Study of Unwanted Emissions in the CENELEC-A Band Generated by Distributed Energy Resources and Their Influence over Narrow Band Power Line Communications

Uribe-Pérez, Noelia; Angulo, Itziar; Hernández-Callejo, Luís; Arzuaga, Txetxu; Vega, David; Arrinda, Amaia

doi:10.3390/en9121007

Cited by 40 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Reference [81] presents a great study along this research line, addressing the impact of several DER (namely, hydropower turbine and pump, PV inverters, and storage equipment) on NBPLC PRIME communications based on a set of experiments carried out at the Spanish CEDER (Center for the Development of Renewable Energies). Reference [82] also addresses this issue by investigating the impact of changes in impedance related to PV production on the quality transmission of FSK NBPLC networks by means of field measurements, simulations and measurements taken from a simple laboratory setup.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise Sources, Effects and Countermeasures in Narrowband Power-Line Communications Networks: A Practical Approach

et al. 2017

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Abstract:The integration of Distributed Generation, Electric Vehicles, and storage without compromising the quality of the power delivery requires the deployment of a communications overlay that allows monitoring and controlling low voltage networks in almost real time. Power Line Communications are gaining momentum for this purpose since they present a great trade-off between economic and technical features. However, the power lines also represent a harsh communications medium which presents different problems such as noise, which is indeed affected by Distributed Generation, Electric Vehicles, and storage. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the types of noise that affects Narrowband Power Line Communications, including normative noises, noises coming from common electronic devices measured in actual operational power distribution networks, and noises coming from photovoltaic inverters and electric vehicle charging spots measured in a controlled environment. The paper also reviews several techniques to mitigate the effects of noise, paying special attention to passive filtering, as for being one of the most widely used solution to avoid this kind of problems in the field. In addition, the paper presents a set of tests carried out to evaluate the impact of some representative noises on Narrowband Power Line Communications network performance, as well as the effectiveness of different passive filter configurations to mitigate such an impact. In addition, the considered sources of noise can also bring value to further improve PLC communications in the new scenarios of the Smart Grid as an input to theoretical models or simulations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Noise Sources, Effects and Countermeasures in Narrowband Power-Line Communications Networks: A Practical Approach

et al. 2017

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“…This collection aims to represent the most challenging situations for PLC communications. Second, this set of noises is completed with a selection of disturbances generated by DER, which have demonstrated to be critical noise sources for PLC [23,24]. Therefore, the complete selection of disturbances is composed of: [26].…”

Section: Standard and Controlled Channel Disturbancesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Virtual PLC Lab Enabled Physical Layer Improvement Proposals for PRIME and G3-PLC Standards

Llano¹,

Angulo

Vega

et al. 2020

Applied Sciences

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Narrowband (NB) powerline communication (PLC) is extensively adopted by utilities for the communication in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems. PLC technology needs to overcome channel disturbances present in certain grid segments. This study analyzes improvement proposals of the physical layer of the main narrowband PLC technologies approved by international communication organizations that are currently deployed in Europe: Powerline Intelligent Metering Evolution (PRIME) 1.3.6, PRIME 1.4, and G3-PLC, in order to improve PLC performance under channel disturbances. This thorough study is based on simulations carried out by an innovative ad hoc Virtual PLC Lab, developed by the authors, applied in replicable, fully-automated, and cost reduced test scenarios. The analysis is performed by applying standardized test methods and metrics, and by evaluating the influence of a set of representative channel disturbances defined by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and selected noises generated by distributed energy resources (DER) in normal operation. PLC performance improvements in terms of equalizer curve fitting, error correction codes, and noisy subcarrier suppression mechanisms are presented. The performance gain due to each physical improvement proposal is accurately measured and compared under the same conditions in a replicable and automated test environment in order to evaluate the use of the proposals in the evolution of future PLC technologies.As a result, sophisticated test methods are needed to evaluate, first, the effects of each type of disturbance on the different configurations of the communications technologies and, second, the efficiency of the strategies designed to overcome such disturbances. This paper proposes the use of a Virtual PLC Lab to evaluate the performance of several improvement proposals for several PLC technologies. The Virtual PLC Lab includes the whole communication system, composed not only of transmission and reception devices, but also on the characterization of the different effects of the propagation channel. As a result, it enables an efficient analysis of new coding or equalizing techniques that would require long and complex validation procedures, without the need of physically implementing these techniques in the hardware devices, reducing the time and the cost of these developments.Several articles study the NB PLC performance from 3 to 500 kHz in the presence of noise and harsh situations. This performance has been studied from multiple approaches. There are analytical studies based on generic PLC technologies [2]. Several studies are oriented to PRIME statistical performance in field setups [3,4]. Some specific studies focus on upper layer performance instead of being physical layer-oriented [5]. There are some comparisons of the performance of PLC technologies and physical layers, although these are not exactly under the same conditions [6]. Moreover, there is a lack of studies covering the PRIME standard in its recent 1.4 version and G3...

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“…The increase of electronic devices connected to the electrical grid is affecting the levels of conducted emissions along the electrical grid in harmonics of the fundamental, and in frequencies in the range of kHz. Some of the sources of these non-intentional emissions (NIE) are related to the improvements in power electronics for energy efficiency and the current deployment of distributed energy resources (DER) and electrical vehicles (EV) chargers through the distribution grid [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. The increasing number of such devices leads to more frequent and higher levels of emissions in the frequency range between 2 kHz and 150 kHz, as they operate with switching frequencies of several kHz [2][3][4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this higher frequency range, an additional issue is the impact on narrowband power line communications (NB-PLC), where disturbing NIE and communication signals coexist. The emissions may cause severe interferences on the transmitted data and the degree of impact depends on the level and spectral shape of the NIE [2][3][4]7,8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Trials for the Characterization of Non-Intentional Emissions at Low-Voltage Grid in the Frequency Range Assigned to NB-PLC Technologies

et al. 2019

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The paper describes the results of a measurement campaign to characterize the non-intentional emissions (NIE) that are present in the low voltage section of the electrical grid, within the frequency range assigned to narrowband power line communications (NB-PLC), from 20 kHz to 500 kHz. These NIE may severely degrade the quality of the communications and, in some cases, even isolate the transmission devices. For this reason, the identification and characterization of these perturbations are important aspects for the proper performance of the smart grid services based on PLC. The proper characterization of NIE in this frequency range is a key aspect for the selection of efficient configurations to find the best trade-off between data throughput and robustness, or even for the definition of new improved error detection and correction methods. The huge number of types of NIE, together with the wide variety of grid topologies and loads distribution (density and location of homes and industrial facilities) are great challenges that complicate the thorough characterization of NIE. This work contributes with results from field trials in different scenarios, the identification of different types of NIE and the characterization both in time and frequency domains of all the registered disturbances. This contribution will be helpful for a better knowledge of the electrical grid as a transmission medium for PLC and, therefore, for evaluating the appropriateness of different robustness techniques to be applied in the next generation of smart grid services.

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Study of Unwanted Emissions in the CENELEC-A Band Generated by Distributed Energy Resources and Their Influence over Narrow Band Power Line Communications

Cited by 40 publications

References 28 publications

Noise Sources, Effects and Countermeasures in Narrowband Power-Line Communications Networks: A Practical Approach

Noise Sources, Effects and Countermeasures in Narrowband Power-Line Communications Networks: A Practical Approach

Virtual PLC Lab Enabled Physical Layer Improvement Proposals for PRIME and G3-PLC Standards

Field Trials for the Characterization of Non-Intentional Emissions at Low-Voltage Grid in the Frequency Range Assigned to NB-PLC Technologies

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