Abstract: Abstract: New application developments in distribution network such as new energy resources, bidirectional interaction with end-users, electric vehicles, require for the safety, real-time, stability and reliability of power data collection. In the paper, the common communication technologies applied in low voltage distribution network and divied into three types (power line carrier, wireless and specific wire), are briefly discussed and compared. Then, a field test case of BPL application in low-voltage networks are presented and analysised in detail. 1. Introduction 2. Communication Technology for LV Distribution Network 2.1 PLC & BPL 2.2 Private and Public Wireless 2.3 Others 3. Field Testing of LV-BPL 3.1 Background For most power supply areas of Shaanxi Regional Electric Power Group (SPG), micro-power wireless(a kind of Private Wireless technology) communication is used for LV AMR(Automatic meter reading) systems, while its actual performance in operation didn’t satisfy the expected requirements about stability. Due to many hills in supply area, communication of meters are often blocked, and this problem is particularly prominent in rural area and needs urgent solution. For the investigation of future alternative, LV-BPL is chosen for field testing in two rural supply areas. 3.2 Supply Areas for Testing Table 1 Basic information of Testing Network 3.3 BPL Technology in Communication Module The applied BPL communication uses OFDM technology for signal modulation and demodulation, with the transmission frequency ranging from 2 to 12 MHz and the nominal bit rate as 12 Mbps.The communication rate of the module is 100% with 110db attenuation under laboratory conditions or -5dB noise interference, and Freeze Frame Data of 500 meters can be completely collected within 5 minutes.The BPL communication modules in the field test can be upgraded online with dual-core technology, supporting transmission of big data and files, concurrent copy-reading, phase identification and ad hoc networking.There are two kinds of interfaces for the meters currently used in the area, and the existing micro-power communication modules can be replaced for test directly. 3.4 Field Test Process Result BPL Module replacement was completed on December 7, 2016. From December 8, 2016 to January 10, 2017, the acquisition rate, daily freeze frame data and time required for a single copy were tested and recorded. The figure shows time-consuming statistics of a single copy process. Reason for long concentrator waiting time is… 3.5 Testing Result Analysis The testing focuses on the performance of BPL module in meter reading and daily freeze operation. Compared with the original performance of micro-power wireless module, BPL module needs shorter transmission time, and beside it can combine multiple information and realize multi-thread transmission, resulting in greatly efficiency improvement of concentrator. Daily freeze reading also shows more efficient and stable. According the testing, the following summarizes the strengths and barriers of LV-BPL. Strengths;Barriers. 4. Conclusions For the application scenarios in LV distribution network, i.e. AMR, load management and demand response, the common communication technologies are briefly discussed. A field testing case of LV-BPL in AMR system is presented in detail. Compared with the micro-power communication, the testing results show that BPL communication has demonstrated much better stability, higher data accuracy and faster data transfer rate. It is expected that a large scale LV-BPL development could meet the need of AMR, load management, demand response as well as other functions, while with a reasonable cost-benefit performance. At present, the relevant standards for broadband communication transmission frequencies have not yet been introduced at the national level, and available frequency range for power system communication remains to be determined.