Available at: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/theses/2987
Date of Award
3-2025
Degree Name
MS in Electrical Engineering
Department/Program
Electrical Engineering
College
College of Engineering
Advisor
Taufik
Advisor Department
Electrical Engineering
Advisor College
College of Engineering
Abstract
In this thesis a solid-state smart breaker for 15A residential circuits is designed and tested. Having an embedded controller and being solid state allows for a plurality of features that would be impossible for a normal breaker. The primary novel feature explored here is a self-resetting that uses early overload detection to minimize the potential for damage when powering back on. Safe self-resetting would be especially useful for those with disabilities who may struggle to access and reset a breaker. The breaker is designed to be an easy, drop-in replacement for the existing Siemens QP-style breaker and can operate independently. The breaker measures power usage and quality and can have its parameters configured on the fly from an external controller. This is to allow an IoT-enabled master controller to add remote control and monitoring in the future. Thermal and electrical tests show the breaker meets or exceeds the requirements for standard 15A breakers in North America and was capable of early overload detection during self-resetting.