Lightning Protection For Wind Turbines Devices

https://www.raycap.com/wind-turbine-surge-protection-2/

The push towards green energy, and wind technology in particular, continually causes additional wind farms to come online throughout the world. As well, current wind farms are also being expanded. The turbine manufacturers as well as the wind farm owners & operators have become increasingly aware of the ability to reduce costs associated with inclement weather conditions, and in particular lightning strikes. The damage that operations can sustain from a lightning strike comes in multiple forms. The most obvious damage that which is physically damaged by the lightning strike itself, including replacements of machinery used in the process, but this is not the major source of monetary loss.  Wind farms can operate continually as long as the wind is blowing, ultimately producing power upwards of 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The costs associated with systems being taken offline due to lightning strikes, and not able to produce power, are less tangible but far more costly.  The wind turbine electrical systems continually face challenges because wind turbines are fixed to wind towers which are almost always the tallest structure within a geographic region. When they are exposed to a harsh weather, it must be expected that the turbines and the blades that are affixed to them, will likely be at risk from lightning strikes. These strikes of both an indirect and direct association create intense electromagnetic fields as well as transient over voltages. These over voltages are passed directly through the electrical system and to the sensitive equipment within the turbine. The surges can propagate through the system and produce latent as well as immediate damage to all circuitry and computer equipment. Additional components like power converters and electronics, transformers and generators are also easily damaged by surges created by lightning. The latent damage that can occur as a result of multiple strikes to the structures as well as repeated exposure to surges occurs within key power components. Much of this damage is not covered by any warranty that is offered by the manufacturer, ultimately forcing repair costs upon the operator.

The offline costs associated with power surges and lightning strikes affect the business in a different way. When a turbine is disabled, it must be repaired or have components replaced by a service team.  All of the costs associated with purchase of new equipment as well as salaries for the team itself must be absorbed from the profit pool. Combine this with the fact that profits are being reduced due to the fact that the turbine is offline during critical times where it could be producing power utilizing free fuel sources, and you have a recipe for dwindling profits that can be easily bankrupt even good businesses. The installation of the most advanced surge protection technology available for wind turbines is not only suggested but necessary in order to push green technology into the mix as a legitimate competitor with the fossil fuel industry.  Surge reduction or elimination technologies are being continually improved, thus assisting this emerging industry to gain a greater foothold.

Lightning Damage From Surges

https://www.raycap.com/wind-turbine-surge-protection-2/

Green energy production technology is one of the most promising energy production methods with regards to the future of mankind.  This may seem like a bold statement, but improving the world by creating better energy systems that ultimately harm the earth to a lesser degree must be viewed as an improvement for everyone on the planet.  All over the world, civilized societies rely upon electricity that is delivered to their homes and businesses through electrical grid systems.  This electricity is manufactured and stored until it is delivered to consumers.  The systems that deliver electricity are not the issue, and instead we find that the damage is caused during the energy mining and manufacturing process.  Electricity is created through the use of turbine technology, the simplistic way of explaining this that as the turbines are turned they create electricity.  The way that these turbines are turned in order to produce enough electricity to satisfy large populations of consumers has traditionally been through the burning of fossil fuels or by capturing the water flowing through a dam. While these methods have proven to be able to be reliable enough to produce the volumes of electricity that are necessary for metropolitan areas, they also one of the leading causes of disruption in terms of pollution, causing climate change and damaging clean water systems. While the proponents of fossil fuels will argue that the climate change aspect is not significant enough to justify higher costs, there is no denying that pollution is created. No matter what, it is globally understood that polluted air is not conducive to a healthy environment for humans or animals. Because of this fact, it is universally accepted that a method of creating the same electricity product with non-polluting methods would be superior. The reason that wider spread rollouts of green energy production technologies such as wind and solar have not occurred really comes down to two critical aspects. First and foremost are the costs associated with these methods, and second is the reliability of these methods to produce enough electricity to satisfy large amounts of customers.  Both of these issues are being solved through the use of advanced technologies, including but not limited to the use of industrial surge protection equipment.

Surge protection for green energy systems reduces the amount of damage caused to these systems by natural events such as lightning strikes.  While the acute damage that happens at the strike point is nearly unavoidable, this is not the largest cost associated with damage of this sort. Instead, we find the majority of damage costs come from the associated power surge that damages the sensitive equipment utilized in the process, and of course the taking of the systems offline. As surge protection equipment improves, there will be less damage to the components of these systems which will ultimately drive down costs of production. In the same regard, we find that keeping these systems online for longer periods of time can produce larger volumes of electricity to satisfy the growing populations. This can actually be done without increasing prices because in part the fuel sources that turn the turbines has no cost associated (ie: sun and wind). By simply keeping the systems online and functioning for longer periods of time the amount of power that is generated will be increased, and the costs associated with the production will be decreased.