Distributed Generation Placement Based on Voltage Stability Using Genetic Algorithm

In this thesis, a genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization is used to improve the voltage stability of a power network using Distributed Generation (DG) Units. GA determines the best places of DG Units in the power network. Also, the number and sizes of DGs used are calculated by the proposed algorithm. First, we have solved the problem without using GA. In this step, just one DG with constant size is considered. The main reason of using GA to solve the problem is that finding the best places of DGs could be very complicated and time consuming, considering the number and size of DGs. To evaluate and compare the possible solutions, an index called Voltage Index (VI), is proposed which shows the voltage stability of the power network. A Forward/Backward load flow is used to determine the bus voltages, and consequently the VI of the network. The results show that by using DGs the voltage stability of the network is improved. In addition, GA, as an optimization algorithm, can find the best solution for the problem considering number, size and place of DGs after a specific number of iterations. The best solution for the problem and the results of the load flow for best state are shown as the results of the thesis. Keywords: Power Systems, Distributed Systems, Distributed Generation, Renewable Energy Systems