Photovoltaic-based Distributed Generation Allocation in Distribution Network for Energy Loss Minimization

Abstract

Nowadays, there is a global consensus that integrating renewable energy sources (RESs) is highly needed to meet the increasing electricity demand and reduce the overall carbon footprint of energy production. However, large-scale integration of RES-based distributed generation (DG) units often poses several technical challenges in the system from stability, reliability, and power quality perspectives. However, these problems are usually mitigated by the optimal integration of DG units in the distribution networks (DNs). In this regard, the optimal sizing and placement of the DGs are crucial. Otherwise, network performance will deteriorate. This paper proposes to apply a novel population-based technique called the dung beetle optimization (DBO) algorithm for the optimal allocation of Photovoltaic (PV) based DG units to minimize total active energy loss subject to equality and inequality constraints in the DN. A DBO is inspired by the behaviours of dung beetles, including ball-rolling, dancing, foraging, stealing, and reproducing. A standard 33-bus system has been used to demonstrate the proposed method's effectiveness. The simulation results and comparison with other techniques demonstrate our proposed approach's significant energy loss reduction and a suitable voltage profile.