A new adaptive modified Firefly Algorithm to solve optimal capacitor placement problem

Abstract

In this paper, a novel adaptive optimization method based on Firefly Algorithm (FA) is proposed to handle the optimal capacitor placement problem suitably. The proposed method is based on the social behavior of firefly insects and their shining phenomenon. A sufficient two phase modification technique is proposed to improve the total search ability of the algorithm effectively. The objective function to be investigated is the total annually cost including the cost of power losses as well as the capacitor placement cost simultaneously. During the optimization process, several equality and inequality constraints should be met when the discrete nature of the capacitor placement problem should be satisfied too. The superiority and effectiveness of the proposed method is examined on the 9-bus and 34-bus standard distribution test systems.