Optimal harmonic resonance monitoring in electrical network considering area of harmonic pollution and system uncertainty

Abstract This paper proposes an optimization approach for allocating power quality monitors (PQMs) aiming to monitor all harmonic resonance conditions while taking power system uncertainties into account. The placement approach utilizes the frequency scan response for calculating impedances over a range of frequencies and consequently determining harmonic resonance conditions. Thereby, it is capable of building binary matrices, which include harmonic resonance conditions. Also, by utilizing the union operator at binary matrices, power system uncertainties such as photovoltaic generation and load level can be considered in the allocation method. The placement approach is expressed as a linear problem that determines the best locations of PQMs and their optimal number so that they monitor all harmonic resonance conditions. Besides, by considering the area of harmonic pollution of non‐linear loads in the proposed method, owners of electrical networks can find a solution with fewer PQMs to monitor harmonic resonance orders inside a particular area of the network. The performance of the presented approach is demonstrated using the 15‐node distribution network and a real electrical network, as well as a real large electrical network in Iran. Results show that the proposed method suggests fewer PQMs to monitor harmonic resonance conditions compared to previous methods.