Electrical Surge Protection

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

How Does Photovoltaic Surge Protection Work?

The green energy creation industry utilizes free sources of fuel to manufacture electricity that is then stored and transmitted to customers via an energy grid. These customers pay a certain amount of money per hour of usage of the electricity that is supplied to their homes or businesses, those prices being dictated by several factors including demand as well as the costs associated with the creation of the power itself. The electricity being the final product of the process does not improve depending on the type of manufacturing process that is used to create it, meaning that the customer only knows about the ultimate price that they pay for the electricity itself. Customers who are also concerned about the climate and the impact that different manufacturing processes will have on the planet will have opinions that will influence their support of one type of process over another, leaning towards green technologies because they do not involve the burning of fossil fuels to create the electricity. One would think that everyone would support the manufacturing process that does not produce pollution, but the drawback is that the process itself costs more to produce the product, resulting in a higher charge per hour being passed off to the consumer. Many people do not believe that there is enough environmental impact to justify an increased cost, so they do not support the funding of technological development that would increase the capacities of wind and solar methods.

As with any technology, support will create faster development of improved products and processes. Limited support does not stop this progress, only slows it down. Solar will eventually be recognized as a superior method of production that should be used to manufacture the majority of power in all areas, simply because it will eventually be able to be manufactured cheaper than using fossil fuels. This is due to emerging technology that reduces the costs of production, one of the main factors being photovoltaic surge protection systems. The costs associated with solar production involve fixed regular costs as well as ancillary costs that must be planned for. These ancillary costs involve the ongoing damage to equipment used in the process that must be repaired or replaced in order to keep the photovoltaic systems functioning when the sun is shining. Because the solar panels are exposed to the weather, they are often struck by lightning. This will damage the panels as well as sending a large surge of power through the systems, traveling along connectivity cables from the panel that is struck to all the equipment that is connected to it. This surge will also impact nearby equipment that is not directly connected, but the main issue is the direct connectivity of the panels to the equipment, creating a perfect path for the power surge to follow. The installation of photovoltaic surge protection devices allows for these pathways to be blocked in the event of a surge, salvaging equipment downstream from the strike. As these devices improve, more equipment is salvaged every year and systems stay in production-mode for longer time frames. The result is cheaper and cleaner power.

Friday, August 27, 2021

5G In A Streamlined And Safe Format

There is no doubt that 5G is coming to an area near you. The technology is in such high demand that it has created a “land rush” among major carriers, where the expectation is that those offering 5G will get the majority of the customers from that region. Few new benefits have resonated among customers to the magnitude that 5G has in the last few years, with many people basing their decision to use one carrier over another because they offer 5G speeds. The difference is noticeable, with streaming, downloads and clarity of calls being so dramatically better on 5G networks that it is worth the significant investment that it will take to upgrade existing networks to 5G. This involves the installation of thousands of new pieces of equipment into regions where the public is in close proximity. 5G micro sites (also known as small cell sites) are smaller than 4G and 3G macro sites, but must be far closer together in order to provide adequate coverage. The micro sites involved in these networks must be positioned about one-tenth of a mile from the user in order to maintain functionality, due to the 5G signal degrading far faster than previous versions. This creates a situation where 5G small cell sites must be installed all around people as they go about their lives, on street poles and in building exteriors as well as on rooftops and the sides of buildings in order to create the appropriate proximity that the networks require. This leads toward more creative installations in many different situations, and can add to the risks posed to utility workers or even to the public. Each installation is relatively unique in its setup, with an array of boxes, antennas and wires being externally or internally mounted to a pole or structure. As utility workers need to be able to provide maintenance at the sites themselves or to other equipment in the surrounding area, they need to be able to understand the exact routing of power to these devices in order to assure safety. This is why Raycap’s combination AC disconnect enclosures are so important. Through their integration into a 5G small cell site, they enable quick power cut off to an entire site with just a single breaker. This breaker and metering device are integrated within an enclosure that hides electrical wiring, provides a connectivity junction and surge protection, ultimately creating a far better looking and safer small cell installation. The safety and the security of understanding the standard setup that will cut power off to all devices involved, combined with the far more clean and streamlined look of the site itself, makes the Raycap combination disconnect enclosure an attractive addition to 5G micro site installations. With the rollout of any new technology comes an impact to the public both negative and positive, and through the integration of the compact enclosure housing the AC Combo Disconnect, the visual impact is significantly reduced. There is no getting rid of the infrastructure equipment involved in the process, but now we can hide it while also making it safer.

5G Small Cell Sites That Are Safe And Beautiful

The investment into 5G technology is happening fast among the major carriers, who are each attempting to be the first in a region to offer 5G speeds. In many ways, this is a very important differentiating factor that consumers are basing their cell phone carrier decision upon, deciding to stay with a company or switch to a different one. Once a customer has experienced 5G speeds, they are generally unhappy with the 3G and 4G existing networks, simply because of the improved experience that 5G offers. Streaming video content in 4K is now not only possible, but can be done with minimal buffering. Large file types like 3D renderings can now be transferred to handheld and wireless devices, where in the recent past this would not have been possible. Crystal clear calls and video chat from wireless devices is now standard, thanks to the improved speeds of 5G. With any improvement to a system will also come drawbacks, and within the 5G rollout that drawback is the infrastructure build out involved. 5G micro (small cell) sites in densely populated areas must be positioned close to end-users as well as other sites in order to maintain a network performance. Slower networks could have macro sites positioned upwards of a mile from the user, allowing these sites to be installed with little visual impact on the people using the network. Customers didn’t notice the equipment because it could be far away, but with 5G, specifically 5G mmWave, the equipment needs to be at street level or within visual eyeshot to function. This means that as 5G rolls out into more areas, you are going to notice a new array of enclosures on existing and new poles, and you are going to see them everywhere. For this reason, there has been a push to develop better installations that shroud this telecom infrastructure from view. Through the development of new materials like InvisiWave from Raycap, 5G mmWave and C-band antennas and radios can be positioned behind materials that will obscure them from view and create a better visual experience. While this improvement makes everything more appealing to the eye, it takes another type of advancement to make it safer.

The problem of electrified equipment being positioned around the public, or around utility workers who will need to encounter it daily creates safety issues. The possibility of accidents as a result of a component accidentally being live when workers encounter it grows due to the unique installation setups of each and every site. While there is a certain level of standardization in the equipment involved, the way that equipment is joined to the power supply can vary. Because of this issue, Raycap has created the combination AC disconnect / surge protection enclosures that not only provide a thinner and nicer enclosure for all the equipment, but also provide a single place for the power cut off to the entire site. The power is fed to the enclosure and to a metering device, then through a single cutoff breaker before feeding the equipment involved. This gives utilities the ability to ensure safe working conditions because the power to the entire small cell site can be shut off with a single switch. The combo disconnect enclosure is just ne of Raycap’s innovative developments in support of 5G networks coming to an area near you.

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

The Industrial Need For Lightning Protection

“Lightning protection” is a generalized way of describing a suite of protection measures used to fend off the damage that can be caused by lighting strikes to property and equipment. Within the industrial sector, this phrase will usually describe the lightning rods, overhead shielding and grounding mechanisms that are put in place in order to divert lightning strikes away from critical equipment that is exposed. Due to the physical makeup of industrial facilities, with structures or components being positioned in remote areas comprised of few other structures which are taller, as well as being made of materials that are lightning attractants, we find that lightning damage is almost unable to be completely avoided. The measures and failsafes that get put into place in order to protect expensive equipment and systems are diversion techniques, and represent attempts to divert lightning strikes to structures that are distanced away from critical components, and where the strike and subsequent surge can be better controlled. Lightning seeks the path of least resistance to earth, which is the reason it will so often strike the tallest structure in a region, or a component made out of a material that possesses the ability to conduct the electricity to the earth. Lightning rods and overhead shields draw the strike to themselves where they can route it to the earth in a safe manner. A major issue with many industrial installations is the poor earthing capabilities within the region they exist, as well as a difficult time effectively drawing the strike to a safe region. Within industries like wind power production and telecommunications, the towers that represent the most critical aspect of the process literally act as a magnet for strikes because of their height and positioning, as well as often poor earthing abilities. These are the reasons that we find that “surge protection for industrial installations” is often separated from “lightning protection” even though the source of the surge is still a lightning strike most of the time.

Lightning strikes produce an intense power surge capable of damaging and destroying almost any computerized component, no matter how robust. The operational range for electrical flow that is safe for the components used in many industrial processes is far short of the volume of electricity produced in a lightning strike, so protection measures beyond simple diversion techniques must be put into place to protect the equipment and systems. Surge protection devices are installed within structures along pathways where electricity would travel from the top to the bottom of structures, as well as along any form of wire or cable that electricity can flow effectively through. The data transfer and power cables within systems create adequate ravel paths for the surge produced by lightning strikes, and through the installation of technologically advanced surge protection devices along these pathways, the downstream equipment can be salvaged many times after a strike instance takes place. Through minimization of damage and avoidance or diversion of strikes, we find that surge protection and lightning protection systems within industrial facilities are saving millions of dollars every year.

Keeping Industrial Processes Active After Lighting Strikes

The need for industrial lightning protection and surge protection devices and systems exists for two main reasons. The first and most obvious is to avoid damage to the equipment used in a process that would be caused by the lightning strike itself or the power surge that follows. Damage at the strike point is usually cataclysmic, resulting in fire and explosion at the strike point that will destroy nearly anything within a small radius of that point. Lightning is an unbelievably powerful entity, and as it seeks the easiest path to the earth and strikes tall structures it causes large amounts of destruction that are nearly impossible to avoid at the point where it hits. This is why the best defense against a lightning strike is a good offense, that offense representing proactive measures to draw the strike away from expensive or critical components in specific structures. Lightning protection is seen in the form of lightning rods or overhead shielding that draws the strike to itself, where is can be safely drawn down or routed to a safe place without damage. If it is possible within the facility to install items like these to divert lightning strikes completely away from more necessary components, there will be a certain percentage of successes and a certain percentage of failures. This is because even if there are lightning protection measures in place, it does not assure that lightning will only strike those components. This is why surge protection devices and systems must also make up the totality of protection systems with regards to lightning.

A successful lightning protection system will divert lightning strikes most of the time, leaving a percentage of strikes that will still occur to structures that house critical components, or to those components themselves. Lightning will produce a power surge that travels along any pathway it can to reach the earth, easily finding electrical and data transfer cables a mechanism to move from the strike point toward the earth. This creates a chain reaction of damage, with any component that is near the strike point and connected to another component further down or away also being impacted and damaged. This can not only create damage that is multiplied in it’s scope but also system failures that take necessary functionality down for the period until it can be restored. This can take critical services offline, or increase product costs through downtimes that add to the cost of goods. In order to minimize downtimes as well as damage costs, new and improved surge protection devices have been developed which do not need for resetting or replugging to maintain their functionality. This can reduce the amount of time that systems are offline, and ultimately improve the bottom line of almost any business through a more efficient process. Damage control and avoidance is only a single aspect of lighting and surge protection systems, with efficiency in process playing another major role.

Keeping Telecommunications Online In Inclement Weather

Telecommunications plays a major role in our daily lives as we use our cellular phones to transfer information every day. In many cases this is not critical data, as we have grown to use our cell phones for entertainment purposes. Streaming movies or chatting with friends would be negatively impacted by cellular outages, but this would not be the end of the world for most users. Just like insurance is only there for the times that you need it, telecommunications is only crucial wen you need it. Although we appreciate all the rest of the time when we are using the capabilities of modern cellular networks to transfer information from one user to the next, it is really during emergency situations that we find the cell phone to be a critical tool for survival. Sometimes, life and death can be being decided by the signal that cell phone gets, especially during inclement weather. These are the times when we are not just enjoying good cell phone coverage, but needing it.

Cellular towers represent a prefect target for lightning strikes, especially if they are positioned in remote areas with poor grounding capabilities. These towers not only are constructed of materials that can effectively conduct electricity, but also house components that can be easily damaged by power surges. Both of these things are present when a cell tower is struck by lightning, with the strike usually happening at or near the top of the tower. This impacts the strike point itself, where fire and explosions take place, and also overwhelms the RRH (remote radio head.) This component is essentially the group of machines that receives the signal from your cell phone on the ground. The RRH is directly connected to the BSU (base station unit) which is the group of components that transmits that data received from the RRH to the network itself, and allows for other users to receive it or transmit to it. When the RRH is overwhelmed by a power surge and damaged, the electricity will flow along the connection lines to the BSU and many times overwhelm it as well. This compounds the amount of damage that has happened as a result of a single strike, and almost assures that this particular cell dower will be rendered inoperable until it is repaired. The amount of time that this tower is offline not only increases losses to the company in the form of money, but also increases the potential for loss of life as a result of a user not being able to connect during the time when it is most necessary. To keep cell towers functioning for the maximum periods of time, effective surge protection devices and systems are installed throughout the structure and along all pathways. Through minimization of damage we can increase the uptimes of cellular connection, and ultimately provide more connectivity when it is most necessary and critical. Surge protection is saving lives as well as providing better service to customers.

The Importance Of Surge Protection In Telecommunications

The unfortunate fact with regards to telecommunications is that the very aspects of the physical installation of cellular towers that provide good service are the same ones that make lightning a major threat. While lightning strikes are a threat to nearly everything during an inclement weather incident, cellular towers are especially prone to strike and damage as a result. This is because of the nature of lightning strikes, and the specific necessity of the towers to be tall and unobstructed. They are also usually in relatively remote places, at least not being located specifically within areas of significant human traffic. The cellular signal that is provided and received by your phone on the ground will vary, based upon it’s ability to communicate with the nearest tower which is functional. While it does not need to be visually unobstructed, the signal will be stronger and clearer with the fewest amount of obstructions between them. For this reason, it is generally the plan to mount cellular towers on the tops of buildings, mountains or as the tallest structure for a copious amount of surrounding space. This allows the top of the tower to be within a straight line to your phone on the ground with relatively few obstructions in between. It has been proven that this type of installation will provide the best communication between your phone and the “remote radio head” equipment at the tower top. The need to make position this equipment at the highest point in a region also makes it a direct target for lightning strikes, which take the path of least resistance to the earth. Ultimately, this means that lightning has the propensity to strike the tallest structure which is connected to the ground, in this case more often than not being the top of the tower. The lightning strike to the top will push a significant amount of electricity into the structure, which easily travels along communication and power lines from the equipment at the top to the “base station unit” and equipment at the bottom. This need for communication between the tower top and bottom will provide an added amount of damage as a result of the kind of surge provided by a lightning strike, not isolating the damage to the strike point itself. This is why surge protection equipment and devices must be installed along critical pathways in between the tower top and bottom, so as to salvage equipment that is not located at the strike point itself. Through this mitigation of the amount of equipment damaged by a lightning strike, cellular companies can not only keep prices for service lower by driving down their costs but also keep towers operational for longer periods of time. The minimization of the need for extra maintenance allows for towers that are damaged to come into service quicker, providing better service to the consumers. The result of surge protection integration is better service, lower prices and more consistent connection rates.