods. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.