, Dmitri Vinnikov , Siim Erik ViidingSeveral developments in the fields of power electronics and materials science have turned direct current (DC) power grids, which have remained in the background until now, into attractive alternatives to the existing alternating current (AC)-based power grids. Although the transition to DC is currently conceivable on a smaller scale as household microgrids, these installations still require reliable and reasonably priced protection devices to ensure electrical safety. The problem is that several existing technologies that have served us well in AC power grids do not work with DC. To ensure the electrical safety of DC networks, several smart power semiconductor switch-based fast DC circuit breakers have appeared on the market, combining the features of a circuit breaker, a smart relay, and an energy meter. However, in most cases, such combined circuit breakers lack the feature of measuring the fault current, which is crucial from the point of view of electrical safety. The reason is the high price of these sensors and their rather large dimensions, which prevent the creation of compact devices. This article examines the possibilities of creating cost-effective residual current sensors, based on integrated magnetometers, and evaluates the usability of such sensors in potential household DC microgrids, based on the prototype created.
1. Choudhury, S., Nayak, S., Dash, T. P. and Rout, P. K. Overview of DC microgrid as a conceivable future power system. In 2018 Second International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT), Coimbatore, India, 20‒21 April 2018. IEEE, 2018, 1541‒1546.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICICCT.2018.8473326
2. Ghareeb, A. T., Mohamed, A. A. and Mohammed, O. A. DC microgrids and distribution systems: an overview. In 2013 IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 21–25 July 2013. IEEE, 2013, 1‒5.
https://doi.org/10.1109/PESMG.2013.6672624
3. Dragičević, T., Lu, X., Vasquez, J. C. and Guerrero, J. M. DC microgrids ‒ part II: a review of power architectures, applications, and standardization issues. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2016, 31(5), 3528‒3549.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2015.2464277
4. Hamza, A., Bin Tahir, H., Siraj, K. and Nasir, M. Hybrid AC/DC microgrid for residential applications. In 2019 IEEE Third International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM), Matsue, Japan, 20‒23 May 2019. IEEE, 2019, 1‒5.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDCM45535.2019.9232773
5. Nejabatkhah, F. and Li, Y. W. Overview of power management strategies of hybrid AC/DC microgrid. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2015, 30(12), 7072‒7089.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TPEL.2014.2384999
6. Rodriguez-Diaz, E., Palacios-Garcia, E. J., Anvari-Moghaddam, A., Vasquez, J. C. and Guerrero, J. M. Real-time energy management system for a hybrid AC/DC residential microgrid. In 2017 IEEE Second International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM), Nuremburg, Germany, 27‒29 June 2017. IEEE, 2017, 256‒261.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDCM.2017.8001053
7. Gu, J.-C., Yeh, C.-M., Wang, J.-M., Li, K.-H. and Yang, M.-T. Design of a type B residual current device for fault leakage current detection. In 2021 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting (IAS), Vancouver, BC, Canada, 10‒14 October 2021. IEEE, 2021, 1‒6.
https://doi.org/10.1109/IAS48185.2021.9677446
8. Cheng, D., Zhang, B., Xiong, S., Xie, Z. and Xue, Z. Residual current detection prototype and simulation method in low voltage DC system. IEEE Access, 2022, 10, 51100‒51109.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2022.3172698
9. Yang, R., Chen, Y., Xu, K. and Gao, S. Research on detection and protection technology of DC residual current. In 2023 3rd International Conference on Electrical Engineering and Control Science (IC2ECS), Hangzhou, China, 29‒31 December 2023. IEEE, 2023, 1061‒1070.
https://doi.org/10.1109/IC2ECS60824.2023.10493488
10. Liao, J., Guo, C., Zeng, L., Kang, W., Zhou, N. and Wang, Q. Analysis of residual current in low-voltage bipolar DC system and improved residual current protection scheme. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2022, 71, 1‒13.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2022.3200116
11. Zheng, K., Zheng, W., Li, P., Yuan, S. and Ni, G. Analysis on selection and installation of residual current operated protective device. In 2023 8th Asia Conference on Power and Electrical Engineering (ACPEE), Tianjin, China, 14‒16 April 2023. IEEE, 2023, 2757‒2762.
12. Shea, J. J., Landry, T. and Liptak, M. Short-circuit faults in DC microgrids. In 2024 IEEE Sixth International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM),Columbia, SC, USA, 5‒8 August 2024. IEEE, 2024, 1‒6.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDCM60322.2024.10665093
13. Zhang, G., Yang, X., Wang, Y. and Zhang, B. Development of a residual current device based on analytical and numerical analysis of the sensitivity and unbalance of current transformer. In 2010 International Conference on Computer Application and System Modeling (ICCASM 2010), Taiyuan, China, 22–24 October 2010. IEEE, 2010, V5‒26‒V5‒29.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCASM.2010.5619389
14. Shede, P. and Mane, S. Leakage current sensing techniques. In 2017 Third International Conference on Sensing, Signal Processing and Security (ICSSS), Chennai, India, 4‒5 May 2017. IEEE, 2017, 181‒185.
https://doi.org/10.1109/SSPS.2017.8071588
15. IEEE guide for the application of Rogowski coils used for protective relaying purposes. IEEE Std C37.235-2021 (Revision of IEEE Std C37.235-2007), 2022, 1‒57.
https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEESTD.2022.9756401
16. Guiyong, Z., Huaicheng, W., Yu, D., Yanhe, S., Xiaomou, L. and Chuang, B. Design and implementation of high-precision current measurement instrument based on hall sensor. In 2023 20th International Computer Conference on Wavelet Active Media Technology and Information Processing (ICCWAMTIP), Chengdu, China, 25‒27 December 2023. IEEE, 2023, 1‒5.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICCWAMTIP60502.2023.10387081
17. Cay, Y., Demirok, E. and Keysan, O. Modeling and simulation of fluxgate based current sensor. In PCIM Europe 2024 – International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management, Nuremburg, Germany, 11‒13 June 2024. VDE, 2024, 3242‒3250.
https://doi.org/10.30420/566262458
18. Rodrigues, R., Du, Y., Antoniazzi, A. and Cairoli, P. A review of solid-state circuit breakers. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 2021, 36(1), 364–377.
19. Shen, Z. J., Miao, Z. and Roshandeh, A. M. Solid state circuit breakers for DC microgrids: current status and future trends. In 2015 IEEE First International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM), Atlanta, GA, USA, 7‒10 June 2015. IEEE, 2015, 228‒233.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ICDCM.2015.7152044
20. Jalakas, T., Chub, A., Roasto, I. and Vinnikov, D. Hybrid residual current device and solid state circuit breaker for residential DC microgrids. In 2024 19th Biennial Baltic Electronics Conference (BEC), Tallinn, Estonia, 2‒4 October 2024. IEEE, 2024, 1‒5.
https://doi.org/10.1109/BEC61458.2024.10737970
21. Jalakas, T., Viiding, S. E. and Vinnikov, D. Low-cost fluxgate current sensor for DC solid state circuit breaker with residual current detection. In 2025 IEEE 67th International Scientific Conference on Power and Electrical Engineering of Riga Technical University (RTUCON), Riga, Latvia, 23‒25 October 2025. IEEE, 2025, 1‒5.
https://doi.org/10.1109/RTUCON67996.2025.11414953
22. Jalakas, T., Chub, A., Roasto, I., Vinnikov, D. and Kurnitski, J. Design and development of solid state circuit breaker with residual current protection for residential prosumer DC microgrids. Proceedings of the Estonian Academy of Sciences, 2025, 74(2S), 281‒290.
https://doi.org/10.3176/proc.2025.2S.02
23. Oliveira, T. R. Design of a low-cost residual current sensor for LVDC power distribution application. In 2018 13th IEEE International Conference on Industry Applications (INDUSCON), Sao Paulo, Brazil, 12‒14 November 2018. IEEE, 2018, 1313‒1319.
https://doi.org/10.1109/INDUSCON.2018.8627238
24. Texas Instruments. DRV425 Fluxgate magnetic-field sensor datasheet. Dallas, Texas, USA, 2016.
https://www.ti.com/lit/gpn/drv425 (accessed 2025-11-03).
25. Texas Instruments. DRV421 Fluxgate sensor for closed loop current sensing datasheet. Dallas, Texas, USA, 2016.
https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/drv421.pdf?ts=1762098311795 (accessed 2025-11-03).
26. Ando, B., Baglio, S., Sacco, V., Savalli, N. and Bulsara, A. Investigation on optimal materials selection in RTD-fluxgate design. In 2005 IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference Proceedings, Ottawa, ON, Canada, 16‒19 May 2005. IEEE, 2005, 1261‒1265.
https://doi.org/10.1109/IMTC.2005.1604350
27. Ando, B., Baglio, S., Sacco, V. and Bulsara, A. R. Effects of driving mode and optimal material selection on a residence times difference-based fluxgate magnetometer. IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2005, 54(4), 1366‒1373.
https://doi.org/10.1109/TIM.2005.851070
28. Saadatizadeh, Z. and Mantooth, H. A. Design optimization method of high power-density planar inductor. In 2024 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), Phoenix, AZ, USA, 20–24 October 2024. IEEE, 2024, 3755‒3758.
https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE55643.2024.10861525
29. Wu, Y., Zheng, Y., Wang, S. and Shen, Z. Optimal design of planar inductor in forward converter. In 2023 IEEE 14th International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems (PEDG), Shanghai, China, 9‒12 June 2023. IEEE, 2023, 768‒772.
https://doi.org/10.1109/PEDG56097.2023.10215249
