Signal Processing Technologies Applied in Smart Grids

Reliable protection schemes for modern electrical energy systems play a vital role for minimizing the consequences of fault occurrences. Taking advantage of the processing and communication power of intelligent electronic devices, this chapter presents innovative solutions based on different signal processing techniques for fault detection, classification and location in power systems. The presented methods are based on Euclidean Distance and Independent Components Analysis, proving that more accurate and fast solutions can be reached when using the resources available in modern power grids, implementing smart grids concepts. The presented methods were tested against a system with real characteristics and then compared with conventional methods.