Phase swapping of lateral branches from low-voltage distribution networks for load balancing

The low voltage (LV) electric network represents an important link in distribution chain, because it supplies loads concentrated in cities, suburbs and rural areas. Due to the distribution of single-phase loads on phases and their random instant demand values, in these networks can occur the load unbalance. These unbalances increase energy losses and risk of capacity constraint violation and also deteriorate power quality. Thus, a heuristic method based on the phase swapping of lateral branches for a balanced loading on the phase of a LV distribution feeder is proposed. The results obtained using a combination of consumers' typical load profiles and real data from smart meters demonstrate the performance of our approach (energy losses decrease from 6.43% to 4.3%).