Patent attributes
A method of determining the topology of a portion of the electrical distribution grid such as a feeder based on voltage and current measurements. The method employs Bayesian-based topology detection, where voltage and current data is measured at switches in the feeder at numerous sample times. A voltage variance is calculated for each switch, along with a voltage correlation coefficient for each pair of switches. Voltage variance is used to establish a preliminary position of a switch in the feeder, where switches closest to the substation source are expected to exhibit the least variance, and vice versa. The voltage correlation coefficient is used to provide a first determination of whether two switches are in series with each other in a parent-child relationship, and a current magnitude comparison is used to confirm or refute the preliminary parent-child relationship between the two nodes.
