Characterization of series arcs in LVdc microgrids

This paper provides an empirical study on series arc behavior in low voltage dc microgrids. The response of an R-L-C dc microgrid abstraction towards series arcs is studied experimentally for varying grid inductance, dc voltages, load capacitances and load currents. In order to account for the stochastic nature of arcs, experiments are repeated multiple times under similar conditions to gain statistical significance. Thereby, insight on percentage occurrence and burn time of initiated series arcs is provided. Load side voltage response is studied to gain insight on the expected peak drop and fall time. This empirical evidence was judged to be a necessary requirement in developing a novel series arc extinguishing method from load side power electronic devices.