Optimum Sizing and Placement of Distributed and Renewable Energy Sources in Electric Power Distribution Systems

Concerns with climate change, requirements for the renewable portfolio standards, government incentives, and lowering cost of renewable and distributed energy resources (DERs) are some of the driving forces for the steeper growth in DER installations. DERs are commonly connected near the load in electric power distribution systems and include renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, fossil-fuel-based generation such as microturbines, and other distributed energy storage elements. A novel methodology is developed in this paper that optimizes the sizing and placement of DER on electrical distribution feeders based on both technical and economic considerations and tested on the IEEE 34-bus system.