On a comparison of Newton-Raphson solvers for power flow problems

Abstract

A general framework is given for applying the Newton-Raphson method to solve power flow problems, using power and current-mismatch functions in polar, Cartesian coordinates and complex form. These two mismatch functions and three coordinates, result in six versions of the Newton-Raphson method for the solution of power flow problems. We present a theoretical framework to compare these variants for PQ-buses and PV-buses. Furthermore, the convergence behavior is investigated by numerical experiments. This enables us to compare new versions with existing versions of the Newton power flow methods. We conclude that the polar current-mismatch and Cartesian current-mismatch versions that are developed in this paper, performed the best result for both distribution and transmission networks.