JFET_V3_N1_RP9 P.V. Prasad S. Sivanagaraju N. Sreenivasulu Journal on Future Engineering and Technology 2230 – 7184 3 1 83 89 Capacitor placement, Radial distribution system, Genetic algorithm, Selection, Crossover In this paper, the optimal capacitor placement problem is proposed. It determines the location and sizing of the capacitor. The optimal location is determined by candidate node identification. Genetic Algorithm (GA) method is used to determine the size of capacitors. As the optimum capacitor placement is a non-linear problem, Genetic Algorithm is more suitable for such problem. So, Genetic Algorithm is proposed to select the optimum values of fixed and switched shunt capacitors to the conditions based on the objective function. The objective function is to maximize the net savings in the distribution system. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested with two radial distribution systems. August - October 2007 Copyright © 2007 i-manager publications. All rights reserved. i-manager Publications http://www.imanagerpublications.com/Article.aspx?ArticleId=711