A method detects the electrical topology of a supply network. The network includes at least one power supply unit, a control unit, at least one field bus device, and at least one measuring device. The field bus devices are supplied by the power supply unit. The measuring device is a smart connector, a field bus device, and/or an operating value sensor integrated in the power supply unit or connected thereto. A load is a field bus device and/or another device presenting a load. The method includes a) activating a load to generate an operating signal, b) receiving the operating signal and/or a time profile of the operating signal, c) detecting the operating value, d) evaluating the detection data from the operating signal, and e) applying an algorithm to determine the topology of the supply network. A control unit includes hardware and software to carry out the method.