IAEAC 2021(ISSN 2689-6621)
Mathematical model of reactive power
optimization for distributed photovoltaic
2021 IEEE 5th Advanced Information Technology, Electronic and Automation Control Conference (IAEAC) | 978-1-7281-8028-1/20/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/IAEAC50856.2021.9390966
distribution network
Xiaomeng Wu1,2 , Guo Feng1*, Qianyu Wang1 ,Fu Ren1 , Shangkun Wang1,Yutong Liu1
1. School of Electric Engineering, Xi’an Shiyou University, Xi’an, China
2. Key Laboratory of Measurement and Control Technique of Oil and Gas Wells of Shaanxi Province ,Xi’an, China
xmwudz@xsyu.edu.cn, 13336365406@qq.com , 1316766946@qq.com, 2415631360@qq.com, 947162651@qq.com,
1659400853@qq.com
Abstract—In recent years, photovoltaic has been develop
ing rapidly, which is of great significance to the research of
reactive power optimization for distributed photovoltaic lar
ge scale connected distribution networks. The mathematical
model of reactive power optimization in distributed photovo
ltaic distribution network is introduced in this paper, inclu
ding the introduction of reactive power optimization algorit
hms and the object function and restrictions of reactive pow
er optimization modeling.
Keywords—Distributed Photovoltaic; Reactive power opti
mization of distribution network; Algorithms for Distribution
Networks; Mathematical model
I. INTRODUCTION
The incorporation of large-scale photovoltaic in
traditional distribution networks has caused uncertain
changes in the direction of the power flow, and the
voltage at each node is no longer regular. The current
power system lacks an overall solution for photovoltaic
grid connection, a random processing method for
photovoltaic grid connection, and how to effectively
reduce the switching loss of reactive power compensation
equipment. The core of solving this problem is to
rationally optimize and control the reactive power of the
power distribution network.
II. INTRODUCTION TO REACTIVE POWER
OPTIMIZATION ALGORITHMS FOR DISTRIBUTION
NETWORKS
Reactive power optimization is a multi-constrained,
multi-variable, non-linear, discrete problem with many
uncertain factors. At present, there are many types of
optimization algorithms. Traditional optimization
algorithms and artificial intelligence optimization
algorithms are commonly used. Most of the intelligent
optimization algorithms belong to bionic algorithms, and
they optimize by simulating biological behavior and
evolutionary processes. This kind of algorithm can deal
with the optimization problems of discrete, continuous or
mixed variables according to the needs of practical
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problems. It has the advantages of simple modeling, wide
universality, and fast convergence speed. It has been
widely used in distribution network optimization research.
A. Traditional optimization algorithms
Traditional optimization algorithms mainly include
linear programming method, nonlinear programming
method, Newton-Raphson method, etc. Although these
algorithms are less computationally intensive, they are
generally limited. Linear programming is a process of
achieving linearization. This method is convenient to learn,
perfect in theory, fast to converge, and simple to set
constraints. Reactive power optimization is easy to
calculate. However, a single search path can easily lead to
the failure to find the optimal result. The calculated result
and actual existence have certain errors. The biggest
advantage of the nonlinear programming method is that
the mathematical model it describes is accurate. It is a
programming method that treats constrained problems as
unconstrained problems. The advantages are relatively
simple principles, easy programming, and the
disadvantages are slower convergence speed and
calculation. The solution process of Newton-Raphson
method is a process of successive linearization, which has
the characteristic of square convergence, and the Jacobian
matrix is a highly sparse and asymmetric matrix, but the
requirements for the initial value are relatively high, and
the calculation amount of each iteration is large. A lot of
memory has been taken up. So far its improved algorithm
is still applied to solve the power flow calculation
problem of power system.
B. Artificial intelligence optimization algorithm
The advantage of the artificial intelligence
optimization algorithm is that it can perform parallel
optimization on large-scale problems, which greatly
improves the optimization speed and convergence
performance, and provides an effective method for
solving the reactive power optimization problem of
distribution networks. Different algorithms have their own
advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult for a
single optimization algorithm to solve the problem
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 efficiently and quickly. For some complex problems,
different intelligent algorithms need to be combined and
improved. Hybrid intelligent algorithms can combine
multiple intelligent algorithms to make up for
shortcomings of each other and are widely used. The
common artificial intelligence optimization algorithms
mainly include: Tabu search algorithm, ant colony
algorithm, artificial neural network method, particle
swarm algorithm, Hybrid intelligent algorithm. The
following introduces different artificial intelligence
algorithms:
1) Tabu search algorithm
The implementation principle of the algorithm is to
initialize the tab list during the optimization process and
mark the optimal search path currently found, and the
role of the tabu list is to avoid the secondary search of the
searched optimal path, thereby increasing diversity.
Improve optimization performance. Its outstanding
advantage is its strong local search ability, but it is
necessary to set the taboo length and the size of the
candidate solution set reasonably [1].
2) Genetic Algorithm
Genetic algorithm is a random search method based
on natural selection that mimics biological evolution. It
starts with a population that represents a potential
solution to a problem, and each individual is actually an
individual with genetically encoded chromosomal
characteristics [2-6]. It contains three basic operations:
selection, crossing, and mutation. In a constantly
changing environment, individuals with good
characteristics are retained. After generations of breeding
and mutation, the required population is finally selected.
Its disadvantages are high initial value requirements, easy
to fall into local optimum, multiple iterations, and slower
calculations in larger systems. Many improved genetic
algorithms have been applied in the field of reactive
power optimization of distribution networks.
3) Ant colony algorithm
The ant colony algorithm is a bionic algorithm
derived from simulating the path finding of ants in nature
[7]
. When ant colonies find food, they always find the
optimal path from food to their nest. Ant colony
algorithm is a random search algorithm. Like other model
evolutionary algorithms, it seeks the optimal solution
through the evolutionary process of a group of candidate
solutions. Ant colony algorithm has the characteristics of
robustness, positive feedback, distributed computing,
easy integration with other algorithms, and can
intelligently search and optimize globally. It is unique in
solving nonlinear, multi-variable, discontinuous, and
multi-constrained problems. Because it updates the
amount of information and determines the selection
probability of each path according to a fixed pattern, the
algorithm is prone to premature convergence or
stagnation.
4) Artificial neural network method
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With the development of artificial intelligence,
artificial neural networks have been widely used to solve
the problem of reactive power optimization. This
algorithm combined with control strategies can control
the voltage offset within the required accuracy[8]. The
system of artificial neural network is very complicated,
and the modeling process is very abstract. The non-linear
problem is solved through parallel methods, and the state
of itself is changed to achieve the best effect. But its own
reasoning process and reasoning cannot be explained, and
the theory and learning algorithms still need to be
improved and improved. If the learning method is not
very effective, then the artificial warping network will
easily fall into the local optimal during the training
process, and it will be difficult to reach the global optimal.
5) Particle swarm algorithm
Particle swarm optimization algorithm is an
evolutionary computing technology, which is derived
from the study of bird swarm predation. In particle
swarm optimization, the solution of each optimization
problem is a certain particle in the search space [9-14].
Each particle has two vector constraints: position and
velocity. Its advantages are parallel processing and good
robustness. Its biggest advantages are simple and easy to
implement and fast convergence. The disadvantage is that
it is easy to fall into a local optimal value, that is,
"precocity" occurs; Secondly, the basic particle swarm
algorithm cannot well coordinate the relationship
between the global optimal value and the local optimal
value.
6) Hybrid intelligent algorithm
A hybrid intelligent algorithm is a mixture of at least
two optimization algorithms, which make full use of the
advantages of each algorithm and can improve
disadvantages of each other. Literature [15] proposed an
adaptive coordinated search particle swarm optimization
algorithm. Based on the improved harmony search
algorithm and particle swarm optimization algorithm, a
new hybrid algorithm—AHSPSO algorithm is proposed.
Compared with the original algorithm and particle swarm
algorithm, this algorithm has stronger global search
ability, higher convergence accuracy and faster
convergence speed. Literature [16] proposed a multi-
objective reactive power optimization method based on
an improved particle swarm-taboo search algorithm. The
particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm uses the
convex function to decrease the inertia weight and the
adaptive learning factor to improve the convergence
speed and accuracy of the algorithm during the previous
calculation; Aiming at the problems of low search
accuracy and local optimization of the PSO algorithm,
the global optimization of the tabu search algorithm was
introduced after the PSO algorithm's later convergence.
However, the program design of the hybrid intelligent
algorithm is complicated, and it is difficult to implement
the program with each other.
From the above analysis, it can be known that there
are many shortcomings in the single basic algorithm for
 reactive power optimization with distributed power f4  min  Pn Cn
cap
(4)
distribution networks. The improvement of the basic nNc
algorithm and the mixed use of the algorithms can
effectively solve the problems of each algorithm during In the formula: n  N c is the reactive power
the reactive power optimization. Therefore, in this paper, compensation point; Pn is the unit price of unit capacity
in the reactive power optimization of the distribution
cap
network after distributed photovoltaic access, the multi- of node n; C n is the compensation capacity of unit
objective particle swarm optimization algorithm capacity of node n.
commonly used at present is adopted and improved to
solve the problem of premature and multi-target to single 5) When using SVR automatic voltage regulator, the
Goal conversion issues. minimum number of tap adjustments can be targeted:
N Ntr
III. MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR REACTIVE POWER minf1    Tapt,T - Tapt-1,T (5)
t  2 T 1
OPTIMIZATION In the formula: N is the total number of moments;
A. Objective function N tr is the number of SVR; Tapt,T is the gear position of
According to different optimization requirements, the the Tth feeder automatic voltage regulator at time.
following objective functions can be selected as multi-
objective optimization functions. B. Restrictions
Constraints for reactive power optimization of a
1) From the perspective of system economy, you can
distribution network with distributed photovoltaic include
choose the objective function with the smallest network power flow equation constraints, control variable and
loss, that is, state variable inequality constraints.
2 2
f1 = min Ploss  min  Gij (U i  U j  2 U i U j cos ij ) (1)
i , jNb 1) The power flow constraint
the formula: Nb is the total number of network  P  P  U  N
U j Gij cos ij  Bij sin ij   0
branches; Ui| and Uj are the voltage values of nodes i and  i i i
j 1
j respectively; Gij 、  ij the mutual conductance and  N
(6)
Qi  Qi  U i  U j Gij cos ij  Bij sin ij   0
phase difference of nodes i and j are respectively.  j 1

2) From the perspective of system security, you can In the formula: Pi 、 Qi Respectively, the active and
choose to take the minimum node voltage deviation as reactive power injected at node i; Bij is the mutual
the objective function, that is susceptance of nodes i and j; N is the total number of
* 2 nodes in the system.
NL Ui  Ui
f 2 = min U  min  ( ) (2) 2) Control variable inequality constraints
Ui max  U i min
i 1

In the formula: NL is the number of load nodes;

*
U i max 、 Ui min 、 U i are the maximum, minimum, and
amplitude of the literature voltage at node i, respectively.
3) From the perspective of system stability, you can
choose to take the maximum static voltage stability
margin as the objective function, that is, select the
smallest reciprocal as the objective function, that is,
1 the on-load regulator transformer; NC is the number of
f3  (3)
min
In the formula: min is the minimum singular value
of the Jacobin matrix for the convergence flow. A larger
value indicates a higher stability margin of the system.
4) From the perspective of system investment, the
minimum investment cost of reactive power
compensation equipment can be selected as the objective
function, that is,
 QCi min  QCi  QCi max , i  1, 2,   , N C

QDGi min  QDGi  QDGi max , i  1, 2,   , NQ (7)
 K t min  K t  K t max

QCi is the reactive power capacity of the capacitor,
QDGi is the magnitude of the DG reactive power output in
the distribution network; K t is the position of the tap of
capacitors; NQ is the number of access DGs.
3) State variable inequality constraints
U i min  U i  U i max , i  1, 2,   , N (8)
In the formula: U i is the voltage at node i.
IV. MULTI-OBJECTIVE PARTICLE SWARM
OPTIMIZATION
In PAMOPSO, the particles store the non-inferior
solutions found in the external file. The judgment
condition for the maintenance of external files is that the

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 number of non-inferior solutions reaches the maximum
size set in advance by the external files. Only in this way
can it be determined whether new solutions can be added
to the external files, thus ensuring that the number of non-
inferior solutions of the external files will never exceed
the specified maximum value. The algorithm will produce
corresponding non-inferior solutions during the iteration
process. For these non-inferior solutions, the following
steps will be performed:
1) If the size of the external file is less than the
specified maximum value, the resulting non-inferior
solution is directly saved in the external file.
2) If the size of the external file is equal to or greater
than the specified maximum value, and the original
solution in the external file is dominated by the newly
generated non-inferior solution, these new non-inferior
solutions are added to the external file and the original file
is deleted Those dominated solutions. If the newly
generated non-inferior solution has no dominance with the
original solution in the external file, the newly generated
non-inferior solution will not be added to the external file.
The above steps determine whether the newly
generated non-inferior solutions can be added to the
external file, which will continuously increase the
diversity of individuals in the external file. The selection
of the global optimal position is an important part of
MOPSO. In PSO, the gbest of each particle is generally
the same. In the solution process, only the best fitness
solution needs to be determined as gbest. When solving
multi-objective optimization problems, each generation
will produce multiple non-inferior solutions that are not
subject to each other as these particle gbest, which will
make some particles have different gbest. When designing
MOPSO, you need to consider how to choose the
appropriate gbest for each particle. PAMOPSO is an
algorithm improved by MOPSO. It combines external file
maintenance and gbest selection. While maintaining
external files, it also selects the appropriate global best
position gbest for next-generation particles to ensure that
they are kept externally. Each solution in the file is at least
the gbest of some particles.
V. CONCLUSION
The reactive power optimization algorithm of
distribution network, including traditional optimization
algorithm and artificial intelligence optimization
algorithm, is analyzed, the mathematical model of reactive
power optimization is studied, according to different
optimization requirements, multi-objective optimization
function is selected, constraints include power flow
equality constraints, control variables and state variables
inequality constraints. This research can provide reference
for the future distribution network reactive power
optimization with distributed photovoltaic.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
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This paper is supported by the Key Project of Shaanxi
Provincial Education Department (18JS094),
Natural Science Basic Research Program of Shaanxi(Prog
ram No. 2020JM-542), College Student Innovation and
Entrepreneurship Training Program of Shaanxi Province
(S201910705070, S202010705101).
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