Optimal Capacitor Switching Method Based On Minimum Spinning Tree Theory in Distribution Systems

According to the radial structure operation characteristics of distribution systems, this paper proposes a new method based on minimum spanning trees for capacitor optimal switching. Firstly, taking the minimal active power loss as objective function and not considering the capacity constraints of capacitors and source, this paper uses Prim algorithm among minimum spinning trees algorithms to get the power supply ranges of capacitors and source. Then with the capacity constraints of capacitors considered, capacitors are ranked by the method of breadth-first search. In term of the order from high to low of capacitor ranking, capacitor compensation capacity based on their power supply range is calculated. Finally, IEEE 69 bus system is adopted to test the accuracy and practicality of the proposed algorithm.