Identification of Distribution-Network Edge-End Devices Based on Current Time–Frequency Features and Random Forest

With the increasing integration of distributed photovoltaics, energy storage systems, electric vehicle chargers, and intelligent terminals, accurate identification of heterogeneous edge-end devices in distribution networks has become challenging due to their diverse operating characteristics and similar current signatures. This paper proposes an identification method based on current time–frequency features and Random Forest. Equivalent grid-connected current models are developed for five types of edge-end devices, considering different capacity levels, operating states, ripple characteristics, and transient behaviors. A 13-dimensional feature set is extracted from time-domain, frequency-domain, and time–frequency characteristics, covering 11 device subclasses. Feature analysis is conducted to evaluate the separability of the extracted features, and Random Forest is employed for multi-class device identification. The results show that the proposed method achieves an overall accuracy above 98% on independent test samples and 96.91% in the IEEE 33-bus validation case, demonstrating its effectiveness for distribution-network edge-end device identification.