Communication Requirements for Optimal Utilization of LV Power Distribution Systems

Decentralised electric power generation using renewable energy sources are becoming increasingly popular. As a consequence, decentralised electrical energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV) are connected to the low voltage (LV) power grids. This raises the requirement of dedicated and coordinated control of loads and power generation to realize intelligent power management in order to guarantee the full use of the available power transmission capacity. In this paper, we have analyzed the communication requirements when coupling a communication network with the LV power grid to enhance the maximum utilization of the existing physical resources. This paper identifies the exact communication requirements needed in enhancing the utilization of the LV power grid. There are, mainly two requirements: Firstly, the necessity of a fast reaction time in the range of 10 ms up to 300 ms, when the power system operates closer to its maximum utilization. Secondly, the necessity of a very low synchronisation time that should be less than 5.6 mu s (required for the phasor measurements). We further discuss the usability of existing communication technologies and architectures for the discussed scenario.