An Improved Sparse-Measurement-Based Fault Location Technology for Distribution Networks

In this article, a sparse-measurement-based fault location method for all fault types in the distribution networks with/without the distributed generators access is proposed. The pre- and during-fault voltage samplings at a few buses are needful to estimate the fault position via a compressed sensing algorithm. Besides, the principles of the sparse meter allocation are theoretically deduced, which are of directive significance for the practical implementation of the proposed method. Furthermore, the method possesses feasibility for the fault resistance of smaller than 50 omega and metering noise of lower than 1%. The performance of the method is tested on a 12.66 kV, 69-bus distribution network model established in the real-time digital simulator. Simulation results verified that the proposed method is of a good performance for various scenarios.