Maximum annual savings in radial distribution systems using firefly algorithm

This paper presents a two stage approach that determines the optimal location and size of capacitors on radial distribution systems to improve voltage profile and to reduce the active power loss. In first stage, the capacitor locations can be found by using loss sensitivity method. Firefly algorithm is used for finding the optimal capacitor sizes in radial distribution systems. The sizes of the capacitors corresponding to maximum annual savings are determined by considering the cost of the capacitors. The proposed method is tested on 15-bus and 34-bus test systems and the results are presented.