27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE2019)
The Role of the Internet of Things in the
Management and Uncertainty of Distributed
Generation Sources in Order to Reduce Losses and
Improve the Voltage Profile
Hamid Izadinia
Master of Science Student
Department of electrical engineering
Yazd University
Yazd, Iran
h.izadinia@stu.yazd.ac.ir
Abstract—This paper discusses the management and
uncertainty of distributed generation sources in a distribution
system that use the Internet of Things technology. This issue
has been considered because one of the main problems of the
power system is its losses that most of these losses occur in the
distribution system and every year in the summer, when the
peak of the system is at its highest, it is a serious threat to
system sustainability. The data used in this paper is based on
the IEEE 33 bus system, which uses consumer consumption
patterns and load curve conditions in the summer, also
DIgSILENT software and genetic algorithm are used to
simulate and analyze the results. The method of doing this, is as
follows, with the help of distributed generation sources, losses
are reduced and with the help of the Internet of things reach
the minimum. The simulation results show that this technology
is a great help in managing and controlling the grid at the time
of uncertainty in distributed generation sources and creating
coordination between them.
Keywords—Distributed generation sources, Internet of
things, Losses reduction, Voltage profile improvement
I. INTRODUCTION
The idea of the Internet of Things (IoT) at the first time
was introduced by Ashton in 1999. He pointed out that the
Internet connects people together, but with the IoT, the
objects can be connected together [1]. Generally, in this
technology for connecting and communicating objects with
together, two modes are considered, human communication
with objects and objects together. In the first case, using
sensors and applications, objects can be remotely controlled
by humans and the second case, using the technology and
software, object-to-object connectivity is provided that is
without human intervention [2]. One of the fields of using
this technology is the energy sector and smart grid that
enhance the performance of power grid and some researchers
call it Internet Energy [3-5].
The first time, the losses problem in the power system in
1922 [6] were examined by the investigation of the losses of
transmission lines. The idea of installing and using
Distributed Generation sources (DGs) to minimize losses was
also proposed in 1994, in this research, the objective function
978-1-7281-1508-5/19/$31.00 ©2019 IEEE
554
Alireza Sedighi
Associate professor
Department of electrical engineering
Yazd University
Yazd, Iran
sedighi@yazd.ac.ir
is losses reduction and the second-order gradient method is
used [7]. For optimal DG installation, several artificial
intelligence techniques such as Genetic Algorithm (GA) [8],
Backtracking Search Optimization Algorithm (BSOA) [9]
and hybrid Harmony Search Algorithm and Particle ABC
(HSA-PABC) [10] were used to solve power engineering
problems.
The expansion of DGs has led to the expansion of the
storage systems. Energy storage systems (ESSs) can support
renewable energy by providing voltage support, smoothing
their output fluctuations, balancing the power flow in the
network, matching supply and demand [10-12], and helping
distribution companies (network operators and energy
retailers) to reach demand reliably and sustainably.
II. APPLICATIONS OF IOT IN SMART GRID
A. IoT in the Generation part
In the electricity generation part, the IoT can be used to
unit monitoring, distributed power plant monitoring, plant
area monitoring, pollutants and gas emissions monitoring,
energy consumption monitoring, coal material monitoring,
pumped storage power plant monitoring, wind power plant
monitoring, power prediction, photovoltaic power plant
monitoring, biomass electricity generation, energy storage
monitoring, power connection, etc[13].
B. IoT in the transmission part
This part of the power system is more than other parts
considered by researchers. IoT can be used for transmission
line monitoring, tower protection, intelligent substation,
distribution automation, condition monitoring, operation and
equipment management, etc[14,15].
C. IoT in the distribution part
This section discusses about smart homes and smart
meter [16], electric vehicle management [13] and load
management [17].
 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE2019)

III. PROBLEM CONDITIONS

In this paper, IEEE standard 33-bus system used for
simulation that its information is presented in [18]. The total
loads for this test system are 3,715 kW and 2,300 kVar.
Also, the active power losses are 210.07 kW.
The simulation conditions are according to the peak load
of Iran in summer that at that time, the system has the most
power losses and the peak load in the day is more than the
peak load of the night. This curve has the highest daily peak
during the year and is visible in “Fig. 1”. So for all loads of
the system, the consumption pattern is considered in
accordance with “Fig. 1”. For example, all consumers have a
minimum consumption at 6 AM and this amount has
gradually increased until 2 PM that all loads consume 100%
of their power. Fig. 4. Active and reactive losses before installing DGs

Fig. 1. The consumption curve of the system loads in 24 hours

For photovoltaic systems(PV), a characteristic for

generating power over a period of 24 hours has been
considered. PV does not generate any power from 8 PM
until 6 AM and generates maximum power at 1 and 2 AM
[19]. This characteristic is shown in “Fig. 2”. Also for the
wind turbine, there is a characteristic for generating power
during 24 hours, which is visible in “Fig. 3” [20].
Fig. 2. The characteristic of PV in 24 hours
Fig. 3. The characteristic of Wind turbine in 24 hours
According to the new conditions applied to system loads,
calculated power losses from load flow at normal state
within 24 hours. The system losses and bus voltage drop are
shown in “Fig. 4” and “Fig. 5”, respectively.
Fig. 5. The maximum voltage drop of buses before installing DGs
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
In this section, using the genetic algorithm [21], and
according to the problem conditions, the best location and
capacity is found for DGs installation. In the following,
analyzes are provided using DigSilent software. The best
place for installing two DGs in the system is the bus 29
(P=797 kW & Q=108 kVAr) and the bus 14 (P=623 kW &
Q=142 kVAr) that calculated by the genetic algorithm. The
population was 50. Also, the crossover and mutation were
0.8 and 0.05, respectively.
A. DGs management
By installing the PV at the desired buses, as shown in
“Fig. 6”, the losses of peak load in the day have decreased to
83 kW. On the other hand, the losses of peak load in the
night remain at the same amount of 134 kW, because at this
time the PV does not generate any power. At this time, when
the power of PV is reduced from a certain amount, the
operator can connect the wind turbine and disconnect the PV
from the system and compensates for losses and bus voltage
drop. Also, when the losses and voltage drop of the system
are within their limits, the energy generated by the wind
turbine can be stored in the ESS. This stored energy can be
used when there is uncertainty in the system. “Fig. 7” shows
the maximum voltage drop that is beyond the limit and
occur at the peak load of the night.
Note that between PV and wind turbine connected to a
bus, just one of them can connect to the grid. Otherwise, the

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 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE2019)
DG allocation conditions of the algorithm are being violated
(just one DG can be connected to a bus in the grid).
Fig. 6. Active and reactive losses when PV connected to the system
Fig. 7. The maximum voltage drop of buses when PV connected to the
system
To solve the problem of peak load in the night,
according to “Fig. 2” and “Fig. 3”, the generated energy by
the wind turbine at approximately 6 AM to 6 PM is stored in
the battery. When the PV generation was less than a certain
amount, the operator can connect real-time the wind turbine
and disconnect real-time the PV from the system. “Fig. 8”
and “Fig. 9” indicate the losses and voltage drop in this state
that the losses of day peak are fixed and the losses of night
peak are reduced from 138 to 58 kW.
This can easily be done with the help of the IoT. Because
the data is provided real-time to the control center. It not
only prevents unwanted blackouts, but also reduces losses,
voltage drop, feeder overload, and decrease the temperature
of equipment is caused by overload. Section V discusses
how data is exchanged continuously and how can monitor
and control real-time on the data.
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Fig. 8. system losses when use supplementary wind turbines and PV
Fig. 9. Voltage drop when use supplementary wind turbines and PV
B. DGs uncertainty
One of the main problems of DGs is their uncertainty in
power generation, which is discussed in this section. If one of
the PVs disconnects suddenly from the system. In normal
mode, the operator needs to take some time to replace the
ESS and inject it into the system. This lack of rapid reaction
will cause some problems for system.
Suppose, between 12 and 1 PM the PV connected to bus
14 disconnect suddenly from the system. In normal mode, if
there is a delay of 20 minutes for connecting the energy
stored in the battery to the system. As a result, the losses and
voltage drop in the system are as shown in “Fig. 10” and
“Fig. 11”.
According to “Fig. 10”, the losses are increased to 97
kW. Also, according to “Fig. 11”, the voltage drop of the
system goes out of its limit and reaches 0.938 per-unit that
this short time is enough for system instability, power outage
and loss increase in peak time. However, with the help of the
IoT that receive and sent the real-time data, we will not have
such problems. Because after a sudden disconnecting of the
PV from the system, the power stored in the battery is
injected into the grid while the operator is monitoring and
controlling. “Fig. 12” and “Fig. 13” show how the losses and
voltage drop changing when using the IoT. The losses at this
time decreased to 73 kW and the voltage drop is at its limits
that according to the capacity of the ESS (150 kW [22]),
Suitable conditions for the grid are provided when the PV
disconnect suddenly. Also, these conditions are applicable to
disconnect the wind turbine from the system.
 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE2019)

Fig. 13. Voltage drop of buses with IoT

Fig. 10. system losses without IoT
Fig. 11. voltage drop of buses without IoT
V. SUGGESTED ARCHITECTURES
In general, the Internet of Things for the exchange of
information has a specific structure. The most common
structure is a three-layer architecture that consists of layers of
perception, network, and application. In this structure, the
information is identified and collected from the lower layer
(the perception layer) and sent with the help of low-
bandwidth technology (NFC, Wi-Fi, RFID, ZigBee, XBee,
Z-Wave, …) for the network layer. The data received on the
network layer is also sent to the application layer via high-
bandwidth technology (WiMax, LTI, 5G, LoRa, …) and in
the application layer is decided about incoming data
according to the user's requirements [23].
Information about current, voltage, active and reactive
power, power factor and frequency related to PV, wind
turbine and ESS are collected by the sensors and actuators.
This information is sent to the router via ZigBee and
6LoWPAN technology and then sent to the monitoring and
management center by LoRa and LTI or 5G technology.
There is also an exchange of information between PV, wind
turbine and ESS and allows for the automatic operation that
refers to the object to object characteristics of IoT. The
relationship between them is shown in “Fig. 14”. Two
important factors are considered in the selection of the above
technologies. In this structure, the technology with “high
network security” and “Low power consumption” are
considered. For example, ZigBee and 6LoWPAN
technologies use the security services provided by IEEE
802.15.4 [24], on the link layer. These technologies have low
power consumption and use standard and advanced
encryption.

Fig. 14. Proposed architecture for distribution system management

Fig. 12. System losses with IoT

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 27th Iranian Conference on Electrical Engineering (ICEE2019)
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the importance of using the IoT
technology in the smart distribution grid was shown. First,
the role of DGs management was shown in losses and
voltage drop reduction by using simulation and analysis,
then the role of the IoT in minimizing losses was examined.
For the wind turbine, PV and loads have been considered the
characteristic in 24 hours. Finally, the architecture and mode
of data transmission between the system sensors and the
control and monitoring center were presented. The results
show that when using this technology, in addition to losses
reduction and reducing the voltage drop in the system, is
prevented the power outage and loss of load during the
uncertainty of DGs and Leads to enhances stability and
system reliability that all of them lead to satisfaction of
citizens and consumers.
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