## 5 Final Remarks
### Trends in Virtual Laboratory Setups  
As the development of VLS with co-simulation and PHIL capabilities arises, the concept of Simulation as a Service (SaaS) gains strength. SaaS embraces the intention that simulators can be shared among institutions for the faster validation of results by sharing resources within different laboratories in a cloud-based environment [43]. Therefore, simulation becomes a technical service. SaaS can improve the collaboration between institutions, and strengthen the link between academic work and industries.  
The linkage between institutions is also favorable to exploit professional skills among engineering students, since it requires the collaboration of multiple participants, enhancing communication and the ability to transmit knowledge in interdisciplinary and/or international scenarios. SaaS can also be used as a remunerative solution for the initial investment of RT equipment by universities, by allowing clients to make use of their facilities without human interaction and at a lower cost [44]. On the other hand, RT VLS trends include their inclusion in international educational models of engineering students; these can be used as a compelling resource to draw in international students despite the quarantine or isolating circumstances.  
VLS for power electronic lectures can be further improved by adding a certain level of automation. This is a desirable characteristic due to the reduction in manual steps, such as hardware changes and the manual reordering of simulation components, resulting in the minimization of misidentification and misconnection human errors. A certain level of autonomy would allow for a more flexible remote operation, offering the ability to remotely modify the learning material and not settle for pre-defined hardware configurations. The  
Figure 5: Architecture Virtual Laboratory Setup for PHIL applications.  
concept of an automated laboratory is not new, and is highly endorsed in the medical field, since some experiments can be hazardous for hands-on manipulation [45]. Additionally, new competencies can be refined in an automated VLS, since a higher degree of knowledge is required to make hardware modifications, further enriching the education of future engineers. Nonetheless, a high level of automation would require an ever greater investment in high-fidelity communication lines, PLC, and relay systems for its implementation.  
Overall, the development of RT VLS should provide institutions with the necessary tools to provide the student with a holistic learning experience, covering an area ranging from the theoretical to the practical aspects of a given subject. It would allow the student to use advantageous tools to formulate innovative solutions to the technical problem following the smartgrid development. In this sense, the student's curriculum greatly benefit's from practical experience with the Real-Time simulation technologies used in research and industry fields, which leads to an improvement in their employment and business opportunities, as the future workforce of future electrical networks.  
The incorporation of RT-based learning and teaching tools is crucial due to the growing interest in novel energy network topologies such as microgrids and smartgrids. These systems come with the addition of alternative generation sources, such as wind and photovoltaic systems, to the network's generation scheme. Furthermore, the SDGs, such as goal 7 of affordable and clean energy development and goal 11 of sustainable cities and communities, have highly promoted the development of new energy network topologies. Considering that it is important to validate the current and future technologies behind these systems, RT can be contemplated as a \"low-cost\" and reliable solution to deal with upcoming paradigms. Moreover, RT VLS helps in the realization of these strategies in the academic sector by not limiting students and professors to theoretical courses, solving the shortcomings of the current distance-learning approach.