Abstract

Capacitors are mainly used in power system for reactive power compensation. Reactive power compensation can be done in two ways: Series compensation and shunt compensation. The placement of capacitors is one of the most important methods to achieve loss reduction and enhance the voltage characteristics of distribution systems. Different optimization methods can be used to determine the optimal values of the capacitors in electrical distribution networks. The problems related to determining the optimal size and location of shunt capacitors on distribution feeders has received much thought from researchers for many years. Capacitors are frequently used as mandatory devices in information and communication technologies (ICTs). This paper presents an extensive review of the different solution methods found in the literature.

Keywords: Capacitor placement; Radial distribution systems; Optimization techniques; Analytical methods; Numerical programming methods; Heuristics methods; Genetic algorithm; Particle swarm optimization