Analysis of the capacity of PRIME for the management of grids with distributed generation and storage resources

Abstract

One of the most challenging issues facing power line communications or PLC is precisely the use of the electric cable as a transmission medium. Some devices connected to the mains, especially those that include transistor-based electronics, introduce a series of high frequency disturbances, normally in the range of 2-150 kHz, known as supraharmonics. From the point of view of communications, this is a major problem, since it is the operating band of many PLC technologies, so that such emissions can affect communications. The problem of the classification and evaluation of the supraharmonics lies in the lack of detail in their performance and the extent of their influence on other neighboring devices. In addition, the particular characteristics of the electric cable as a channel of propagation, which make it a hostile medium for communications, make analysis difficult. In fact, it is a current topic in which entities such as CENELEC and CIGRÉ emphasize the need for measurement methodologies and more measures in real environments. In this context, one of the lines of work of this Thesis aims at characterizing the supraharmonic emissions of the distributed resources of a real microrred in the range 2-150 kHz and at analyzing its influence over the communications. This study concludes that supraharmonic emissions can affect communications and that there are also different levels of affection, which have been demonstrated empirically. In spite of the above, the rise of PLC systems in the low voltage section is a reality that is being mainly driven by the advanced metering systems. This situation means that, at present, the PLC technology deployed in the low voltage section is being used only for metering. In this context, the second line of work is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of PLC-PRIME technology for applications beyond advanced metering. In particular, it is tested that PRIME-based advanced metering systems have additional capacity under different traffic scenarios and the feasibility of IP implementation over PRIME is demonstrated in a practical way. The conclusions of this work provide useful results towards the evolution of the communications in the electrical networks, and therefore, for the future applications of the Smart Grids.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU)