Optimal Volt/VAR control in distribution systems with prosumer DERs

Abstract This paper proposes an optimal Volt/VAR control method for distribution systems with proliferated prosumer distributed energy resources (P-DERs) with generation and consumption capabilities. The proposed method is developed based on a comprehensive mutual agreement between distribution system operator (DSO) and P-DERs to optimize the power loss and the cost of adjusting grid's voltage control assets by solving a multi-objective Volt/VAR control (MO-VVC) problem. In this paper, the proposed MO-VVC reduces the power loss by adjusting capacitor banks switches, tap position of on-load tap changer transformers, voltage regulators’ taps, and active and reactive power set-points of P-DERs. Three new sensitivity-based evolutionary algorithms are proposed to find the optimal solutions more accurately with reduced computational time. In addition, a payment system is proposed to calculate the financial benefits of participating parties. The performance of the proposed method is validated using the simulation results of the modified IEEE 34-bus test feeder with several P-DERs.