Walls that cannot be opened
- Chasing walls and adding cable ducts is often prohibited or requires heritage approval.
- Thick stone walls weaken the signal of wireless systems.
- Retrofitted cables on façades and interiors damage the building’s character.
Powerline Communication · R&D
The building’s power line is now its intercom line.
INTERPLC is a next-generation video intercom that carries video, audio and the door-release command over the building’s existing electrical wiring. No new cables, no wall chasing. It starts as an intercom and grows over the same line into the apartment doorbell and smart-home control.
- Utility model application filed
- Registered trademark
- Working prototype
The problem
Running intercom cable is a headache in every building.
A video intercom needs a dedicated communication cable from the entrance to every apartment. Sometimes that cable simply cannot be installed; sometimes it is an unnecessary cost.
Renovation, dust and long works
- Finding a cable route in older buildings is hard and often requires new ducts.
- Chasing, plastering, painting: materials and labour cost more than the cable itself.
- Residents are disturbed and common areas are out of use for the duration.
Doing the same job twice
- A separate intercom cable, conduit and trunking is laid to every apartment.
- Copper consumption, labour hours and construction time all go up.
- A parallel second network is installed while the building is already being wired for power.
The building is already wired. No new cable needed.
Less copper, fewer materials and less labour: buildings that are more efficient in both cost and carbon footprint.
The solution
Video, audio and control over the existing power line.
Using PLC (Power Line Communication), INTERPLC turns the building’s phase–neutral wiring into a data medium. Power and data share the same cable; no extra communication cable or wireless transmission is needed.
A visitor rings
The camera image and the ring alert reach the indoor monitor over the power line.
Video call
Audio is carried in both directions over the same line.
The door opens
The command from the indoor unit travels over the line to the door panel and drives the electric lock.
Key features
No extra cabling
The existing electrical installation is used; no communication cable, conduit or trunking is required.
No wireless transmission needed
The core system makes no Wi-Fi or RF broadcast; no coverage problems or interference, and data stays inside the building’s wiring. Phone access via the home router can be added if desired.
Works during power cuts
Outdoor and indoor units have built-in batteries: at least 3 hours at full load, 1–2 days on standby (capacity can be increased). The signal can also travel over a de-energised two-wire line.
Across phases and meters
Purpose-built bridge devices enable communication across different phases and individual apartment meters.
Paired devices
Every unit has its own ID and MAC address; the system only communicates with paired devices.
Portable monitor
The indoor unit does not need to be wall-mounted; it works when plugged into any socket in the home.
System
System components
INTERPLC consists of four hardware units. The transmission medium is the electrical wiring that is already in the building.
Outdoor unit (door panel)
- Integrated camera, microphone and speaker
- Keypad for apartment selection and PIN entry
- RFID card entry
- Time-stamped entry log
- PLC module and built-in battery
Indoor unit (portable monitor)
- LCD screen
- Microphone and speaker
- Door-release button
- PLC communication module
- Built-in battery
- Standard socket connection
Apartment door bell module
- Mounted next to the apartment door
- Sends the ring over the power line
- Rings the monitor in whichever socket it is plugged into
- No separate doorbell cable
Phase / meter bridge
- Signal transfer between phases
- Communication across apartment meters
- For apartment-block and complex installations
Platform
It starts as an intercom and grows over the same line.
INTERPLC is not just an intercom; it is an infrastructure that turns the building’s power line into a communication network. From the building entrance to the apartment door and on to devices inside the home, everything talks over the same line.
Video intercom
Video, two-way audio and door release between the door panel and the portable monitor.
Working in prototype- Door panel
- Portable monitor
- Apartment door bell
Card and PIN entry
RFID card and keypad PIN entry at the door panel; every entry is logged with a time stamp.
Working in prototype- RFID card
- PIN code
- Entry log
Can be added: face recognition, fingerprint, phone unlock, time-limited guest codes.
Smart-home control (IoT)
Control of home devices over the same PLC network; no extra cabling and no wireless network.
Working in prototype- Lighting
- Sockets / relays
- AC / boiler
- Shutters
- Energy monitoring
Phone access
If desired, see and control the door and devices from a phone via the home router. Users who prefer no internet can run the system fully locally.
Working in prototypeThe apartment door bell is on the same PLC network too: when it is pressed, the monitor rings in whichever socket it is plugged into.
What can be added?
The same PLC infrastructure is open to new modules for the building and the home. Key applications that can be developed:
Earthquake safety
Cut gas and power via a seismic sensor and alert every apartment at once; the system keeps running on battery.
Fire, gas and water leaks
Alarms from apartment and common-area sensors relayed to monitors and phones.
Emergency call
Emergency button for elderly and patient care; notifies neighbours, the manager or relatives.
Building management
Management announcements on apartment monitors, common-area lighting and door management.
Parcels and couriers
One-time entry codes for couriers, smart parcel locker integration.
Elevators
Elevator call and in-car emergency communication.
Energy management
Per-apartment consumption monitoring, EV charging load management.
Ecosystem integration
Bridge to smart-home platforms such as Matter, Google Home and Alexa.
Site and building infrastructure
Areas where PLC is widely used worldwide can be brought to the site and building scale over the same network:
Highlight
Perimeter cameras without new cabling
Cameras mounted on garden lighting poles take power and video from the same line; video reaches apartment monitors and the security booth. No camera cabling, ducts or landscape trenching. When the bell rings, perimeter cameras can be viewed on the monitor too.
Common-area lighting
Scheduling, dimming and fault alerts; PLC is widely used for street lighting in Europe.
Site entrance and parking
Barrier and turnstile control, number-plate recognition camera, parking occupancy.
EV charging
Vehicles and chargers already communicate via PLC; load balancing and per-apartment billing in the car park.
Energy and water metering
Apartment and common-area consumption; cost sharing and management reports.
Solar power
Production and fault monitoring of rooftop PV systems.
Plant rooms
Monitoring and control of booster pumps, pools, irrigation and generators.
Hotels, dorms, hospitals
Room call and nurse call, room control and card entry; refurbishments where cabling is costly.
Care homes
Emergency call, inactivity alerts and per-room monitoring.
Calculator
Cable savings calculator
Estimate how much cable a conventional video intercom installation requires, and what it costs, using your own figures. With INTERPLC this communication cabling is not needed.
Needed for a conventional install
Enter the number of apartments, cable run and cable price to see the result.
Total cable length–
Materials (cable + conduit)–
Labour–
Copper–
Total cost avoided with INTERPLC–
This is an indicative comparison based solely on the values you enter. INTERPLC hardware and items such as the phase/meter bridge are not included.
Applications
From Türkiye to Europe — wherever cabling is the problem.
- Historic & listed buildings
- Retrofit of older buildings
- New residential projects
- Detached houses & villas
- Apartment blocks
- Gated communities
- Holiday homes
- Residences
- Smart-building infrastructure
New application
Garden gates of detached houses and villas
A video intercom without digging up the garden between the gate and the house. The door panel connects to the power line already running to the gate for lighting or the gate motor; video reaches the monitor in the house. For detached houses, villas and holiday homes.
For building owners and managers
A video intercom with no wall chasing or renovation; it preserves historic fabric and installs without disturbing residents.
For contractors
No separate cable, conduit or labour line for the intercom; shorter build time and fewer materials.
For dealers
A product that needs no cabling and no renovation and installs quickly; a strong argument in refurbishment projects.
Project status
Prototype ready. Next step: field trials.
INTERPLC is in the R&D phase. The working prototype is complete; field trials followed by series production are planned.
- Completed
Concept & system design
PLC-based architecture and phase/meter bridging.
- Completed
Working prototype
Video, audio and door release working over the power line.
- Next step
Field trials
Validation under real conditions in different building types.
- Planned
Series production
Transition to production and market entry.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How does a video intercom work without new wiring?
Using PLC (Power Line Communication), INTERPLC carries video, audio and the door-release command over the building’s existing electrical wiring. The door panel and indoor monitor only need power; no separate intercom cable is required.
Can it be used in old or historic buildings?
Yes. Because it needs no wall chasing or cable ducts, listed buildings where chasing is prohibited or requires heritage approval, and older buildings, are priority applications.
How is it different from a Wi-Fi intercom?
The core system makes no Wi-Fi or RF broadcast and needs no router or internet. There are no coverage problems through thick stone walls and data stays inside the wiring. Phone access via the home router can be added if desired.
Does it work during a power cut?
The door panel and indoor monitor have built-in batteries. When mains power fails, the system switches to battery and video, audio and door release keep working — at least 3 hours at full load, 1–2 days on standby; battery capacity can be increased.
Do different phases and apartment meters cause problems?
Purpose-built bridge devices enable communication across different phases and individual apartment meters.
Can I move the indoor monitor to another room?
Yes. The monitor does not need to be wall-mounted; it works when plugged into any socket. The apartment door bell rings it wherever it is plugged in.
Can neighbouring apartments access my video?
Every unit has its own ID and MAC address; the system only communicates with paired devices.
Can residents enter with a card or PIN?
Yes. The door panel supports RFID cards and keypad PIN entry, with time-stamped entry logs. Face recognition, fingerprint and phone unlock can also be added.
Can it control smart-home devices too?
Yes. The same PLC infrastructure can be used for lighting, sockets/relays, AC/boiler, shutters and energy monitoring.
Can it be installed at the garden gate of a villa or detached house?
Yes. If the garden gate has power for lighting or a gate motor, the door panel connects to that line; there is no need to dig up the garden for a separate intercom cable. Very long lines or lines fed from a different transformer may need an additional bridge device; this scenario will be validated separately in field trials.
Can site perimeter cameras be connected too?
Yes, as an expansion module: cameras on garden lighting poles can carry video over the same power line and be viewed on apartment monitors. Common-area lighting, barriers, parking and EV charging can join the same infrastructure.
Is the product on sale?
INTERPLC is in the R&D phase: the working prototype is ready; field trials and then series production are next. Please use the contact form for project, partnership and distribution enquiries.
Contact
Get in touch
Leave a message about projects, partnership or distribution and we will get back to you shortly.
interPLC
Communication Technologies
- Yılmaz Özcan
Founder & R&D - Mimar Sinan Mah. Yavuz Selim Cad.
Beşyıldız Sitesi 2. Etap Alışveriş Merkezi
No:3 İç Kapı No:12
Çekmeköy / İstanbul / Türkiye - +90 532 340 26 52