Low Cost Arc Preventer for Converting AC Devices for DC Supply

While DC-microgrids are a simple and cheap solution to electrify rural areas of least developed countries, lowcost household appliances are usually developed for AC grids. As such, this paper describes an adapter for retrofitting resistive AC applications to supply them from DC-microgrids instead. The device consists of a transistor, detection and timing logic, and an arc energy harvesting circuit to power the adapter from the arc within the mechanical switch of the AC appliance. A prototype was designed, and its functionality validated in measurements with two different AC switches.