Application of static network reconfiguration to minimize power consumption from grid for photovoltaic systems

Photovoltaic (PV) is one of the distributed generation growing worldwide, a proper method to increase the hosting capacity of PV with low cost is becoming an interesting topic. This paper researched how the total grid purchase of power systems can be decreased by applying static network reconfiguration. The problem is formulated as a load flow which aims to minimize the total grid purchase under thermal and voltage constraints. The effectiveness of the approach and the significant benefits obtained by static reconfiguration options in term of total grid purchase are demonstrated using a modified benchmark distribution system. It was found that applying static network reconfiguration to this specific test system with two PVs gave minimum power consumption from grid.