Deterioration of polymeric insulators using exclusive agents

Nowadays, glass and porcelain insulators are being systematically changed by polymeric insulators, because of its advantages, as easy installation, reduced weight, low cost in the construction and transportation, and resistance to the vandalism. However polymeric insulators have disadvantages, as the difficulty about visual damage detection. Power outages due to polymeric insulators failures cause billions of dollars of product damage each year and, in most cases, a simple inspection of the ground is not enough to visualize the defects in operation insulators before the outage. As these equipments longevity is reduced according to eventual internal defects and hostile ambient conditions, it is necessary to develop and improve monitoring techniques.