As an integral part of many electromagnetic interference filters, modeling the common mode choke adequately is key to ensure an optimal filter design. Many parasitic effects are incorporated into circuit or behavioral models to account for the complex influence of the component on transfer functions. Investigation on the designable parameters has been performed, with difficulties in creating controlled setups attributed to parasitics in the test benches. Therefore, the goal of this paper is to overcome these difficulties while still ensuring a physics-based approach that allows virtual prototyping. The full-wave three-dimensional model is created, while incorporating the complex permeability of the core material. Eventually the effect of parameters on circuit/behavioral models can be derived using a multi/mixed-mode S-parameter investigation. Benefits include design optimization speedups from hours of trial and error to minutes, depending on simulation complexity.

Although Indonesia’s electrification ratio reached 99.2% in 2020, it has shown stagnating electrification since 2018. This is because most of the remaining areas that need to be electrified are remote and have unique characteristics that hamper implementation of microgrids for providing energy access. Furthermore, not only the deployment but also the long-term sustainability of microgrids is crucial for ensuring continuity of energy access. This paper aims to investigate the scaling and sustainability challenges of remote microgrid development in Indonesia by analyzing microgrids in the Maluku and North Maluku provinces. This study is a two-part publication; the first part focuses on identifying challenges in Indonesia’s remote microgrid development, while the second part focuses on potential technology solutions. In the first part, an assessment of energy access within a multi-tier framework was conducted, which was then analyzed using a multi-dimensional (institutional, social, technical, economic, environmental, and policy) approach adapted from the literature. The framework was expanded by mapping the challenges onto specific phases of the microgrid development, which is intended to be helpful for the parties involved in specific phases. It is shown that the challenges related to unclear land status, lack of social engagement, preliminary survey, technical and practical knowledge, and O&M procedures—especially for remote microgrids with renewable energy sources—are the most prominent issues. Additionally, issues caused by electrical events and environmental conditions such as relatively humid and high-temperatures, and uncontrolled vegetation, rodents, insects, and lizards are often found. Furthermore, a high-level technological outlook to address some of these issues is presented.

This paper presents a systematic review of microgrid interoperability focusing on energy access. Drawing upon 59 studies and reports, it delves into interoperability issues and technologies across various microgrid applications. This study aims to provide a synthesized overview of the current discourse on microgrid interoperability, particularly contextualized within the realm of energy access. This objective is accomplished through a process that involves clarifying terminologies, exploring potential interoperability issues in microgrids, identifying the technologies for interoperability, and examining promising pathways to achieve interoperability. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method was used in this study. Through data extraction and content analysis, the review found that studies on interoperability in the energy field primarily focus on the smart grid topic, where information and communication technologies are regarded as key elements to facilitate interoperability. There is less emphasis on physical or electrical interoperability, with the literature primarily focusing on interoperability in the communication domain. Furthermore, interoperability in the energy access context is uncommon, as indicated by a lack of literature in remote, rural, or community settings. Adopting common industry standards is one of the strategies for ensuring interoperability, enabling microgrid systems to function effectively and reliably. This paper contributes to describing research insights, identifying gaps in knowledge, and proposing future research directions regarding microgrid interoperability.

Power line communication (PLC) is increasingly emerging as an important communication technology for the smart-grid environment. As PLC systems use the existing infrastructure, they are always exposed to conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) from switching mode power converters, which need to be tightly controlled to meet EMC regulations and to ensure the proper operation of the PLC system. For this purpose, spread-spectrum modulation (SSM) techniques are widely adopted to decrease the amplitude of the generated EMI from the power converters so as to comply with EMC regulations. In this paper, the influence of a spread-spectrum-modulated SiC-based buck converter on the G3-PLC channel performance is described in terms of channel capacity reduction using the Shannon–Hartley equation. The experimental setup was implemented to emulate a specific coupling path between the power and communication circuits and the channel capacity reduction was evaluated by the Shannon–Hartley equation in several operating scenarios and compared with the measured frame error rate. Based on the obtained results, SSM provides the EMI spectral peak amplitude reduction required to pass the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests, but results in increased EMI-induced channel capacity degradation and increased transmission error rate in PLC systems.

Conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI) can affect the energy readings of static energy meters. Lower readings of static energy meters have been reported in many publications, and higher readings were found when lighting equipment in combination with a dimmer was used as a load. In this paper it is shown that by using an off the shelf water pump as a consumer, faulty deviations on the static meters with respect to a reference meter can be found. In the most extreme case, using a standard mains supply, deviations between -61% and +2675% were found. When an ideal power supply with a standardized mains impedance was used deviations between -19% and +483% were shown to exist.