The invention relates to an overvoltage protection device with monitoring and communication functions, in particular for the information and process industries, having at least one surge arrester with a self-diagnostics unit and a wireless and/or wired standard interface for data transmission. According to the invention, an additional module is provided to detect the behaviour and/or the properties of a connected electrical energy source, wherein a bidirectional exchange of data and commands to and between a higher-level control system and among multiple overvoltage protection devices takes place and parametrisation of lower-level terminals to be protected can be realised via the standard interface.

An electronic circuit breaker is configured to provide a fail-safe mode. It comprises an overvoltage protection device, a sensing and control circuit configured to open an air gap and a differential current transformer disposed directly on a current path of the overvoltage protection device to monitor a leakage current and detect the leakage current of the overvoltage protection device and hence leave the circuit breaker in a safe mode before component failure. The differential current transformer to see a net current of I.sub.M, and trigger the sensing and control circuit to open the air gap and leave the circuit breaker in a trip position in some circuit breakers.

A circuit arrangement for a surge protection device for protecting multiple DC or AC power lines. The circuit arrangement includes a plurality of DC or AC power line inputs, a negative potential or neutral input, a ground potential input, a surge protection component having one or more surge elements, a rectification circuit including a plurality of diodes, and an alarm circuit for receiving a status output from the surge protection component.

A protection circuit, and related method, for an electronic device including a first power output interface and a second power output interface is disclosed. The protection circuit includes a first switch element, coupled between a first voltage source and the first power output interface. The detection circuit being operation to detect an output voltage value of the second power output interface to generate a detection result. The first switch element, according to the detection result, connects the first voltage source to the first power output interface to allow the first power output interface to output power to an external terminal, or disconnects the first voltage source from the first power output interface.

A protection circuit for an electronic device including a first power output interface and a second power output interface is disclosed. The protection circuit includes a first switch element and a detection circuit. The first switch element is coupled between a first voltage source and the first power output interface. In an operation of the protection circuit, the detection circuit detects an output voltage value of the second power output interface to generate a detection result, and the first switch element, according to the detection result, connects the first voltage source to the first power output interface to allow the first power output interface to output power to an external terminal, or disconnects the first voltage source from the first power output interface.

A surge monitoring circuit for detecting transient spikes in an input voltage includes a voltage divider circuit that generates a divider output voltage from the input voltage, a reference voltage generator circuit that generates reference voltages, and a comparator circuit that generates comparator signals by comparing the divider output voltage to the reference voltages. The surge monitoring circuit further includes a processor configured to predict, at least based on the comparator signals, an expected failure of a surge suppressor circuit that suppresses the transient spikes, where the comparator signals indicate detections of divider output transient spikes in the divider output voltage. The divider output transient spikes correspond to transient spikes in the input voltage, where the divider output transient spikes have a higher voltage than the one or more reference voltages.

A circuit arrangement for a surge protection device for protecting multiple DC or AC power lines. The circuit arrangement includes a plurality of DC or AC power line inputs, a negative potential or neutral input, a ground potential input, a surge protection component having one or more surge elements, a rectification circuit including a plurality of diodes, and an alarm circuit for receiving a status output from the surge protection component.

A method of remotely monitoring a status of a surge arrester disconnector includes providing a long-range wireless mesh communication system including a plurality of disconnectors organized in a plurality of clusters. Each cluster includes a plurality of disconnectors that are physically located within a same cluster area. At least one of the disconnectors in each cluster is coupled to a communication device of a predetermined communication range. The method includes transmitting, from a first cluster, a status signal indicative of a status of a first disconnector in the first cluster to a second cluster located within the predetermined communication range, and consecutively transmitting the status signal from the second cluster to a third cluster within the predetermined communication range, until reaching an end cluster. The method includes transmitting, from the end cluster, the status signal to a monitoring station, and monitoring the status of the first disconnector at the monitoring station based on a result of transmission of the status signal.

A protection circuit for an electronic device including a first power output interface and a second power output interface is disclosed. The protection circuit includes a first switch element and a detection circuit. The first switch element is coupled between a first voltage source and the first power output interface. In an operation of the protection circuit, the detection circuit detects an output voltage value of the second power output interface to generate a detection result, and the first switch element, according to the detection result, connects the first voltage source to the first power output interface to allow the first power output interface to output power to an external terminal, or disconnects the first voltage source from the first power output interface.

A surge protective device includes an overvoltage protection circuit and a control module coupled to the overvoltage protection circuit that is configured to monitor at least one performance characteristic of the overvoltage protection circuit and is further configured to communicate the at least one performance characteristic to a destination external to the surge protective device.