A real-time harmonic estimation using a hybrid least square-virus colony search algorithm

High renewable energy penetration and trends in using power electronic devices have raised serious concerns about power quality. The non-linear nature of power electronics devices and different types of loads are the roots of producing harmonics in electrical power systems. The existence of harmonics in electrical power systems raises several concerns for users and utility. Therefore, harmonics mitigation is necessary for safe operation on both the utility and consumer side. Before harmonic mitigation, harmonic estimation is necessary to be done. This paper proposes a hybrid Least square virus colony (LS-VCS) algorithm for harmonics estimation. The proposed methodology is tested on different test signals from literature and three real-time examples including light emitting diode (LED) lamp signal, an uninterrupted power supply (UPS) signal, an axial flux permanent magnet generator (AFPMG) signal for harmonic estimation, and specifically find out the percentage of harmonic content present in their signals using an open source Mealpy python library. The proposed methodology shows improved results in harmonic estimation for different test signals and real-time signals even in the presence of inter and sub-harmonics. The proposed methodology also works well in the presence of noise.