Power line communications (PLC) have been an active research area for many years and it is still the case, mainly because they present economic and technical natural advantages for a wide range of applications using the existing electrical grid as transmission medium. In this paper, the authors provide an update on PLC technologies and their applications in Smart Grids, the main challenges they are currently facing, how they can be addressed, and the current research initiatives.INDEX TERMS Communications networks, communications technologies, power line communications, smart grids.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

This work aims at proposing a methodology to perform an experimental evaluation of energized grounding grid systems, subjected to current impulses. By using an impulse generator (80 kJ/100 kV) impulses were generated 8/20 μs waveforms that were injected into the soil through a copper coated steel electrode. The applied voltage signal and the propagated signal in the soil were acquired by using a digital oscilloscope. The transient impedance and impulse coefficient were used as parameters to verify the grounding grid system performance.

No abstract