Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

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Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences

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Original article

Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC

nanogrids
Martial Giraneza ⇑, Mohamed Tariq E. Kahn
Centre for Distributed Power and Electronic Systems (CDPES), Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), PO Box 1906, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The restructuration of power systems from their traditional topology combined with the technological
Received 12 September 2018 evolution in terms of power electronics and information technology has led to the recurrence of Direct
Accepted 7 February 2019 Current (DC) networks in form of micro and nano as well as smart grids of which the functioning relies
Available online xxxx
on communication systems. Power line communication system (PLC) being a matured and competitive
technology is viewed as the backbone of future communication systems whose role will go beyond the
Keywords: actual power network operational purpose, towards an integration of more commercial services such
PLC coupling
as communication services for end-users. Though PLC technology has received attention from research-
Opto-isolators
DC nanogrid
ers, few focused on its main part namely the coupling. With new perspective applications, an emphasis
Broad band communication should be put on economic and safety aspects of the couplers in new grids topology. Hence, this paper
PSIM proposes a PLC opto-capacitive coupling method in application for DC nanogrids; that improves the
Electrical communication safety of a transformerless capacitor coupling by providing a galvanic isolation between the line and
devices under all conditions as proven through modelling and simulations using PSIM environment.
The proposed coupling method also provides an economic alternative to PLC capacitive transformer
coupling with the same degree of safety.
Ó 2019 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction administrative operational communication systems. However,

The structure of traditional power system consists of various
levels namely generation, transmission and distribution. In such
configuration, power lines cover miles’ distance from generation
to distribution levels, from which the last mile to the users is com-
pleted through service connection to customers’ meter. Intercon-
nection of sparse generation units for redundancy and efficiency
results in large networks as power systems look nowadays. The
coordination of such large networks requires a real-time commu-
nication at all levels of power system structure (Cleveland, 2008).
Initially, utility interest focused mainly on real-time and
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: gimartial@gmail.com, giranezam@cput.ac.za (M. Giraneza).
Peer review under responsibility of King Saud University.
Production and hosting by Elsevier
with technological advancement, administrative communication
gained its fair share as well (Galli et al., 2011). Various communi-
cation schemes or techniques have been in use, among them power
line communication (PLC) has proven itself and still demonstrates
a bright future (Ferreira et al., 2010a; Xiao-Ping Zhang, 2010). In
use since 1930 (Schwartz, 2009), PLC systems have the advantage
of using already existing power lines which reduces the deploy-
ment cost. Moreover, PLCs have evolved along with technological
evolution to become competitive. Along with technological evolu-
tion, power system structure has evolved as well with the intro-
duction of distributed generation, demand side load
management, resurgence of DC distribution microgrids, nanogrids
and more real-time monitoring with an increased communication
systems footprint: smart grids. The latter opened doors for PLCs
application up into users’ homes, thus allowing the possibility for
other commercial services such as broadband data, voice and video
communication over power lines (Yigit et al., 2014; Galli et al.,
2010). In addition, PLC systems contribute to the energy manage-
ment and network security as a communication platform for smart
meters in smart grid (Sharma and Mohan Saini, 2015). Diversified
research have been conducted in the prospect of increasing data

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
1018-3639/Ó 2019 The Authors. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
2 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx
transfer speed (Nassar et al., 2012) and reducing interferences
when PLCs are used in low voltage DC networks (Rönnberg et al.,
2011; Pinomaa et al., 2011).
The channel modelling and characterization of PLC systems are
among the challenging aspects that those systems face. Due to the
frequency and time varying nature of power line channel, it is dif-
ficult for one fit-for-all type of modelling, hence the early mod-
elling techniques were measurement-based. They mainly
depended on statistical analysis and extensive measurement activ-
ities (Ferreira et al., 2010b). Actually different approaches are used
to develop deterministic models for channel characterization.
Masood and Baig (2016) have reviewed various type of PLC mod-
elling and standards. Papadopoulos et al. (2015) have presented a
black box for network components modelling, a method that is
applicable to channel modelling for other applications such as
PLC channel modelling in motor vehicles and aircrafts (Degauque
et al., 2015).
In addition to the channel modelling, coupling is a key part of
a PLC system, as it is the link between power line and the trans-
ceiver (Bilal et al., 2004; Janse van Rensburg, 2010; Martínez
et al., 2014). Couplers are responsible for the injection and
extraction of communication signals in and from the power
lines. These power lines can be AC or DC, for the latter, the cou-
pler must block the DC voltage signal while for the former it fil-
ters out AC mains voltage signal. Moreover, they should provide
galvanic isolation and electric protection to communication cir-
cuit. Fig. 1 shows a classification of different couplers according
to various criteria. Based on physical connection there are 4
types of couplers namely: capacitive, inductive, resistive and
antenna couplers.
Capacitive couplers offer the highest signal power transfer in
comparison to other types (Costa et al., 2015). Note that there
are two types of capacitive couplers, transformer and transformer-
less (Sibanda et al., 2009; Kosonen et al., 2008). On one hand, trans-
former capacitive couplers provide a galvanic isolation to
transceiver and protection against surge. Generally, they are rec-
ommended for AC circuits, but are also in application for DC sys-
tems (Wade and Asada, 2006; Grassi and Pignari, 2012; Pinomaa
et al., 2015). On the other hand, though cheaper, transformerless
capacitive couplers developed so far suffer from lack of galvanic
isolation between the line and transceiver (Van Rensburg and
Ferreira, 2003; Artale et al., 2018). They still have an electrical con-
nection between the mains and the transceiver. Hence, they pro-
vide no protection for users and transceiver circuits from
Fig. 1. Power line communication coupler classification.
Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
undesirable currents that might flow from the line in case of short
circuit or surge.
With the aim to provide a solution in overcoming the lack of
galvanic isolation handicap that PLC transformerless capacitive
couplers suffer from, this paper proposes an opto-capacitive
coupling for application in DC nanogrid broadband power
line communication. To achieve the galvanic isolation, Opto-
capacitive coupler combines capacitor coupling characteristic
with opto-isolator isolation properties. For testing and validation,
the proposed coupler is modelled and simulated under normal
and abnormal condition of surge using PSIM environment. The
proposed coupler will provide more safety for equipment and
users in its application in DC nanogrids for communication pur-
pose. Broad band power line communication operates in the fre-
quency band ranging from 1.7 to 500 MHz (Ferreira et al., 2010a;
Galli et al., 2011; Zhu et al., 2013) and has various applications
such as voice IP , video and other high data speed transmission
schemes (Ikpehai et al., 2016).
The paper is divided into five sections with the first section
covering the above introduction. Section 2 is dedicated to a brief
review on optocouplers. Section 3 gives an overview of the pro-
posed coupling system. It also presents the PLC channel mod-
elling and characterization in frequency range of interest, filter
design steps and components values. Section 4 is dedicated to
the system simulation, results and validation. Virtual prototyping
approach is used to develop, simulate and validate the proposed
opto-capacitive coupler. Virtual prototyping proved to be useful
approach for a rapid modelling, simulation and validation of pro-
totypes while cutting costs inherent to the traditional validation
approach (Jiang et al., 2003; Ha et al., 2015). Section 5 concludes
the paper.
2. Optocouplers concept and operation
Optocouplers work based on short path optical transmission
of electrical signals converted into optical signals by LED, to a
photo semiconductor receiver which converts back the optic sig-
nal into an electrical signal at the output of the coupler. Fig. 2
shows an optocoupler circuit, the input and the output of the
coupler are electrically isolated from each other (Hazem, 2014).
Differently from a transformer-based, an optocoupler accommo-
dates DC coupling and provides a substantial protection against
any overvoltage that might arise from the input side (Ofer,
 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx 3

Galvanic isolation for the proposed coupling system is achieved

by combining an opto-isolator with a capacitive coupler. Thus,
availing on isolation properties of opto-isolator for a safe power
line communication coupling.

3. Proposed coupling system

3.1. System description

Fig. 2. Opto-coupler model.
2012). Optocouplers transfer efficiency is determined by its cur-
rent transfer ratio (CRT), which is a ratio of current change in
the output of the phototransistor and the input current to the
light emitted diode (LED). Current transfer ratio for optocouplers
ranges between 10 and 50% for phototransistor, while it can go
up to 200% for Darlington pair transistors (Cheng et al., 2014).
Current transfer ratio is given by Eq. (1), where IF is forward
LED current and IC the transistor collector current as shown in
Fig. 2
CTR ¼ IC =IF  100
where:
IF = Forward LED current
IC = Transistor collector current
The concept of the proposed coupling method is shown in
Fig. 3a, it consists of a transmission circuit injecting communica-
tion signals into the power line through a capacitive coupling
and a reception side coupled to power line through an opto-
capacitive coupler. Demodulation and filtering stages are in series
with a buffer stage for signal processing before feeding it to the
opto-coupler. The latter provides a complete electrical isolation
between the power line and the transceiver as the received signal
is replicated to digital transceiver side without any actual electrical
connection with the line using rather an independent voltage
source.
Surge arrestor is used for protection against overvoltage tran-
ð1Þ sients that might damage equipment. Surge arrestors protect a cir-
cuit by diverting to the ground voltage excess from a power line.
There are 6 types of surge arrester actually in use: Metal Oxide
Varistor (MOV), Gas Discharge Tube (GDT), Transient Voltage Sup-
pression diode (TVS), Thyristor Surge Protection device, Selenium
Voltage Suppressor (SVS), Series Mode Surge Suppressor (SM)

Fig. 3. Opto-Capacitive Coupling for Power Line Communication.

Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
4 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

(
and Quarter Wave Coaxial Surge Arrestors (Mbumwe et al., 2016).  v ðb;tÞ
Dx
v ða;tÞ @i
¼ Riða; tÞ þ L @t
The effects that surge arrestor has on power line communication v ða;tÞ
ð4Þ
 iðb;tÞ
Dx
¼ Gv ða; t Þ þ C @@tv
have been presented by Asakawa et al. (2010); Sanya et al.
(2011); Sungeon and Taehyun, (2013). Consideringv ða; tÞ = Re½V ða; t Þ and iða; t Þ ¼ Re½Iða; t Þ then Eq. (4)
Fig. 3b shows the physical model for DC opto-capacitive cou- can be written as follows:
pling for power line communication. Amplitude Shift Keying
(ASK) modulation technique is used for transmission. It is a dig-  dV
da
¼ ðR þ jxLÞIðaÞ
ital modulation technique that consists in modulating the carrier ð5Þ
 da
dI
¼ ðG þ jxC ÞV ðaÞ
with a digital communication signal to be transmitted. The car-
rier f C ðtÞ, a high frequency signal usually sine wave defined by 8 2
Eq. (2) is multiplied by the digital communication signal f D ðtÞ. < d V ð2aÞ ¼ ðR þ jxLÞðG þ jxC ÞV ðaÞ ¼ c2 V ðaÞ
da
The resultant modulated signal,f M ðtÞ, described by Eq. (3) is ð6Þ
: d2 I ðaÞ
¼ ðR þ jxLÞðG þ jxC ÞIðaÞ ¼ c2 IðaÞ
transmitted over the selected medium, which is in the present da2
case a power line. ASK modulation technique is simple and
transmitter requires less bandwidth in comparison with other where c is the propagation coefficient which is given by Eq. (7):
digital modulation techniques (Richer et al., 2006; El-Hajjar qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
and Hanzo, 2013). c¼ ðR þ jxLÞðG þ jxCÞ ¼ a þ jb ð7Þ
f c ¼ Ac sinð2pf þ hÞ ð2Þ
With a the attenuation and b the coefficient, therefore the line
f M ¼ f D ðt Þ  Ac sinð2pf þ hÞ ð3Þ impedance is given by Eq. (9) knowing that

where, V 0 ¼ V þ0 eca þ V 0 eca and I0 ¼ Iþ0 eca þ I0 eca ð8Þ

Ac = amplitude of the carrier Then characteristic impedance of the line Zl in the range of
f = Carrier frequency interest (1.7–30 MHz) is calculated as in (Zaw et al., 2013):
h = Carrier phase delay sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
V0 ðR þ jxL
Zl ¼ ¼ ð9Þ
3.2. Channel modelling and characterization I0 ðG þ jxC Þ

Channel modelling and characterisation are essential in appli- Where per unit parameters can be calculated as follows
cation of PLC systems, as they provide the impact of the medium (Mulangu et al., 2012):
on communication signal transmitted. Channel modelling can be rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
classified into four categories, namely: statistical, deterministic, 1 pf l
R¼ ð10Þ
parametric and simulation and field based measurement mod- pr r
elling (Masood and Baig, 2016). In this paper, a deterministic
 
modelling approach is used for channel characterization of the l 1 D
L¼ cosh ð11Þ
power line communication system. The transmitted communica- p 2r
tion signal over a 400 V DC line, is a result of a 30 MHz carrier
signal modulated by a 2 MHz digital communication signal. Sine
pr
and square wave signals are used as carrier and communication G¼ 1  D 
ð12Þ
signal respectively. The power line channel and its effect on the cosh 2r
transmitted signal can be defined from the transmission line
equivalent circuit model shown in Fig. 4. The model describes pe
a power line long from point a to b, with respective instanta- C¼ 1  D 
ð13Þ
cosh
neous voltage and current represented by v ða; tÞ,v ðb; t Þ; iða; tÞ 2r

and iðb; tÞ. Line per unit length resistance (X=m), induc-
tanceðH=mÞ, capacitance (C=m) and conductance ðX =mÞ are
represented by R, L, C and G respectively. The effect of those line
parameters onto the signal propagation can be evaluated using
Eq. (4) of the transmission line in high frequency (Kamenetskii
et al., 2013).
With l the magnetic permeability = 4p  107H/m, f the fre-
1
queny = 30 MHz, r the conductivity of line material, r the radius
of the conductor and D the clearance between the line = 600 mm,
the impedance of a 2000 m long line can be calculated using Eq.
(9). If a 20 mm2 aluminium conductor is considered,
r = 3.77  107/Xm, q = 2.8264  102 Xmm2/m, permittivity
e = 8.85  10-12F/m and r = 2.5 mm, then the line impedance Z l is
equal to 657.5 X. Note that the conductance G is assumed to be
zero, due to the fact that an overhead line is considered and the
fact that the free space is the separation between the lines
(Anatory et al., 2007). Table 1 shows the parameters values for
both signals as well as for the line impedance ZLine.

Table 1
Transmission circuit parameters.

Parameters Carrier Digital signal

Frequency (MHz) 30 2
Amplitude (V) 4 2.5
Phase delay (degree) 0 0
Line impedance (X) 657.5
Fig. 4. Transmission line model.

Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx
3.3. Filter design
Asynchronous ASK demodulation technique is used for digital
signal extraction. In series with the coupling capacitor, the ASK
demodulator consists of a rectifier coupled to a second order band
pass filter. The coupling capacitor is sized to provide least reac-
tance at the resonance frequency which corresponds to the carrier
frequency (f C Þ of 30 MHz. Moreover, the coupling capacitor reac-
tance is matched with the line impedance to have a minimum
reflection of the communication signal. The coupling capacitor
value is calculated using the Eq. (14):
1 A high frequency comparator is used as a buffer to the opto-
f0 ¼
2p  C  Z Line
where:
f 0 = resonance frequency (carrier frequency)
C = Coupling capacitor capacitance in Farad
Z Line = Line impedance in ohms
Hence the coupling capacitor value is 8.1pF.
The signal from the coupling capacitor is processed by a rectifier
and a band pass filter for communication signal extraction. Passive
1st order low pass and high pass filters associated in series are
used for the implementation of a passive band pass filter with a
transfer functionF ðjxÞ as shown in Fig. 5a. The frequency response
of the band pass filter is given by the product of both filters’ fre-
quency responses and the loading, as per Eq. (15).
Fig. 5. Band pass filter for PLC opto-capacitive coupling.
F ðxÞ ¼ Hðjxl ÞGðjxu ÞLðjx0 Þ
Assuming that the loading Lðx0 Þ is approximately equal to 1,
then Eq. (15) becomes:
F ðxÞ ¼ Hðjxl ÞGðjxu Þ
Using RC filter shown in Fig. 5b, then:
R1 C 1 jxl
HðxÞ ¼
1 þ R1 C 1 jxl
R2 C 2 jxu
GðxÞ ¼
1 þ R2 C 2 jxu
where
xl ¼ 2pf l , f l = lower cutting frequency
xu ¼ 2pf U ; f u ¼ uppercuttingfrequency
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
f 0 = f l f u , f 0 = fundamental frequency
The frequency of the communication signal, 2 MHz, is taken as
filter fundamental frequency f 0 . Thus from Eq. (19), lower and
upper cutting off frequencies are 1,9 and 2.1 MHz respectively.
Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
5
Using Eq. (17) and considering the coupling capacitor as C 1 andR2
as 28 X, knowing that:
1 1
fl ¼ and f u ¼ ð20Þ
2pR1 C 1 2pR2 C 2
then, from Eq. (20) filter parameters are calculated as
R1 ¼ 10:34kX; R2 ¼ 28X; C 2 ¼ 2:7nF
The band pass filter with the above parameters extracts the
2 MHz digital communication signal from a 30 MHz modulated
signal received through the coupling capacitor from a 400 V DC
power line.
ð14Þ isolator; it eliminates any additional noise that might affect the
replication of the transmitted digital communication signal. The
output signal of the isolator coupling is 180 degrees out phase with
the input signal due to the nature of the phototransistor. This is
corrected by inserting a differential op-amp that reverts the signal
back to its initial phase.
The proposed coupling in this paper offers a complete electrical
isolation between the mains and the transceiver without using any
coupling transformer. As mentioned in Janse Van Rensburg et al.,
(2015), PLC capacitive transformer coupling method is expensive
due to its foot print on the PCB and mainly to the price of the trans-
former which costs the double of the capacitor price as demon-
strated by the authors. Therefore, the opto-capacitive PLC coupler
comes cost effective due to the none use of transformer and
reduced footprint on PCB. Moreover, the proposed coupler will be
integrated in a new reception side modem and it will substitute the
embedded demodulation circuit.
4. Simulation and results
Simulations of the model in Fig. 3b are performed in PSIM envi-
ronment. PSIM is used due its known capability in modelling and
simulation of electronic systems (Kamiriski et al., 2004). Simula-
tion parameters used to demonstrate the operation of the proposed
coupling are given in Table 1. Furthermore, the eventuality of surge
arrester failure is considered and the galvanic isolation that the
coupler can provide to the transceiver is tested. Surge wave
travelling through the coupling capacitor is emulated by using a
2 steps voltage source.
For the operational demonstration of the coupler, a simulation
is performed for a period of 2 ms with 0.5 ns time step. Fig. 6c
shows a 2 MHz, 2.5 V digital communication signal to be transmit-
ð15Þ ted over a 2 km-long power line, after an ASK modulation process.
A 4 V, 30 MHz sinusoidal wave signal shown in Fig. 6b, is used as
carrier. The ASK modulated signal shown in Fig. 6a, is injected into
the power line through coupling capacitor (Ccoupling_Tx). Its ampli-
ð16Þ tude is the product of the carrier and the communication signal
amplitudes. Therefore, the peak-to-peak voltage amplitude of the
modulated signal injected into the power line is 10 V, which is in
line with Comité Européen de Normalisation Électrotechnique
ð17Þ
CENELEC standards for power line communication.
The modulated signal shown in Fig. 6a is transmitted along the
power line to the reception side where it is picked up by the cou-
ð18Þ
pling capacitor (Ccoupling_Tx). The latter blocks the DC voltage signal
and allows the modulated signal to pass. In Fig. 7(a) is shown the
modulated signal received from the line through the coupling
capacitor before the filtering stage. The voltage amplitude of the
ð19Þ received modulated signal is 9,2 V, less than the transmitted volt-
age. The voltage drop is due to the line impedance. The latter is
influenced by factors such, frequency, transmission medium length
and nature. The received signal, in Fig. 7(a), is fed into the band
pass filter in which the carrier is filtered out. The output signal of
the band pass filter is shown in Fig. 7(b) is attenuated by filter
6 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx

Fig. 6. Transmission side signals, (a) modulated signal; (b) carrier signal; (c) digital communication signal.

Fig. 7. Reception side signals, (a) unfiltered signal ;(b) filtered signal; (c) Opto-isolator input signal.

losses and have a peak-to-peak amplitude of 0.8 V. Fluctuations
and delay in amplitude of filtered signal would not allow a proper
functioning of the opto isolator. Thus, the need for a buffer stage to
reconstruct and amplify the digital signal before feeding it to the
opto-isolator. A comparator is used as buffer and its output signal
shown in Fig. 7(c) is fed to the opto-isolator. At this stage a 1,1V,
digital signal is recovered compared to the 2.5 V initially transmit-
ted. However, it is enough and consistent to drive the opto isolator
light emitted diode. It is important to mention that, at this stage,
there still a direct electrical connection between the power line
and the input of the opto isolator.
Opto-isolator output voltage amplitude depends on the Vcc, an
independent voltage source. In our case, 10 V are used as Vcc and
the maximum output voltage of opto-isolator is set to equal to
Vcc. It is worthy to mention that, at this stage onwards, there is
no electric connection between the power line and the output cir-
cuit of the opto-isolator. Fig. 8(b) shows the opto-isolator output
voltage signal in comparison to the originally transmitted digital
signal in Fig. 8(a). A 180 degrees phase shift between the transmit-
ted signal and the replicated signal at the output of the
opto-isolator is observed. For a digital signal, a change in phase will
obviously affect the sequence of the bits, thus wrong information
will be delivered. Moreover, due to the phototransistor nature
associated to the opto-isolator, its output signal seems delaying
to attain its maximum value. Therefore, the use of op-amp as a
phase shifter as shown in Fig. 3b to replicate the transmitted digital
signal and as a quick voltage level switch. The reconstructed signal
is then fed to the transceiver device, as shown in Fig. 3b. The per-
fect reconstructed digital signal received by the transceiver is
shown in Fig. 8(c) and is exactly as the transmitted signal. From
Fig. 8(c), it can be noticed that the amplitude of the received signal
is 10 V compared to the transmitted signal in Fig. 8(a) which is
2.5 V. This proves the flexibility of the circuit to adjust the
received signal to the transceiver voltage level by simply adjusting
the Vcc of the Op-amp. Transmission and process delay is around
0.02 ms.

Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx 7

Fig. 8. Comparison of communication signal at different stage (a) transmitted digital signal ;(b) opto isolator output signal; (c) transceiver received signal.

Furthermore, Opto-capacitive coupler is expected to provide

Fig. 9. Opto-capacitive coupling circuit diagram with lightning discharge on line.
enhanced safety for equipment and personnel by preventing any
accidental crossover of the line voltage signal to the communica-
tion circuit. This aspect is verified by the simulation of the model
in Fig. 9, where an assumption of the surge arrestor failure is made,
and the surge voltage wave is assumed to travel towards the trans-
ceiver. The behaviour of the circuit is then analysed for the surge
impact assessment on the system. Usually a surge results from
high impedance fault, lightning discharge onto an overhead line
and system transients due to switching. A surge is characterised
by an overvoltage short rise time (in ms) and high voltage gradient
(Mirra et al., 1997; Piantini, 2008; Ishii et al., 2013).
Fig. 10(a) shows a surge voltage signal occurring at 0,65 ms with
an amplitude of 1 kV for a period of 0,02 ms at the coupling point. It

Fig. 10. Signal response at the coupling point, (a) surge signal; (b) unfiltered signal.

Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
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8 M. Giraneza, M.T.E. Kahn / Journal of King Saud University – Engineering Sciences xxx (xxxx) xxx
Fig. 11. Signal response at the reception side, (a) filter output signal; (b) opto coupler input signal; (c) received signal at the transceiver.
travels through the coupling capacitor with an overshoot of 1 kV
and affects the unfiltered communication signal as shown in
Fig. 10(b), by an on overshoot of 1 kV for the duration of the surge.
The latter does reflect at the output of the band pass filter, as
shown in Fig. 11(a), with an increased amplitude, delayed dis-
charge time and a distorted communication signal for duration of
the surge. Therefore, this results in a continuous high-level status
in the buffer stage’s output signal, as shown in Fig. 11(b); conse-
quently, keeping the opto-isolator LED in high state for the dura-
tion of the surge and complete discharge of the circuit
components. Due to the complete isolation provided by the opto
isolator, the surge influence stops at this stage. The surge is seen
by the transceiver not with its damaging overvoltage, rather as just
a communication error as shown in Fig. 11(c). Thus, achieving an
adequate isolation between line and transceiver.
5. Conclusion
This paper presented a novel power line communication cou-
pler based on a combination of capacitor coupling technique and
Opto-isolator properties, for broad band communication over low
voltage DC networks. The opto-capacitive coupler overcomes the
shortfall of a transformerless capacitive power line communication
coupler. Shortfall in terms of galvanic isolation and protection of
transceiver as well as users are addressed.
Modelling and simulation of the coupler under the normal con-
ditions of broad band communication signal transmission and
reception were conducted. Simulations results proved a perfect
recovery of communication signal at the receiving side with flexi-
bility for signal amplitude adaptation to transceiver voltage rating.
Protection and galvanic isolation of the proposed power line
communication coupler are proven by simulation results of a surge
event, emulating a lightning on power line with assumption of a
surge protection failure. The results show a limited impact of the
surge at the coupling point which affects the communication signal
and the surge signal amplitude is dumped by the filters to the point
that there is no any damaging effect at the receiving end. The surge
signal as it interferes with the communication, it is only seen as
Please cite this article as: M. Giraneza and M. T. E. Kahn, Broad band opto-capacitive power line communication coupler for DC nanogrids, Journal of King
Saud University – Engineering Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksues.2019.02.001
signal error by the devices; thus, providing a complete galvanic iso-
lation between the line and the transceiver.
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