Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for high impedance detection in electric distribution systems. An example method may include calculating, by a processor, a relative randomness of a signal, wherein the relative randomness is a derivative of a first scale wavelet transform divided by an energy of the signal. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, one or more scales of a wavelet transform of the signal. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, one or more energy ratios between energy of the wavelet transform in the one or more scales. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, a zero-crossing phase difference between a third harmonic and a fundamental component of the signal. The example method may also include determining, by the processor, that a high impedance fault occurs based on at least one of: the relative randomness, a comparison between the one or more scales of the wavelet transform, and the zero-crossing phase difference.

An arc fault detection system senses current flow in a power source branch and in one or more load branches in an electrical system. Over a frequency range divided into a predetermined number of frequency bins, a controller records and tallies the branch having largest magnitude of power spectral density for each frequency bin. The branch having highest total tally is determined to be the branch in which the arc fault occurred and can then safely be isolated from the electrical system.

In some examples, an electrical power system includes a power source and a load modulator configured to receive power from the power source and to deliver power to a load zone. The electrical power system also includes a controller configured to determine a software-controlled power flow limit for the load zone. The controller is further configured to receive information indicating the power delivered to the load zone and to cause the power delivered to the load zone to remain below the software-controlled power flow limit.

A power distribution monitoring system (100) is provided that can include a number of features. The system can include a plurality of monitoring devices configured to attach to conductor(s) on a power grid distribution network. In some embodiments, a monitoring device is disposed on each conductor of a three-phase network and utilizes a complex platform of software and hardware to detect faults and disturbances that can be analyzed to determine or predict the risk of wildfires.

A negative sequence voltage (NSV) protection system is provided that can be added to existing equipment or included as a standalone device for detecting GFOV in electrical configurations connecting distributed energy resources to utility grids. The NSV protection system can be implemented at the low side of a distribution transformer of a typical distribution circuit or in a control system of inverter-based energy resources connected to a distribution feeder. The NSV protection system includes a passive monitoring system that outputs a trip signal when a potential GFOV is detected to occur. The trip signal can then be relayed to open the circuit breakers of a distribution circuit or to cause an inverter-based energy resource to trip offline.

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for high impedance detection in electric distribution systems. An example method may include calculating, by a processor, a relative randomness of a signal, wherein the relative randomness is a derivative of a first scale wavelet transform divided by an energy of the signal. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, one or more scales of a wavelet transform of the signal. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, one or more energy ratios between energy of the wavelet transform in the one or more scales. The example method may also include calculating, by the processor, a zero-crossing phase difference between a third harmonic and a fundamental component of the signal. The example method may also include determining, by the processor, that a high impedance fault occurs based on at least one of: the relative randomness, a comparison between the one or more scales of the wavelet transform, and the zero-crossing phase difference.

A power system includes multiple power units (PUs), each including a circuit breaker (CB), a local controller (LC) and an intelligent electronic device (IED). For any one of the PUs, the IED, when determining that the CB has mechanically failed, outputs a disconnect message via a network to the IED(s) of the remaining PU(s). For each of the remaining PU(s), based on the disconnect message, the IED thereof, when determining that the corresponding CB is a relevant CB, outputs a trip control signal that indicates to trip for receipt by the corresponding LC, so that the LC causes the CB to switch to an open state.

A method of detecting a serial arc fault in a DC-power circuit includes injecting an RF-signal with a narrow band-width into the DC-power circuit and measuring a response signal related to the injected RF-signal in the DC-power circuit. The method further includes determining a time derivative of the response signal, analyzing the time derivative, and signaling an occurrence of a serial arc fault in the power circuit based on the results of the analysis. A system for detecting an arc fault is configured to perform a method as described before.

A system includes a solid-state circuit breaker coupling between a power supply and an electrical load. The system also includes a gateway interface device communicatively coupled to the solid-state circuit breaker and includes a plurality of communication interfaces. In an embodiment, the gateway interface device includes a controller configured to perform operations including determining a connection status of at least one communication interface of the plurality of communication interfaces and determining a number of devices connected to the at least one communication interface, receive a signal from at least one device of the number of devices. In the embodiment, the operations may also include in response to receiving the signal, instructing the solid-state circuit breaker to disconnect the electrical load from the power supply.

This disclosure relates to monitoring operational parameters of a distribution transformer and an associated surge arrester, and methods of retrofitting the distribution transformer with a transformer parameter monitoring (TPM) system. The TPM system can include a plurality of sensors. A subset of the plurality of sensors can be configured to monitor one or more physical properties of a distribution transformer, and another subset of the plurality of sensors can be configured to monitor a surge arrester associated with the distribution transformer. The TPM system can further include a controller that can be configured to receive captured sensor data from the plurality of sensors, and a communications interface that can be configured to communicate the captured sensor data to a remote system for evaluation thereof to determine one or more operational parameters of the distribution transformer and an amount of deterioration of the surge arrester.