New results for power line carrier-based islanding detection and an updated strengths and weaknesses discussion

As PV deployment levels increase, loss of mains detection, or islanding detection, has again arisen as a primary concern among the utility community. This is true especially in multi-inverter cases, cases with a mix of distributed resources, and on difficult feeders on which false tripping may be a disproportionately significant problem. Power line carrier communications can be effective in solving this problem for all types of distributed generation. This paper provides an update on laboratory and field testing of this technique; discusses some of its unique but lesser-known advantages; and examines some of its weaknesses.