Impacts of rooftop solar panels on network reconfiguration problem

Network reconfiguration problem has been studied in the literature for more than 20 years. In this study, we extend the problem with one of the today's challenges: integration of renewables at the distribution system level. First, the effect of network reconfiguration on the maximum service capability is examined in a case study. Next, an Optimal Power Flow problem in the form of Semi-Definite Programming is solved and we observe that, in contrast to general expectation, minimization of power loss and minimization of operation cost actually conflict with each other in network reconfiguration problem when renewables are integrated into the radial system. Multi-objective optimization approach is adopted to show all pareto optimal solutions of the problem. Necessity of uni-directional flow in distribution system is studied and a new policy for radial network is proposed to reduce wasted energy.