A Novel Approach for Optimal Location and Sizing of Capacitors on Radial Distribution Systems Using Loss Sensitivity Factors and /spl alpha/- Coefficients

This paper presents a novel approach that determines the optimal location and size of capacitors on radial distribution systems to improve voltage profile and reduce the active power loss. Capacitor placement & sizing are done by loss sensitivity factors and alpha-coefficients respectively. The concept of loss sensitivity factors and alpha-coefficients can be considered as the new contribution in the area of distribution systems. Loss sensitivity factors offer the important information about the sequence of potential nodes for capacitor placement. These factors are determined using single base case load flow study. The concept of 'alpha-coefficient' is well applied and found to be very effective in radial distribution systems. The proposed method is tested on 15, 31, 34 and 69 bus distribution test systems and results are very promising