The following technical report describes the development and testing of an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) for DC circuits operating primarily at 48 volts. We have identified an effective method for determining when arcing is occurring. Our method is primarily based on comparing the frequency spectrum of current flowing through the circuit during an arcing event to a known characteristic spectrum. Once an arc has been identified, our interrupter is capable of responding adequately to eliminate the arc. Hardware tests show the AFCI developed in this thesis responded, in all test cases, within 2 seconds of an arc fault occurrence. Commercialization and adoption of our interrupter will increase the safety of DC circuits operating at 80 volts or less.
","abstract_html":"<p>The following technical report describes the development and testing of an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) for DC circuits operating primarily at 48 volts. We have identified an effective method for determining when arcing is occurring. Our method is primarily based on comparing the frequency spectrum of current flowing through the circuit during an arcing event to a known characteristic spectrum. Once an arc has been identified, our interrupter is capable of responding adequately to eliminate the arc. Hardware tests show the AFCI developed in this thesis responded, in all test cases, within 2 seconds of an arc fault occurrence. Commercialization and adoption of our interrupter will increase the safety of DC circuits operating at 80 volts or less.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Aarstad, Cassidy Alan"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MS in Electrical Engineering","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":"Electrical Engineering","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Taufik"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2016,"date_issued":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2016-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z","subjects":["Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter","AFCI","DC","Direct Current","Low Voltage","Frequency Spectrum","Power and Energy"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["10.15368/theses.2016.111"],"render_values":[{"text":"10.15368/theses.2016.111","href":"https://doi.org/10.15368/theses.2016.111","code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1649","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Taufik"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Aarstad, Cassidy Alan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-06-27T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Electrical Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter","AFCI","DC","Direct Current","Low Voltage","Frequency Spectrum","Power and Energy"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1649","10.15368/theses.2016.111"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The following technical report describes the development and testing of an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) for DC circuits operating primarily at 48 volts. We have identified an effective method for determining when arcing is occurring. Our method is primarily based on comparing the frequency spectrum of current flowing through the circuit during an arcing event to a known characteristic spectrum. Once an arc has been identified, our interrupter is capable of responding adequately to eliminate the arc. Hardware tests show the AFCI developed in this thesis responded, in all test cases, within 2 seconds of an arc fault occurrence. Commercialization and adoption of our interrupter will increase the safety of DC circuits operating at 80 volts or less.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter Development for Residential DC Electricity"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Taufik"],"dc:creator":["Aarstad, Cassidy Alan"],"dc:date.available":["2019-06-27T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The following technical report describes the development and testing of an arc fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) for DC circuits operating primarily at 48 volts. We have identified an effective method for determining when arcing is occurring. Our method is primarily based on comparing the frequency spectrum of current flowing through the circuit during an arcing event to a known characteristic spectrum. Once an arc has been identified, our interrupter is capable of responding adequately to eliminate the arc. Hardware tests show the AFCI developed in this thesis responded, in all test cases, within 2 seconds of an arc fault occurrence. Commercialization and adoption of our interrupter will increase the safety of DC circuits operating at 80 volts or less.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/1649","10.15368/theses.2016.111"],"dc:subject":["Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter","AFCI","DC","Direct Current","Low Voltage","Frequency Spectrum","Power and Energy"],"dc:title":["Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter Development for Residential DC Electricity"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Electrical Engineering"],"thesis:degree_name":["MS in Electrical Engineering"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:31:49Z"}