Low-voltage network topology and impedance identification using smart meter measurements

Distribution system operators have been upgrading their network over several decades, though not always keeping digital records of all changes. As a result, the operators do not always know exactly how their customers are connected to a network. Some of these customers are equipped with smart meters, providing voltage and current time-series. These measurements can be used to identify the network topology and the line impedances. This paper presents a method to identify radially operated low-voltage networks which can be applied with limited number of smart meters. The resulting identified model provides the map of the network and impedances of the inferred lines, allowing to perform subsequent analyses (e.g. power-flow). Simulation results on a case study with 128 nodes shows an average error of 0.69% in computed voltages, while only 40% of the nodes are equipped with smart meters.