Self-Adaptive Rainfall Optimization-Based Reconfiguration of Distribution Networks

Reconfiguration that alters on/off status of sectionalizing and tie switches attempts to improve the operational performances of distribution networks (DNWs). This paper formulates the reconfiguration problem as a multi-objective optimization problem of reducing the net feeder loss(NFL), improving the node voltage profile (NVP) and enhancing the node voltage stability (NVS) and proposes a new reconfiguration method involving rainfall optimization (RO) for obtaining robust solutions. The method performs search for optimal tie switches in several sets of sectionalizing switches; each set is obtained from a closed loop formed for each tie switch, with a view of reducing the computational burden and adapting a self-adaptive technique for tuning the RO parameters for improving convergence. It performs study on 33-, 69- and 119-node DNWs and exhibits its superior performance over existing methods.