Power Quality Meters Allocation Considering Strategic Positions in Distribution Systems and Using Genetic Algorithms

Analyzing the current economic context, the installation of power quality meters in all bus of the power systems, in order to obtain complete observability, is financially unfeasible. However, it is possible to state that the allocation of meters in strategic positions guarantees complete visibility of the entire system without the need for a meter in each bus. Thus, this work proposes that a prior analysis be carried out to find these strategic positions, in order to assist in the final allocation of the meters through Genetic Algorithms. The validation of the proposed methodology was carried out using the IEEE 34-bus distribution system. The results obtained showed that the complete observability of the entire system was guaranteed and the number of meters to be installed was reduced in comparison with the situation without no prior analysis of strategic positions.