Patent Document ID: 20140236506
Application ID: 13770460
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A method for detecting non-technical losses in a branch of a power distribution system, wherein a set of lines with unknown resistances connect consumers to a distribution transformer (DT), and a subset of the lines include meters, comprising the steps: constructing a model structure representing the branch as a circuit; acquiring measurements of energy consumed in the branch and measurements of currents in the lines at the endpoints of an interval using the meters, and measurements of the current at the DT; determining, based on the measurements, total power losses in the branch; estimating, based on the model structure, resistances and non-Ohmic losses from the total power losses and the currents during an interval when only technical losses are present; predicting the technical losses during a future time interval using the resistances, the non-Ohmic losses and the currents; and determining future non-technical losses by subtracting the technical losses during the future interval from the total power losses during the current interval.