A New Low Cost Power Line

Communication Solution for Smart

Grid Monitoring and Management
Giovanni Artale, Antonio Cataliotti, Valentina Cosentino, Dario Di Cara, Riccardo Fiorelli,
Salvatore Guaiana, Nicola Panzavecchia, and Giovanni Tinè

M
odern smart grids require the improvement of
measurement and communication infrastruc-
tures of distribution networks, at both medium
voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) levels. Distributed sensing
and measurement systems are needed to provide all necessary
data for grid monitoring, control and management, as well as
for the implementation of a number of smart functionalities,
such as remote control of distributed generators (DGs), real
time analysis of power flows, automatic meter reading (AMR),
demand side management (DSM), grid automation and so
on [1]-[6]. Acquired network data include typical electrical
network quantities and status variables (such as powers, volt-
ages, currents, switches status, DGs power production, and
remote commands) and also environmental and other param-
eters (temperatures, security or safety warning signals, etc.).
Such data must be exchanged between the different players
of the smart grid (distribution system operators, active users,
prosumers). Thus, a fundamental smart grids requirement is
the development of a capillary communication system, which
must be reliable, cost-effective and easy to be installed in
both MV and LV distribution networks. Nowadays, the most
common solutions make use of wireless, GSM or power line
communication (PLC) systems. This last option is a very suit-
able solution, whose main advantages can be summarized in
their low installation and service costs, intrinsic security from
cyber-attacks, and direct and complete control by distribu-
tion system operators (DSO). In fact, power lines are already
located in the territory and they are owned by the DSO, thus
communication provider costs are avoided and potential in-
truders would encounter difficulties in accessing the network.
PLC has been widely implemented to support different
smart applications in LV networks, such as AMR or DSM. Its
employment is also envisaged by some recent standards for
remote control of DGs connected to distribution grids (for
example, CEI 0-21 in Italy or VDE-AR-N 4105 in Germany).
While the PLC use in LV distribution networks is generally
consolidated, its application at MV level has posed some
issues concerning the behavior of electrical network com-
ponents (MV cables, power transformers, overhead lines) at
relevant PLC frequencies and the signal transmission effec-
tiveness over the MV grid. As an example, some of the authors'
research activities in the field have been focused on mea-
surement issues and procedures for the characterization and
modeling of the PLC channel [7], with a particular focus on
the frequency range reserved by the CENELEC EN 50065-1
for PLC signals transmission, i.e., 50-148 kHz. Another im-
portant issue for PLC exploitation in MV distribution grids
is the signal coupling, which commonly requires the installa-
tion of dedicated MV couplers in both primary and secondary
substations. To allow PLC signal transmission (with ade-
quate bandwidth and different digital modulation techniques)
and signal circuit insulation from the power grid, MV cou-
plers must have low impedance in the desired PLC frequency
band and high impedance at power system frequencies. Com-
mercial couplers installation in the whole distribution grid
is expensive and difficult; in fact, apart from equipment and
manpower costs, further overhead costs are due to temporary
service interruption, since the coupler installation requires the
substation disconnection from the grid and it is not easy in-
side the existing air insulated and, even more, gas insulated
MV switchboards.
To overcome these problems, the authors have patented an
innovative PLC coupler solution [8], which is based on the ex-
ploitation of capacitive dividers of voltage detecting systems
(VDS). Such devices are normally installed in MV switchgears
(from 1 kV to 52 kV) to indicate the mains voltage presence and
ensure worker safety during operations on MV switchgears
[9]. The developed solution includes a proper interface circuit
between the PLC transceiver and the VDS socket to transmit/
receive the PLC signal to/from the MV network. The proposed
solution allows simplifying the coupling system installation
and reducing both equipment and manpower costs, because

The solution presented in this paper received the 2016 Best Application in I&M Award, announced at the
2017 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC 2017).

April 2018 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 29

1094-6969/18/$25.00©2018IEEE
 such a solution does not require modifications of existing MV
switchgears. To allow transmitting/receiving the PLC sig-
nal through the VDS socket, an interface card is connected
between the PLC transceiver and the socket itself (other-
wise, the PLC signal would be almost totally short circuited
to earth). A schematic circuit of the proposed solution is rep-
resented in Fig. 3 [8], in the case of line-to-earth PLC signal
injection (i.e., the signal is injected between one cable core
and its earth-connected shield).

Interface Card Design and Related

Measurement Issues
The interface card was designed starting from a simulation
study aimed at characterizing the behavior of each electrical el-
ement of the MV network in the PLC frequency range. Models
of MV cables, MV/LV transformers and VDS system were de-
veloped and experimentally verified. The developed models
were used to design the PLC signal coupling solution through
the VDS capacitive divider [7]. Finally, the designed solution
was prototyped and experimentally tested, by means of both
laboratory and on-field measurement campaigns.
Fig. 1. Voltage detecting system with portable indicator on a MV switchboard The developed interface card (Fig. 3) consists of a transmis-
in a secondary substation. sion (Tx) and a reception (Rx) circuit, both having a variable
inductance (L) in parallel to the VDS socket line-to-ground
the electronic interface board is less expensive than a commer- connection and an amplifier. The function of the inductance is
cial MV coupler (which is not needed anymore) and no service to obtain a resonant circuit between such impedance and the
interruption and MV switchboard modifications are required VDS capacitance at the PLC signal center frequency; this cre-
for its installation (the interface board can be directly con- ates a high-impedance line-to-earth path for the signal, thus
nected to the existing VDS socket). enabling it to transmit/receive the PLC signal to/from the MV
The proposed PLC coupling solution and some experimen- network. The amplifier’s function is to increase the PLC sig-
tal on-field tests are described in the following sections. nal level in both Tx and Rx modes (before transmitting and
after receiving the signal, respectively). Furthermore, in Tx
Basic Idea of the New PLC Coupling mode, the maximum signal transfer to the MV network is ob-
Solution tained through the impedance matching circuit, which allows
Basically, a VDS is made by a MV capacitive divider, which adapting the transmitting output impedance to that of the MV
provides an LV signal to a voltage presence detector; usually capacitive divider. On the other hand, in Rx mode, a pass-band
such a detector is an external plug-in device, which is con-
nected to the dedicated MV switchboard socket by means of
a two-phase plug and hosts an audible and/or visible indi-
cator for voltage presence signalling (such as a blinking light
shown in Fig. 1).
From a circuital viewpoint, the capacitive divider MV ter-
minal is connected to the MV bus-bars; a voltage limiting
device, a measuring circuit component (usually a capacitance),
and a short circuiting device are connected between the ca-
pacitive divider LV terminal and the earth (Fig. 2). The whole
circuit can be represented by the series of the MV divider ca-
pacitance and the equivalent LV circuit capacitance, which
also includes the stray capacitance; the equivalent LV circuit
capacitance is higher than the MV divider one. Thus, the mea-
sured voltage at the VDS socket terminals is proportional to
the mains voltage; the voltage reduction ratio is proportional
to the capacitances ratio.
The patented solution consists in replacing the voltage de-
tector with a new external plug-in device, through which the
PLC signal can be injected or received; thus, the adoption of Fig. 2. Schematic circuit of the Voltage Detecting System. [9]

30 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine April 2018

Fig. 3. Schematic circuit of the interface card: reception (Rx) circuit and transmission (Tx) circuit. [8]
filter is used to reduce the noise on the PLC signal. The desired
operation mode (Tx or Rx) is selected through two switches,
which are controlled by a PLC transceiver digital output [9].
In order to obtain repeatable and accurate results reduc-
ing the influence of stray parameters and noise, measurement
procedures were developed to set the various interface card
parameters. In fact, when an interface card is connected to
an MV switchboard, the equivalent capacitance is a priori un-
known. Furthermore, stray capacitances of the installation site
are unpredictable. The measurement procedure allows tun-
ing the inductance L, the impedance matching circuit and
filter parameters, and setting the best values for both Tx and
Rx circuits. A frequency response is firstly measured sweep-
ing a sinusoidal signal with 50 kHz of SPAN around the
center frequency. To ensure high input impedance, the mea-
surements are performed with a digital oscilloscope (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. Transmission station assembled inside a secondary substation. An
interface card prototype is connected to the VDS socket panel.
April 2018 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 31
It measures the received signal in the time domain and per-
forms its FFT spectrum with a frequency resolution of 300 Hz.
The inductances, the impedance matching circuit and the filter
parameters are tuned to achieve the target bandwidth; for ex-
ample, a 6 dB bandwidth of 15 kHz is required for an efficient
transmission of an nPSK modulated symbol with a symbol
rate of 9600 baud/s (Fig. 5). After, a transmission test helps to
perform the final fine adjustments. It should be noted that the
measurement procedures allow finding the target settings in
the desired PLC frequency range even in the presence of the
mains voltage, thus avoiding any service interruption during
the interface card installation.
On-Field Experimental Tests
The performances of the VDS coupler prototype were veri-
fied in different lines of the MV distribution networks on the
Fig. 5. MV PLC transmission channel frequency response during an on-field
sweep test around the center frequency of 86 kHz.
 Table 1–Fastest achievable bitrate for different MV lines [10]
Operating condition of substations under test
Intermediate
Line length (km) Substation #1 Substation
1.4 terminal by pass
1.4 by pass by pass
1.1 nodal
1.8 nodal nodal
islands of Ustica and Favignana (small islands in the Mediter-
ranean Sea). The on-field tests were performed in the presence
of both mains voltage (i.e., 20 kV, 50 Hz), AMR PLC signals
and noise. Different network topologies were considered in-
cluding MV lines connecting by-pass, nodal and terminal
substations and exploring also the case of possible intermedi-
ate substations. In the test campaign presented here, an nPSK
modem was used with a maximum symbol rate of 9600
baud/s. By means of the mentioned measurement procedure,
the interface card was tuned at its first connection to each VDS
system of the different secondary substations. As expected,
different values of variable inductance were found in different
secondary substations. However, an efficient signal trans-
mission was obtained for all of the tested topologies and for
different center frequencies, with a transmission data rate up
to 19.2 kbit/s. Some of the on-field experimental results for bi-
directional communication are summarized in Table 1, where
the fastest achievable bitrate is reported, corresponding to a
minimum success rate of 98% (percentage of received infor-
mation bit packets, with respect to the transmitted ones) [10].
In the table, the different network configurations used for the
tests are specified, in terms of lengths of the MV lines connect-
ing the substations under test and their operating conditions
(by-pass, nodal or terminal). As an example, one of the MV
lines tested is shown in Fig. 6, which connects two nodal sub-
stations of the Favignana MV network.
Fig. 6. Favignana MV line connecting two nodal substations named “4
Vanelle” and “Torregrossa.” A third nodal substation, named “S. Francesco,” is
connected in the middle of the MV line [10].
32 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine April 2018
Substation #2 Bit rate (bit/s) Modulation
by pass 19200 QPSK
by pass 9600 QPSK coded
by pass 19200 QPSK
nodal 4800 BPSK coded
Conclusions
The obtained results show that the proposed PLC coupler
solution can be suitable for its usage on MV distribution net-
works. In this framework, tests are in course for some potential
smart grid applications, i.e., smart metering and remote con-
trol of distributed generators (DGs); the preliminary results
have confirmed the feasibility of the proposed solution for ex-
ploiting PLC communication between DSO and distributed
measurement systems over both MV and LV grids. Further
ongoing research activities concern the coupling solution in-
tegration with the basic VDS functionality at power system
frequency (i.e., voltage detection) and its communication per-
formances improvement. As regards this last aspect, in order
to improve data rate and transmission bandwidth, the perfor-
mances of the proposed PLC solution are under study in the
case of OFDM signals transmission.
References
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Giovanni Artale (artale.giovan@gmail.com) received the M.S.
degree in electronics engineering and the Ph.D. degree in elec-
tronics and telecommunications engineering from University
of Pa­ler­mo, Pa­ler­mo, Italy, in 2010 and 2014, respectively.
Currently, he is a Research Scholar at DEIM, University of Pa­
ler­mo. His current research interests include low frequency
harmonic analysis algorithms, power line communications,
and smart grids.
Antonio Cataliotti (M' 01) (antonio.cataliotti@unipa.it)
received the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Uni-
versity of Pa­ler­mo, in 1992 and the Ph.D. degree in electrical
engineering in 1998. Since 2005 he has been an Associate Pro-
fessor in electrical and electronic measurements at DEIM,
University of Pa­ler­mo. His current research interests include
power quality measurements, power line communications
and smart grids.
Valentina Cosentino (valentina.cosentino@unipa.it) received
the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Uni-
versity of Pa­ler­mo, in 2001 and 2005, respectively. Currently
she is Assistant Professor in electrical and electronic measure-
ments at DEIM, University of Pa­ler­mo. Her current research
interests include energy and power quality measurements,
detection of disturbances sources in power systems, virtual in-
strumentation and smart grids.
Dario Di Cara (M' 16) (dario.dicara@cnr.it) received the M.S.
and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from University
April 2018 IEEE Instrumentation & Measurement Magazine 33
of Pa­ler­mo, in 2005 and 2009, respectively. Currently he is a
Researcher at the Institute of Intelligent Systems for Automa-
tion (ISSIA) of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR),
Pa­ler­mo, Italy. His current research interests include power
quality measurements, current transducers characterization
in nonsinusoidal condition, power line communications and
smart grids.
Riccardo Fiorelli (riccardo.fiorelli@st.com) received his bach-
elor's degree in electronics engineering from the Politecnico
di Milano University, Italy in 2003. In the same year, Riccar­do
joined STMicroelectronics. Since 2005, he has worked as a
Senior Application Engineer for Industrial Products. He is es-
pecially an expert in the Power Line Communication system
and application field.
Salvatore Guaiana (salvatore.guaiana@unipa.it) received
the M.S. degree in electronics and fotonics engineering from
University of Pa­ler­mo in 2012. Currently he is a Ph.D. stu-
dent at DEIM. His current research interests include power
line communications, development of microcontroller
systems and communications protocols for smart grids
applications.
Nicola Panzavecchia (panzavecchia@pa.issia.cnr.it) received
the M.S. degree in computer science and the master's degree
in domotics and building automation from University of Pa­
ler­mo, in 2007 and 2011, respectively. Since 2007, he has worked
as Consultant, Programmer and Web System Administrator.
Currently he is a Research Fellow at ISSIA-CNR, Pa­ler­mo. His
current research interests include software development for en-
ergy management and embedded systems, smart grids, power
line communications.
Giovanni Tinè (M' 04) (tine@pa.issia.cnr.it) received the M.S.
degree in electronics engineering and the Ph.D. degree in
electronics, computer science, and telecommunications en-
gineering from University of Pa­ler­m o, in 1990 and 1994,
respectively. Currently, he is a Researcher with ISSIA-CNR,
Pa­ler­mo. His current research interests include electromag-
netic compatibility, power-line communications and smart
grids.