An improved backward/forward sweep load flow algorithm for radial distribution systems

This letter presents an improved backward/forward sweep algorithm for three-phase load-flow analysis of radial distribution systems. In the backward sweep, Kirchhoff's Current Law and Kirchhoff's Voltage Law are used to calculate the upstream bus voltage of each line or a transformer branch. Then, the linear proportional principle is adopted to find the ratios of the real and imaginary components of the specified voltage to those of the calculated voltage at the substation bus. In the forward sweep, the voltage at each downstream bus is then updated by the real and imaginary components of the calculated bus voltage multiplying with the corresponding ratio. The procedure stops after the mismatch of the calculated and the specified voltages at the substation is less than a convergence tolerance. The proposed algorithm is tested with three IEEE benchmark distribution systems. Results show that the algorithm is accurate and computationally efficient in comparing with two other commonly used methods.