Where the grid jabbers: Envi.Base controllers turn local observations into a shared picture of the grid. Each controller measures and manages demand and generation only within its own home or business. Neighbours exchange status and available flexibility, while each installation retains authority over its own assets.
Three complementary communication layers keep information moving: 5G provides the wide-area backbone; LoRa mesh carries compact messages between reachable radio peers; PLC mesh relays data over usable power conductors. Eligible nodes are distributed across KPN, Vodafone and Odido where coverage and provisioned profiles allow, reducing dependence on one mobile network.
Controllers build a shared picture by comparing voltage changes over time, matching phases and exchanging timestamped observations. A sudden loss of voltage or PLC neighbours can be reported through a surviving radio or mobile route. These observations identify a candidate fault region; they do not establish electrical isolation.
The design goal is to keep safe, authorized switching available across a wide range of single-path failures. A surviving validated route can preserve coordination and external permission signals, so losing one communication layer need not prevent a transition. Availability remains conditional on powered equipment, reachable peers and valid, fresh evidence.
Grid-forming starts only when any damaged span is excluded, separation is externally verified, protection is ready, supply is adequate and operator authorization is valid. A suitable inverter then establishes the island reference; Envi.Base adjusts only its own assets. When these conditions cannot be verified, the system blocks the transition or follows its engineered shutdown policy.
Three rings. One coordinated grid.
5G to the cloud. LoRa mesh between neighbours. Powerline along the cables. Controllers share what they see, relay what matters and build a common picture. Each box manages demand and generation only within its own home or business.
Each Envi.Base measures and manages demand and generation within its own installation. Only connected, controllable assets can be adjusted.
Peers exchange measurements, available flexibility and proposals. Each peer decides and acts locally. Feeder switching, island-wide protection and authorization remain with the responsible external systems and operator.
The grid jabbers through compact, purposeful messages: who is reachable, what changed and which observations agree. Each medium carries what it does well; essential messages can take another validated route.
5G provides the wide-area IP backbone. Eligible controllers use different mobile operators; local mesh links let an offline node forward compact messages through a peer with a working cloud path.
Cellular service may degrade during a power outage. 5G is a proposed upgrade; the current Envi.Base documentation specifies a mobile modem, not a 5G capability. [1, 2]
LoRa is a long-range, low-data-rate radio. A mesh protocol lets powered peers forward small packets over multiple hops, selecting an alternate reachable relay when a route fails. Local radio can cross an open electrical boundary.
Routing adds hop limits, duplicate suppression and path health. Standard LoRaWAN uses gateways; it is not the peer mesh described here. [3]
PLC sends data over power cables. In a PLC mesh, reachable modems relay packets along the remaining conductors. The routing graph can change with noise and switching. A broken span cannot be repaired by routing over that same span.
PLC phase-identification timing supports discovery. Hearing a modem is not proof of a shared feeder or phase: signals can couple across conductors. G3 PLC/RF hybrid routing is not automatically a LoRa mesh. [4, 5]
The goal is continuity through diverse paths. Availability still depends on power, coverage and valid routes. Three interfaces cannot guarantee that communication always works; local control must also handle losing all three.
Switch the paths on and off. This schematic assumes reachable, powered endpoints and a working relay when a path is enabled.
Six sites use the three Dutch mobile networks: KPN, Vodafone and Odido. Diversity is planned across eligible profiles and actual local coverage—not SIM brand names. [9, 10]
Spread. A persistent commissioning policy balances reachable operators across neighbours. Use network identity, coverage, permitted profiles and stable device-ID tie-breaks; add dwell time and hysteresis to avoid everyone moving at once.
Hint. A node reports attach status, cloud-probe failures, power health and timestamps over reachable LoRa or PLC paths. Independent reports can suggest a carrier-path impairment; one timeout cannot diagnose an operator-wide outage.
Recover. Relay compact traffic through a healthy peer first. Switch only eligible, already provisioned profiles using tested local fallback. A new eSIM profile cannot be assumed available during an outage.
Independent operator paths are available.
Select an operator to impair its modeled path.
The three communication toggles in the network lab apply here too. Local PLC relays remain within reachable cable fragments; LoRa can link the two feeders. Losing 5G end-to-end connectivity does not identify which operator, backhaul or cloud component failed. Physical infrastructure can share failure causes.
An excavator damages F01. Controllers compare local measurements and reachable peer reports. Grid-forming is enabled only after external equipment excludes the damaged span from the island.
What the devices detect. Loss of voltage, changed phase observations and lost PLC neighbours. Correlated reports identify a candidate cable segment; the devices do not see an excavator or prove that a conductor is safely isolated.
What permits supply restoration. S1 and S2 open around the fault. Valid external isolation, protection and authority exclude the damaged span. A’s own suitable three-phase inverter can then form the downstream island; B and C retain local control. F02 stays separate.
A feeder is an outgoing distribution circuit. A phase is L1, L2 or L3. Keep both separate from the communication network.
Register device, transformer, feeder, phase reference and switch boundaries. The operator-approved map defines which devices may coordinate an island.
Exchange authenticated feeder beacons over PLC. Combine neighbours and voltage-event correlation with the map and switch telemetry. A beacon or similar voltage alone cannot establish membership.
Compare same-polarity zero crossings against a known phase reference, using modem-timed PLC frames or sufficiently synchronized clocks. At 50 Hz, 120° is about 6.67 ms. Packet arrival time over radio is unsuitable. [4]
Version the topology and attach freshness and measurement quality. Switching, poor timing or conflicting evidence makes the affected assignment uncertain until checked again.
Both nodes are assigned to feeder A / L1. The observed phase relationship supports the commissioned phase label; it does not prove that every switch between them is closed.
Same angle does not mean same feeder. Grid-connected feeders may be synchronized. PLC can couple across conductors; its reception does not mean phases are electrically tied. Never connect L1, L2 and L3 together to extend communication.
Membership is not isolation. Even a good feeder map needs fresh boundary-switch feedback, interlocks and a protection design before island energization.
A single voltage value says little. Correlated local changes over a longer window, timed phase measurements and a commissioned map build a stronger picture together.
Correlation of one-minute voltage changes after subtracting the matching transformer-phase reference. This removes a shared upstream component; it does not prove a shared cable.
Phase offset comes from synchronized high-resolution or modem-timed measurements—not minute averages or radio packet arrival times.
Compare the traces across a longer window.
120 changes observedSame phase, different feeder. Select E5: phase still matches, but local voltage changes follow a different pattern. Shared upstream disturbances can also create misleading correlation.
Evidence, not a switching permit. Cable impedance, local load, PV, neutral effects and sensor errors influence the signal. Confidence requires calibrated field validation, topology records and switch evidence. [12] The score here is descriptive—not a calibrated probability.
One company and two homes in an operator-approved island. Each Envi.Base controls only its own premises. A suitable inverter at company A provides the voltage reference. [7, 8]
A supervised start, local load reduction, reserve depletion and a blocked restart. It does not calculate three-phase stability, reactive power, fault currents or protection coordination, and cannot establish electrical safety.
These are simulated inputs from the responsible equipment or parties. Envi.Base A cannot establish feeder-wide facts from its own meter.
The example assumes both homes follow the island reference, no other forming source, a verified total load envelope and authorized export from A. Peer demand is external context—not a control input for Envi.Base A. The communication switches above also apply here; this conservative demo stops shared-island supply on total link loss. Real hardware needs independently engineered protection and a site-specific loss-of-communication policy.
The application chooses priority and payload. The link budget determines frequency—especially on a shared radio mesh.
| Information | Proposed transport policy | Payload / timing approach |
|---|---|---|
| Health & external boundary evidenceOwn health, externally confirmed switch position, alarms, permission freshness | Compact on any validated path; selected duplication | Tens of application bytes; event-driven plus budgeted heartbeats |
| Coordination summariesOwn available power, reserve, mode, per-phase measurements; peer-reported commitments | PLC / 5G normally; reduced summaries on mesh | Typically tens to hundreds of bytes; slow down when capacity falls |
| Discovery evidenceFeeder beacon, phase offset, quality, map version | PLC measurements; results can travel on any path | On join, on change and during scheduled revalidation |
| Logs & firmwareDetailed history, diagnostics, signed software updates | 5G preferred; pause during degraded operation | Kilobytes to megabytes; never crowd out essential status |
| Fast protectionTrips, electrical interlocks, voltage / frequency control | Local protection and engineered local interfaces | No dependency on cloud or best-effort mesh delivery |
LoRa trades data rate for range. Hops, headers, authentication, acknowledgments and retries all consume capacity. PLC also needs field measurement; 5G capacity depends on the selected modem and service. No link rate is guaranteed here. [3, 5, 6]
Planning example: 48 bytes of application summary per node. The calculation excludes all protocol overhead and is not a radio feasibility test.
20 × 48 bytes × 8 × 2 hops ÷ 60 seconds
Not the load on every radio. Check the busiest relay, time on air, sub-band access rules and retry headroom separately.Transport redundancy only helps when every received message has the same identity, freshness and authority.
Route by health and priority. Use a common authenticated message envelope over IP, PLC and the selected mesh stack. Deduplicate repeated messages; expire delayed commands and queue history separately.
A network split must not create two leaders. Use a defined coordinator and fenced authority with expiry. A coordinator sends proposals, not direct neighbour actuation. Each premises retains its own limits. Missing operator authority blocks new island transitions.
Keep actuation inside each premises. Add coordination interfaces and integrate externally supplied grid-boundary evidence.
Select 5G hardware, a LoRa mesh stack and phase-aware PLC. Back up local controllers and communication relays; external parties must also maintain boundary-status equipment.
Add topology evidence, route health, message expiry and coordinator fencing. Use external boundary feedback; interface only with the own installation’s suitable inverter and controllable loads.
Test every link combination, relay loss, shared power failure, stale status, incorrect phase labels, partitions and restoration with the operator.
Verified boundary separation + ready protection + adequate supply + valid operator authorization → island mode
On grid return: retain isolation until operator release, synchronization checks and closing interlocks pass. Three communication paths do not replace these gates. [7]A starting bill of materials for three Envi.Base locations. Begin on a controlled test network, then move to an approved field installation. These are component candidates, not a validated, ready-to-install Grid Edition kit.
Each node combines an Envi.Base, a LoRa radio, a PLC interface, a 5G router and a three-phase meter. The controller manages only the assets within its own premises.
| Function | Total quantity | Suggested component | Pilot integration / selection note |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOCAL CONTROLEnergy controller | 31 per location | Envitron Envi.Base ↗ Local demand, generation and device coordination; Ethernet / Modbus and supported device drivers. | Confirm firmware access, meter drivers and the interface for peer messages with Envitron. External LoRa, PLC and 5G adapters require integration; their combined operation is not an existing capability claim. |
| LoRa MESHLocal radio | 3 kitsOptional 4th relay | RAKwireless WisMesh RAK4631 starter kit ↗ EU868 variant, RAK19007 base, antenna and enclosure. A practical platform for short peer messages. | Use a controlled Meshtastic proof of concept or purpose-built mesh firmware. Add the serial adapter / service that bridges messages to Envi.Base. Measure airtime, retries and relay behavior; this is not a protection channel. |
| PLC MESHPowerline interface | 3 setsBoard + host per node | Microchip PL460-EK · EV13L63A ↗ With a compatible host, such as SAME70 Xplained, G3-PLC firmware and a host-to-controller bridge. | Controlled laboratory evaluation only. The board is not a finished field modem. Confirm host revision, permitted PLC band and coupling arrangement. A field pilot needs an enclosed, suitably approved modem and engineered phase coupling. Manufacturer restrictions ↗ |
| 5G BACKBONEMobile gateway | 3 routers6 SIMs / subscriptions | Teltonika RUTX50 ↗ EU-compatible 5G router, dual SIM, Ethernet and the required cellular antennas. | Spread primary subscriptions across KPN, Vodafone and Odido; use an independent secondary carrier per router. Confirm coverage and contract access. Dual SIM switches between subscriptions; it does not provide two simultaneous cellular links. Peer hints and coordinated carrier selection need pilot software. |
| MEASUREMENTThree-phase meter | 3 meters+ 9 matched CTs | Siemens SENTRON PAC4220 ↗ Modbus TCP; class 0.2S active-energy metering. Select matched 1 A / 5 A current transformers for each phase. | Log per-phase RMS voltage, current and power with timestamps for voltage-correlation studies. CT accuracy and installation affect system accuracy. Energy accuracy is not a phase-timing specification; ordinary Modbus polling does not deliver synchronized waveforms. |
| PHASE REFERENCESynchronized recording | 2 setsRent for pairwise tests | Schneider Electric PowerLogic ION9000 ↗ Waveform-capable reference meters with matched sensors and an engineered GPS / PTP time source. | Compare two nodes at a time; add a third recorder for simultaneous three-node tests. Validate waveform timestamp alignment, export access and clock-quality flags. Published 1 ms timing corresponds to 18° at 50 Hz per device; it does not establish precision synchronization for reconnection. |
| POWER & INSTALLATIONKeep the node alive | 3 setsSize after load measurement | Phoenix Contact QUINT4 DC UPS family ↗ Compatible PSU, UPS controller and battery, plus voltage conversion where needed, enclosures, Ethernet and interface cables. | Match every device's supply voltage and isolation requirements. Size backup for the entire measurement and communication chain, not just Envi.Base. Include the meter supply, PLC host, router and any relay that must report after power loss. |
Budget for device adapters, authenticated peer identities, a compact message format, sequence numbers, timestamps, expiry, deduplication, store-and-forward and route health. Provide one isolated pilot logging service with local buffering at all three nodes. These integration tasks are part of the pilot.
The list above tests communication and discovery. Actual grid-forming also needs a suitable inverter and battery, controllable loads, rated isolation hardware with verified position feedback, independently engineered protection and local interlocks. Include synchronization checks for any permitted reconnection and operator authorization for the agreed test boundary.
Observe a known phase assignment, disable one data path at a time and record message delivery, loss and recovery. Simulate a cable break with approved test switching. Verify that uncertain isolation blocks grid-forming. Add a transformer-side reference node only with the network operator's permission.
Suggested engineering shortlist, checked against manufacturer documentation on 27 October 2026. Quantities assume three three-phase locations; final variants, integration, availability and pricing require supplier confirmation. Hardware purchase alone does not validate the architecture.
Each Envi.Base controls only demand and generation within its own premises. Grid-forming requires a suitable inverter within the premises and independently engineered external protection. This proposed architecture does not claim current support for all three communication interfaces. Feeder and phase examples are illustrative. Mesh routing, payload budgets, timing accuracy and protection behavior require site-specific design and testing.