Optimal PMU Placement in Distribution Networks for Improving State Estimation Accuracy and Fault Observability

Abstract

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) can be of great help for state estimation, safety protection and coordination control in distribution network, especially with the increasing penetration rate of distributed generations (DGs). In this paper, an optimal PMU placement method is proposed to improve the state estimation (SE) accuracy and fault observability. The results of probabilistic SE are evaluated by information entropy considering the uncertainty of distribution network. Fault observability is defined based on Monte Carlo simulation and a fault location method using interval algorithm and PMU data. The optimal PMU placement is selected by greedy algorithm based on the comprehensive indices of information entropy and fault observability obtained by installing PMU on each candidate node respectively. Simulation tests of several feeders in different scenarios are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and to summarize the placement principles.