Radio interference on maritime wireless communication due to solar farms and wind parks: Risks and mitigations : white paper
report
Renewable energy is developing at a very high pace. By 20301 70%2 of all electric energy in the Netherlands must be produced by sustainable energy sources like wind and solar farms. As the available landmass in the Netherlands for renewable energy decreases, not only wind farms, but also floating solar farms will be placed at sea.
The electrical energy generated by Solar and Wind power plants needs to be converted in order to match the electricity utility network. Electronics have been developed employing very fast switching circuits to accomplish this. A side effect of these fast switching circuits is Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI), which impacts the reception of wireless transmissions.
EU-regulations set limits to the EMI-levels which may be radiated, but these do not sufficiently protect the reception of wireless broadcast and communications. On the mainland, interference levels have increased, due to the vast numbers of electronic equipment and (domestic) solar panel installations and because the emission limits set in the various standards are too high.
EMI generating electronics in wind turbines are installed in the metal encapsulation of the mast, which acts as a Faraday cage, limiting the radiation of EMI.
Solar panel power inverters installed on the mainland cause problems with the reception of broadcast (FM-broadcast, DAB+) and wireless emergency services (e.g.: C2000). In order to prevent a similar situation to occur at sea, it is paramount to prevent that the EMI from floating solar power installations causes interference on wireless communication. Without proper measures, maritime radio communication near solar parks may be severely disrupted. This may extend up to a kilometre around a floating solar power plant if no mitigating measures have been implemented.
Theoretically the ‘essential requirements’ of Annex I of the EU-regulations don’t allow EMI-levels that affect wireless communications, in practice these are not enforced. A general reduction of the EMI limits for all electronics would provide a much better solution for reliable wireless reception. In the long term that would mitigate the land-based interference situation as well.
Technically an abundance of mitigating solutions are available, such as: shielding, filtering of DC and AC lines, proper layout of the DC-power lines running to the solar panels, design improvements of the inverters. These may provide sufficient mitigation to prevent that a problematic man-made noise scenario which is now prevalent on many land locations, will arise on the North Sea as well
The electrical energy generated by Solar and Wind power plants needs to be converted in order to match the electricity utility network. Electronics have been developed employing very fast switching circuits to accomplish this. A side effect of these fast switching circuits is Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI), which impacts the reception of wireless transmissions.
EU-regulations set limits to the EMI-levels which may be radiated, but these do not sufficiently protect the reception of wireless broadcast and communications. On the mainland, interference levels have increased, due to the vast numbers of electronic equipment and (domestic) solar panel installations and because the emission limits set in the various standards are too high.
EMI generating electronics in wind turbines are installed in the metal encapsulation of the mast, which acts as a Faraday cage, limiting the radiation of EMI.
Solar panel power inverters installed on the mainland cause problems with the reception of broadcast (FM-broadcast, DAB+) and wireless emergency services (e.g.: C2000). In order to prevent a similar situation to occur at sea, it is paramount to prevent that the EMI from floating solar power installations causes interference on wireless communication. Without proper measures, maritime radio communication near solar parks may be severely disrupted. This may extend up to a kilometre around a floating solar power plant if no mitigating measures have been implemented.
Theoretically the ‘essential requirements’ of Annex I of the EU-regulations don’t allow EMI-levels that affect wireless communications, in practice these are not enforced. A general reduction of the EMI limits for all electronics would provide a much better solution for reliable wireless reception. In the long term that would mitigate the land-based interference situation as well.
Technically an abundance of mitigating solutions are available, such as: shielding, filtering of DC and AC lines, proper layout of the DC-power lines running to the solar panels, design improvements of the inverters. These may provide sufficient mitigation to prevent that a problematic man-made noise scenario which is now prevalent on many land locations, will arise on the North Sea as well
TNO Identifier
1002546
Publisher
TNO
Collation
20 p.
Place of publication
Den Haag