Patent ID: 8576521

Claim:
An arc fault protection system for an electrical power system, the arc fault protection system comprising: a light sensor configured to detect a first visible light event and generate a first light signal indicative of the detected first visible light event, the first visible light event being a non-arc fault event triggered via operation of the system, the light sensor further configured to detect a second light visible event and generate a second light signal indicative of the detected second visible light event; a controller in communication with the light sensor, the controller being configured to: receive and process the first light signal to determine an arc detection algorithm, receive and process the second light signal to determine whether the second light signal is indicative of an arc fault event using the arc detection algorithm, and generate an arc fault signal in response to the controller determining that the second light signal is indicative of an arc fault event; and a protection device in communication with the controller, the protection device being configured to mitigate the arc fault event in response to the protection device receiving the arc fault signal from the controller.