Application of Sensor Network for Secure Electric Energy Infrastructure

Wireless sensor networks are becoming the technology of choice for sensing applications mostly due to their ease of installation and associated lower costs. This paper proposes a novel conceptual design for an application of wireless sensor technology for assessing the structural health of transmission lines and their implementation to improve the observability and reliability of power systems. A two-layer sensor network model is presented for overcoming the communication range limitations of smart sensors, and two operational modes for enhanced energy efficiency are introduced. Simulations integrating the output of the sensor network with an energy-management system were conducted, obtaining improvement in the security of the power system