JOAM INNOTECH Co., Ltd., a Korean company specializing in electrical safety led by CEO Byung-hyun Lee, has developed a printed circuit board module that combines overvoltage, overcurrent and earth-leakage protection in a single unit, and plans to use the technology to expand into the global electrical safety market. The company develops and manufactures PCBs for earth-leakage circuit breakers and draws on its experience mass-producing overcurrent protection PCBs. According to the company, the integrated module strengthens product competitiveness by combining overvoltage, instantaneous overcurrent and earth-leakage detection on a single PCB.
The module is designed to detect abnormal conditions in the power system, such as sustained high voltage, overcurrent or earth leakage, and to trigger the breaker's trip mechanism in response. Unlike conventional protection methods that only suppress momentary voltage surges, the module has enhanced overvoltage detection that lets it respond when abnormally high voltage is supplied continuously. JOAM INNOTECH says the module also works with existing compact earth-leakage circuit breaker designs: it was designed around standard PCB dimensions, mounting methods and trip coil connections, so manufacturers can add it without external protection devices or major mechanical redesigns. Circuit breaker and power strip manufacturers can thereby expand protection features and set their products apart while keeping existing product designs.
JOAM INNOTECH is taking a phased approach to development and commercialization. It has been mass-producing and supplying overcurrent protection PCBs since late 2024. In April 2026 it filed a Korean patent application for its overvoltage protection technology, and in May it built prototypes of the integrated protection module and ran initial performance tests. Next, the company plans to run application tests in finished products, verify reliability and set mass-production inspection standards ahead of commercialization.
"We developed this integrated protection PCB module to add overvoltage protection while keeping the structural advantages of existing compact earth-leakage circuit breakers," a JOAM INNOTECH spokesperson said. "We will keep advancing the technology and verifying its reliability to strengthen our competitiveness, and we aim to create new business opportunities in the global electrical safety market as well as in Korea."