Fuzzy control of series capacitors to voltage profile enhancement for distribution networks

Extensive utilization of sensitive electronics devices as well as reports of electric equipment failures, lead utilities to give power quality a high priority level. Due to radial distribution configurations in remote areas, it is not easy to fulfill power quality requirements for flicker and voltage drop. Therefore, the problem of voltage drop is necessary to be solved. This paper presents a solution by using series capacitors connected to the nodes of distribution feeders. A new proposed technique is introduced in this paper to calculate the desired size of series capacitors keeping the voltage at proper nominal operating limit and reducing the power loss. This technique uses fuzzy set theory to model the system indices by fuzzy membership functions and a set of heuristic rules. A practical case study is presented as an illustrative example showing the advantages of the proposed technique over other methods.