Alternative SDP Relaxed Optimal Power Flow Formulation for Radial Distribution Networks

In recent years, the increased integration of Distributed Generation (DG) in distribution networks created the applicability of optimal power flow (OPF) for distribution systems. But, by nature OPF is a non-convex problem that creates more complexity for real-world large distribution networks. By leveraging various relaxation approaches to convert the problem into a convex problem reduces the complexity significantly. In this paper, a semidefinite programming (SDP) based model is proposed to solve the optimal power flow (OPF) problem in the distribution system. This model is applied on the positive sequence counterpart of a realistic unbalance multi-phase distribution system. The exactness of the solution is ensured by comparing it with the solution from OpenDSS.