Hybrid approach for optimal placement of multiple DGs of multiple types in distribution networks

In the present work, a hybrid approach has been proposed for optimal placement of multiple DGs of multiple types. The analytical approaches may not be appropriate for optimal placements of multiple DGs alone. In this work, hybridization of analytical method and heuristic search for the optimal placement of multiple DGs in power distribution network for reduction of power loss has been proposed. In this approach, the sizes of DGs are evaluated at each bus by analytical method while the locations are determined by PSO based technique. The objective function has been minimized under operating constraints. The improvements in bus voltage profile and optimal power factor of the DGs have also been observed. To validate the proposed hybrid approach, results have been compared with particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique and existing fast improved analytical (IA) method results. The proposed technique has been tested on 33-bus, and 69-bus test systems. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.