Research, theorical and experimental research on the mutual interactions of a new technology for smart surge arrester associated with fiber optic technology.
With emerging technologies such as Smart Grids, the needs grow to ensure reliability and lower costs, coordination of insulation and voltages in power transmission grids are the best way to ensure that the insulation failure probability is limited to an acceptable value and that any dielectric breakdown becomes restricted. The monitoring equipment is a proven method for recording the operating condition and remaining life, providing important data to the operator for active management. Monitoring information is also valuable to access the general grid condition. The growth in global energy demand is putting a greater charge on existing grids – sometimes at the limit of their capabilities – doing the grid operation reliable and responsible to a growing challenge. As a result, many grid operators are looking for monitoring solutions to increase the reliability of their grids.
The monitoring surge arresters prevails over any one of the inspection routine tests involving human costs at the level of inspection frequencies (in the 1st year to recent equipment , then 5 years cycles with visual methods or infrared thermal vision), accesses, environments and specific safety conditions to limit risks (production system, off supply grid or that which involves relatively high costs during these cuts to allow inspection).
Several monitoring solutions by optical fiber (fiber / optoelectronics) to measure transient and stationary electric parameter sseen by the surge arrester are developed from its researchers network together with Dr. Sérgio Luis Gonçalves de Mendonça, senior researcher on LAT-EFEI from Federal University of Itajubá. This system should be embedded into the polymer / resin which constitutet he arrester’s shell, without 
interfere on its geometry or on its protection operation and on its dielectric properties, on the installations way and on its electro-mechanic properties. The application of these concepts, in particular, considers the latest technological alternative to the surge arresters, that is, polymeric shells.The concept foresees the integration of electrical measurements functions before and during atmospheric tensions or of the grid itself, including the possibility of incorporating temperature sensors, making the sensor – surge arresters a capable system of self-diagnose, defining a new generation of smart units, with wide applications in any grid of medium, high and ultrahigh voltage. The research is based on the latest modeling tools for multidisciplinary finite elements for the several optimizations of parameters and several experimental tests in real conditions.