Placement of wind and solar based DGs in distribution system for power loss minimization and voltage stability improvement

Proper placement of Distributed Generation (DG) in distribution system is still very challenging issue for obtaining their maximum potential benefits. This paper proposes a new constrained multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based Wind Turbine Generation Unit (WTGU) and photovoltaic (PV) array placement approach for power loss reduction and voltage stability improvement of radial distribution system. The paper reflects the effectiveness of WTGU and PV array performance models in DG placement problem formulation. Wind and solar based DGs are operated in different active and reactive power mode and tested on 12-bus, 15-bus, 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution system. Obtained results are compared with other DG placement technique and proposed method is found to be more effective in terms of voltage stability enhancement and power loss minimization. A novel Voltage Stability Factor (VSF) has been proposed in this paper which can quantify voltage stability levels of buses in the system. Comparing with other voltage stability index and power stability index, developed VSF has emerged as more simple and efficient tool. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.