Power line communication and customer equipment

Abstract: In Sweden, the change from manual meter reading at irregular intervals, to automatic remote meter reading at predefined instants was completed in July 2009. This change is ongoing or largely completed in a number of other European countries as well. Several methods for communication between the meter and the network operator are in use. In Sweden power-line communication is used for communication with about half of the meters. The frequency range between 9 and 95 kHz contains, in addition to communication signals, conducted emission from end-user equipment connected to the power grid. Electronic components in end-user equipment can also in other ways affect the characteristic of the power lines as a communication media.The aim of this thesis is to give an overview of how power line communication in the frequency range 9 to 95 kHz can interact with modern energy saving end-user equipment. Potential problems concerning this interaction have been identified.Results presented in this thesis are based on a large number of measurements of voltage and current distortions due to connected loads and due to power line communication.A total of five different ways of interaction between power-line communication and end-user equipment are identified in this thesis. As a spin-off from this work, also new aspects of the interaction between end-user equipment have been identified.