Solid-State Fault Current Limiters for Residential Houses and Commercial Buildings

Abstract

This paper presents an overview and techno-economic feasibility study of solid-state fault current limiters (SSFCL) for low-voltage residential and commercial applications. An SSFCL is proposed to be installed upstream inside a conventional panelboard or load center. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of utilizing SSFCL for residential houses and commercial buildings and the advantages of fast fault current limiting and great reduction of fault energy. Some physical design considerations are made for installing an SSFCL including their fault-current-limiting inductors inside a panelboard or load center. The proposed SSFCL solution potentially has best overall benefits compared to the conventional mechanical solution and other solid-state-based solutions.