Until now, distribution systems have radial structure
with unidirectional power flows and a simple protection scheme.
As one of the smart grid objectives and in order to face the
continuous demand growth, there is a trend to connect more
distributed generation (DG units) to distribution networks. In
order to realize this aim and to increase the maximum
loadability, meshed network architecture has been suggested. For
this reason, in this paper three possible arrangements for
distribution networks (i.e., base radial configuration, radial
configuration obtained from a reconfiguration problem, and
meshed network) have been investigated and compared with each
other. The three network configurations are compared in terms
of feeder losses, maximum loadability, voltage profile and
maximum DG penetration level. The comparison has been tested
on the 33 bus balanced and 19 bus unbalanced systems