Optimal PMU placement for reverse power flow detection

The integration of renewable energy sources alter the radial nature of the conventional distribution network and causes the power flow to reverse in some periods. As the voltage regulator is normally designed for unidirectional power flow, this may cause voltage violations on the distribution feeder resulting in faults and cuts. To solve this problem, monitoring of the distribution network is essential before taking any control or protection measures. From this fact emerges the importance of reverse power flow detection. In this paper, the optimal phasor measurement placement for reverse power flow detection is discussed. An extensive literature review and a comparison among a wide range of existing optimization algorithms is done. Then genetic algorithm is selected to solve this problem. Global Optimization Tool of Matlab are used to test the proposed algorithm on IEEE-14 and IEEE-39 node test feeders.