Single-wire Earth Return

Single-wire Earth Return

Single wire earth return (SWER) or single wire ground return is a single-wire transmission line for supplying single-phase electrical power from an electrical grid to remote areas at low cost. Its distinguishing feature is that the earth (or sometimes a body of water) is used as the return path for the current, to avoid the need for a second wire (or neutral wire) to act as a return path. It is principally used for rural electrification, but also finds use for larger isolated loads such as water pumps, and light rail. Single wire earth return is also used for HVDC over submarine power cables.

Read more about Single-wire Earth Return:  Description, Mechanical Design, History, Networks and Circuits, Regulatory Issues, Rural Electrification in Alaska, Use By Developing Nations, Use For HVDC Systems

Famous quotes containing the words earth and/or return:

    “All you of Earth are idiots!... First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade. They begin to kill your own people a few at a time. Then the bomb. Then a larger bomb, many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb—split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself.”
    —Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)

    “I shall return in the dark and be seen,
    Be led to my own room by well-intentioned hands,
    Placed in a box with a lid whose underside is dark
    So as to grow....”
    —John Ashbery (b. 1927)