A Novel Fault Location Algorithm for Electrical Networks Considering Distributed Line Model and Distributed Generation Resources

Faults may occur in electrical networks that cause hazardous transients, equipment failure, and power outage. A fast and accurate fault location (FL) brings about network quick restoration and thus increases reliability and customer satisfaction. In this paper, we propose an impedance-based method to locate the fault in the smart electrical grid considering distributed generations (DGs). Photovoltaic is used as a DG in the network. A distributed model of line parameters is used to increase the precision of the algorithm. This method supports all types of faults. Three fifth-order equations are introduced based on the type and the section of the fault. The recorded information of current and voltage at the substation and DG, line parameters, and load impedance of each node is used. The equivalent impedance at the end of each bus is calculated to determine the voltage and current of each section. The performance of the suggested algorithm is investigated on 11 nodes IEEE network in MATLAB. The accuracy of the suggested method is analyzed under different scenarios, such as different fault types, angles, resistances, and distances. Besides, a practical test is done to verify the preciseness of the suggested algorithm.