A new method for Volt–Var optimization with conservation voltage reduction on distribution systems

This paper introduces a new search-based method for coordinated control of voltage (Volt) and reactive power (Var) devices for conservation of voltage reduction to achieve an effective demand and power loss reduction while keeping voltage profile within limits on a distribution system. The method searches for the best control settings for the Volt–Var devices as the operating conditions change for real-time operation. The main advantage of the proposed method is that it provides global optimal solution. When the number of control devices increases on an active distribution system with distributed generation, the search space will increase combinatorially. The method has a computationally efficient search scheme to reduce the search space systematically. The computation effort is further reduced by adopting the decoupled Volt–Var approach. To demonstrate the computational efficiency of the proposed method, test results are compared with a conventional Volt–Var scheme. The control update considered is 15-min interval. The simulations are done on modified IEEE 13 node unbalanced distribution circuit by using MATLAB™ and a power flow analysis program (OpenDSS).