Power quality enhancement in distribution systems by optimal placement of dynamic voltage restorer

This paper presents an optimization method based on the firefly algorithm (FA) to address the optimal location and sizing problem of Dynamic Voltage Restorers (DVRs) for enhancing power quality in distribution systems. The objective function is formulated to minimize the voltage total harmonic distortion and total investment cost as well as to improve voltage profile of the system. To test the performance of the proposed FA, the algorithm is implemented on the modified IEEE 16-bus radial distribution systems using the Matlab software. The results are then compared with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The simulation results indicate that the proposed FA gives better performance and accuracy compared to PSO and GA in determining the optimum location and size of DVRs in a distribution system.