Detecting electrical arcing in household electrical wiring

1. A method comprising:

acquiring, by a power line communications (PLC) application executing on a network communications device and via a first PLC modem, first voltage readings associated with an electrical circuit;

performing, by the PLC application, one or more operations based on a comparison of the first voltage readings during a first power cycle with the first voltage readings during a second power cycle to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present within the electrical circuit; and

performing, by the PLC application, a remedial operation in response to determining that the electrical arcing condition is present.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operations comprise detecting that a plurality of voltage values included in the first voltage readings has at least one high-frequency signal component.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operations comprise:

generating a frequency spectrum from the first voltage readings; and

determining that a spectral component of the frequency spectrum exceeds a threshold level.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operations comprise:

generating an aggregate measure of spectral content of a frequency spectrum in a frequency range of interest; and

determining that the aggregate measure exceeds a threshold level.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

fitting at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure to a trend model that reflects behavior of the at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure over a period of time; and

determining, based on the trend model, that a trend of the at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure is indicative of an electrical arcing condition.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first voltage readings are associated with a first site, and wherein the one or more operations comprise:

receiving, via a network communications device, second voltage readings associated with a second site;

determining that the second voltage readings correspond to the first voltage readings;

comparing a first value included in the first voltage readings with a second value included in the second voltage readings;

determining that the first value exceeds the second value; and

in response, determining that the electrical arcing condition is associated with the first site and not with the second site.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying, based on a load pattern, a load that is operating during the electrical arcing condition; and

associating the load with the electrical arcing condition.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting communications via the PLC modem;

suspending the one or more operations to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present;

processing the communications with the PLC modem; and

resuming the one or more operations to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises disconnecting the electrical circuit from an electrical utility via a service disconnect.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting the first voltage readings to a central office, an edge device, or another network communications device.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises transmitting a first message to a central office, an edge device, or another network communications device indicating that the electrical arcing condition has been detected.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remedial operation comprises generating an alert to inform a user of the electrical arcing condition.

13. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

acquiring, by a power line communications (PLC) application executing on a network communications device, first voltage readings associated with an electrical circuit;

performing, by the PLC application and via a first PLC transceiver, one or more operations based on a comparison of the first voltage readings during a first power cycle with the first voltage readings during a second power cycle to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present within the electrical circuit; and

performing, by the PLC application, a remedial operation in response to determining that the electrical arcing condition is present.

14. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the one or more operations comprise detecting that a plurality of voltage values included in the first voltage readings has at least one high-frequency signal component.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the one or more operations comprise:

generating a frequency spectrum from the first voltage readings; and

determining that a spectral component of the frequency spectrum exceeds a threshold level.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the one or more operations comprise:

generating an aggregate measure of spectral content of a frequency spectrum in a frequency range of interest; and

determining that the aggregate measure exceeds a threshold level.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 16 , wherein the one or more operations further comprise:

fitting at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure to a trend model that reflects behavior of the at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure over a period of time; and

determining, based on the trend model, that a trend of the at least one of the spectral content or the aggregate measure is indicative of an electrical arcing condition.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the first voltage readings are associated with a first site, and wherein the one or more operations comprise:

receiving, via a network communications device, second voltage readings associated with a second site;

determining that the second voltage readings correspond to the first voltage readings;

comparing a first value included in the first voltage readings with a second value included in the second voltage readings;

determining that the first value exceeds the second value; and

in response, determining that the electrical arcing condition is associated with the first site and not with the second site.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable media of claim 13 , wherein the steps further comprise:

identifying, based on a load pattern, a load that is operating during the electrical arcing condition; and

associating the load with the electrical arcing condition.

20. A system, comprising:

a memory that includes instructions, and

a processor that is coupled to the memory and, when executing the instructions, is configured to:

acquire, via a power line communications (PLC) device, first voltage readings associated with an electrical circuit;

perform one or more operations based on a comparison of the first voltage readings during a first power cycle with the first voltage readings during a second power cycle to determine that an electrical arcing condition is present within the electrical circuit; and

perform a remedial operation in response to determining that the electrical arcing condition is present.