POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF TESTING RESPONSES TO ELECTRICAL CONDITIONS USING A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

An electrical power distribution system (100, 1300) includes a plurality of circuit protection devices (106, 708, 1306) coupled between an electrical power source (102) and a plurality of electrical loads (104). Each circuit protection device (106, 708, 1306) includes a trip unit (132, 1332), a network interface (146, 1346) communicatively coupled to a communication network (1350) including the circuit protection devices (106, 708, 1306), a processor (138, 1338), and a memory (140, 1340). The memory (140, 1340) stores instructions that, when executed by the processor (138, 1338), cause the processor (138, 1338) to store test operational parameters (1362) associated with the circuit protection device (106, 708, 1306), receive a test message (1356) including test data (1358) representing an electrical condition in the electrical power distribution system (100, 1300), adjust the test operational parameters (1362) based on the test data (1358) to simulate a response of the trip unit (132, 1332) to the electrical condition, generate circuit protection data (1354) based on the test data (1358) and the adjusted set of test operational parameters (1362), and transmit the circuit protection data (1354) to at least one of the communication network (1350) and a remote access device (1352).