Capacitor Placement in Radial Distribution System Using Oppositional Cuckoo Optimization Algorithm

Capacitors in distribution systems are used to supply reactive power to minimize power loss. This article presents an efficient optimization algorithm named oppositional cuckoo optimization algorithm (OCOA) for optimal allocation of capacitor in radial distribution systems to determine the optimal locations and sizes of capacitors with an objective of reduction of total cost considering different constraints. To test feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed OCOA, it is applied on 22-bus, 69-bus, 85-bus and 141-bus radial distribution systems as test studies and the results are compared with other methods available in literature. Comparison between the proposed method in this article and similar methods in other research works shows the effectiveness of the proposed method for solving optimum capacitor planning problem in radial distribution system.