The best of SWER from drawings and designs, to the background and history of SWER

NEW DOWNLOAD ! "How to Model Single Wire Earth Return Systems (SWER) for Rural Electrification using PSS/Adept - Peter Armstrong, Meritec Ltd. June 2002" A Microsoft Power Point tutorial on how to model SWER systems using PTI's PSS/Adept software. The tutorial gives models of SWER isolating and distribution transformers and guidelines on calculating parameters for SWER systems.

“High Voltage Earth Return Distribution for Rural Areas”, The Electricity Authority of New South Wales, Fourth Edition, June 1978, If you only get one text on SWER, this should be the one. It covers technical and economic aspects of rural electrification using SWER, and includes drawings for 12.7 kV (22 kV) and 19.1kV (33 kV) SWER systems.

NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD ! Rural Power Supply Especially in Back Country Areas”, L Mandeno, B.E., M.I.E.E. Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute of Engineers, 1947, Volume 33, Page 234. A fascinating account of the early technical development of the SWER distribution system in rural New Zealand. Advisory, this is a large zipped pdf (Adobe Acrobat) file of 7 Mbytes and will take a long time to download on a slow Internet connection.

"Reducing the cost of Grid Extension for Rural Electrification", NRECA International, February 2000, this is a World Bank publication that details the costs associated with rural grid extension. This is great reference material if you want to do some comparative analysis on the costs of different solutions for grid extension, it also explores ways of lowering the cost of Rural Electrification. The following links are to an Adobe Acrobat download in three parts, they take a very long time to download and require you to have the Adobe Acrobat reader available Part 1, Part 2, Grid Extension Costs

Australian Standard AS2558-1982 “Transformers for use on single wire earth return distribution systems” This standard can be purchased in pdf format (adobe acrobat format) from the Standards Australia website, and includes technical specifications for SWER isolating transformers and distribution transformers.

“When One Wire is Enough” Transmission and Distribution World, April 2001, Volume 53. No. 4. Page 56, Neil Chapman, E.T.C.E.E. Aust. DIP.M. This contemporary article explores various aspects of the ongoing use of SWER in rural Australia.

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Energy Chapter, The World Bank, This outlines the links between rural electrification and poverty reduction, it is written in a very academic style, and is a large pdf download of 798 kb