Applications of meta-heuristics in renewable energy systems

The utilities are facing many problems with the conventional electrical system. Moreover, the electrical demand of the system is exponentially increasing since the last decade. The traditional framework is not able to address the demand of the end-user with environmental, technical, and economic concerns. Though, some counties have adopted the liberalization in power distribution systems. In addition, renewable energy systems can compensate for the demand of the utility. The renewable energy systems have contributed to minimize the economical and technical losses of distribution and transmission networks, support aggressive policies and decreases the cost of ancillary services. In the current competitive liberalization scenario, the utilities are facing strained operating conditions to meet the expectation. Therefore, the adhere to the present load scenario is a complex circumstance. Further, the utilities have to maximize the annual profits of the distribution systems by enhancing the energy efficiencies with the quality of power to customers. A lot of algorithms have been used to maximize the benefit of proper accommodation of the energy resources in distribution networks. Each algorithm has a unique application and process to optimize a particular type of objective. Therefore, each algorithm finds out the global solution in specific boundaries. This chapter describes a theoretical background and application of the meta-heuristic methods to the allocation of the renewable energy systems in the distribution network.