Electrical Surge Protection: November 2021

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Lightning Surge Protection

The unique elements of industrial facilities and regions makes them especially problematic with regards to lightning-related damage. To fully understand the harm that unprotected industrial setups can undergo when the inevitable lightning strike happens, we must first understand exactly why they are so susceptible to this type of damage. The physical positioning and makeup of the facilities and systems is the issue, with industrial applications almost always possessing both characteristics. The most obvious is the placement itself, because industrial businesses need to be apart and away from other types of development. This is why most regions will zone areas as industrial, because the noise and ongoing business activities make this type of setup undesirable for other businesses or living spaces to be in close proximity to. Because of this isolation, lightning is most likely to strike areas within that facility, as it is attracted to the easiest path to the earth. Simply put, if there is nothing else around to attract the lightning to strike, it has to strike somewhere. This means that the facility itself is the inevitable target when bad weather is present. The second factor that comes into play is the materials from which elements within these types of facilities are constructed. There is nearly always a large amount of metal involved in the components which can conduct electricity, once again drawing the strike towards itself. This combination of factors almost assures that lighting will strike any industrial facility that is in the path of bad weather, creating damage at the point of the strike in the form of fires and explosions. Additional damage is seen as a result of the power surge that follows the strike, sending extreme levels of electricity along any conductive material that is connected or in close proximity to the strike point. If computerized equipment is directly connected, or mounted to the same structures that are struck, the power surge will do additional damage as it overwhelms the circuitry of the components. This exacerbates the amount of damage that is produced by the lighting strike itself.

The defense mechanism against lightning-related damage is prevention of the damage that is inevitable. Although there are ways to attempt to divert the strike to areas where damage will not occur, most good business plans will expect strikes to happen to critical equipment. While the strike-point damage is difficult to avoid, the damage that happens downstream to computerized equipment can be prevented. Through the installation of surge protection devices along the pathways electricity can flow, the damage to the circuitry can be effectively prevented or at least minimized. Using technologically advanced devices that do not need resetting or replugging also means that service can be more easily restored to that process. This not only avoids damage but also minimizes the losses that happen when systems are offline. Surge protection for industrial facilities just makes sense as far as protecting the bottom line, and keeping business moving forward. Is your facility fully protected against lightning?

Surge Protection From Lightning To Save Budget

Any business that exists is looking for ways to save money, it is the once consistent theme when operating in a way that is designed to create revenue. Businesses and enterprises start out with speculation on the amount of money it will cost to provide a service or create a product, and adjust their prices that the product is sold for. When competing businesses find a way to sell the same product for a lower price, it generally forces competitors to adapt and modify the way they operate in order to match those prices, or be forced out of business by a lack of customers willing to pay the higher price for the same product. Of course there are ancillary discussions about brand loyalty and branding, but the most basic of all consumer decision-making processes revolves around the price they pay compared to similar products and their prices. Most people will gravitate to the less expensive one, as long as they perceive the products offered to be the same. This is why competition spurns innovation, because each competing business must find new ways to either improve the product or create it cheaper in order to differentiate and secure customers. Industrial businesses with competition are generally in a constant state of trying new methods in order to potentially drive down costs of production, and one of the most effective within established businesses is to reduce the costs associated with the regular operations. If you have built in a cost that will allow for repairs and replacement of equipment that is damaged in the field on a regular basis, then using technology to avoid as much of that damage as possible is necessary. The business that most effectively uses new and improved methods to avoid ongoing damage and repair costs is the one that operates at a lower overhead than the competition, and therefor gets the customers.

Industrial businesses are very aware of the damage caused by regular lightning strikes to equipment and structures. Damage occurs at the strike point, then reverberates through the entire system as a power surge that damages circuit-driven devices that are connected to that strike point. Because connectivity lines are designed to allow for power to flow along them, the surge itself travels quite efficiently long distances from the strike point itself, creating damage along the way. Savvy businesses have learned that the installation of technologically advanced surge protection devices can minimize that downstream damage, or potentially stop it all together. Through extending the life span of the equipment used in their process, they can effectively drive down operational costs over time. This puts the businesses using surge protection at an advantage over those who are not, allowing them to not only operate more cheaply but also more efficiently. For this reason, the development of new and improved surge protection devices assists almost any business that operates in an industrial capacity. Are you using the best surge protection systems?

Integration Of Surge Protection For Budget Conservation

Industrialized businesses operate in a method that is generally tried and true, operating within budgets that are dictated by prices of the materials and labor. Ancillary factors will also be involved in budgeting, but for the most part the day to day operations happen within specific expenditures due to the heavy duty nature of the operations and components themselves. By nature, industrial facilities are constructed to be durable and tough, and to withstand the most brutal of conditions. This enables them to operate in both remote and harsh environments, zoned specifically to be outside the areas where the general population lives. This helps to create a symbiotic relationship between the two, with people not being bothered by the noise and other issues that would come with life around such a facility. The drawbacks to this type of environment are that the isolation of the facilities themselves make them prime targets for lightning strikes, which can happen at almost any time and which will impact budgets significantly if protection methods fail. Lightning strikes are powerful and destructive, generally destroying wherever the impact zone is, and causing a reverberation of damage well beyond this point if there are components which can be impacted by electrical surges nearby. The impact zone is usually where the most significant damage cam be found and planned for, but with the advent of more computerized control equipment being factored into the mix, there is the additional damage at the circuit level that must be accounted for. Components used in the process that are directly connected to the strike point via cables of almost any kind, as well as nearby connections to the structure itself which is struck, are overwhelmed by the surge of electricity that happens after a lightning strike. They may not be blown up or fire damaged as we see at the strike point itself, but instead suffer damage internally by an overwhelming amount of electricity flowing through them. Because this power surge is outside of the safe operational range, these components will many times need to be repaired or replaced, with a minimum of needing to be reset in order to be operational. All of these things impact budgets and bottom lines, and all are things that industrial businesses would like to minimize as much as possible.

The integration of effective surge protection devices and equipment is the best line of defense against power surges, both lightning-oriented and natural. Through the blocking of flow paths when electrical levels go outside of a specific range, the equipment downstream from that installation point can be salvaged and possible un-effected. In these circumstances, the damage of the lightning strike can be isolated to the strike point itself, minimizing the expected damage from such an event. By minimizing damage, not only is repair and replacement budget conserved but operations can be restored to normal in a far faster manner, allowing the business to continue to operate without impact. Surge protection is the best defense for budget conservation in industrial businesses.

The Inner Workings Of PV Surge Protection

Photovoltaic surge protection is a specialized system of surge protection devices that are installed within operational setups geared towards the production of energy using solar technology. These devices and systems function to block power surges from traveling from the exposed solar panels to the control equipment, which is connected to those panels through a variety of cables and wires. The connections are necessary in order to fully optimize the production of power using these means, as well as allowing the electricity which is generated to travel unimpeded as much as possible to the points where it can be stored. The issue arises when lightning strikes those exposed solar panels, which is a common occurrence in the field. Even though the system itself is designed to generate electricity and allow it to travel along specific pathways, this electricity must be maintained within a specific range or it will damage the circuitry of the components involved in that production. In order to maintain the functionality of the system, as well as to minimize the expenditures of the business regarding repair and replacement of that equipment, preventative measures must be taken to assure that the electrical flow is kept within range. This is the job of the photovoltaic surge protection systems installed within these setups, to read the level of electrical flow constantly, and if it exceeds a certain level to create a blocking mechanism that will prevent if from flowing past the device. This process protects the equipment installed downstream, essentially conserving budget that would be allocated to repairs as well as minimizing repair time in order to maintain longer uptimes. The sheer volume of time that photovoltaic systems are online contribute to the effectiveness of the production method, because the fuel source of sunlight is free. When systems go offline while the sun is shining, critical minutes are lost when power would be being produced for no extra costs. This is why photovoltaic surge protection is so critical, it not only conserves operating budget but also produces more power for public consumption.

As photovoltaic systems become more advanced, we are finding that they are able to generate more power in a 24 hour period than ever before. This is because they are able to stay online for longer periods while the sun is shining, ultimately producing more power during that time frame. This power is able to be sold for lower prices because of these excesses as well as the costs of production being driven lower every year as equipment life spans are increased. What we see is that solar production methods are far from their potential, and have room to improve over and above the levels of production and costs that are currently seen. Every day more improvements to the systems are made, making solar power production the most promising method for the future. We will see less damage to the environment to create power that costs us less than ever before, and that is good for everyone.

Creating A Better World With PV Surge Protection

The fossil fuel industry has long been known to create damage to the environment in some capacity. There may be debates over exactly how much the burning of fossil fuels is damaging our atmosphere, but there are few people out there who would argue that there is no damage at all happening. This makes it pretty easy to understand that from the standpoint of pollution, methods of creating products that do not produce pollution are more desirable than those that do, even if it is minimal. When one technology produces the same product as another using methods that do not create pollution, that method will ultimately be the one that is desired as the main version. The problem comes when costs for that cleaner method are higher than the one that creates pollution, and this is the current state for green energy production methods. Even though the fuel sources are free and without costs, the actual production itself has a higher ongoing cost which must be passed off in higher prices in order to maintain profitability. This has been the hindrance for solar power since it’s creation, where people are supportive, but not supportive enough to move the technology forward because they are not willing to pay more for the methods. They simply believe that there is not enough damage to the environment being done to justify a few extra dollars on their power bills. While this is unfortunate and is holding back the progression of the solar industry itself, there is room for improvement that will eventually bring prices down past the levels that fossil fuels operate. Once the power source is both cleaner and cheaper, the only hurdle to making solar production methods the standard is the reliability of the method itself. Believe it or not, all of these issues are being addressed with the development of more advanced surge protection devices for photovoltaic systems.

Solar surge protection systems involve placing surge protection devices along critical pathways that connect the exposed solar panels and the equipment that controls the process. Lighting strikes the panels often, and the damage is not isolated to that strike point. Instead, we find that the subsequent power surge travels along the connection cables and destroys the circuitry of the control equipment, adding to repair costs and time to restore functionality. Because there must be cable connections between the panels and this equipment, the best method of preventing this damage is to install devices that will create an inability for the power to flow if it exceeds a certain level. These devices cut the flow of power when it can be damaging, saving repair costs that raise the costs of the power itself. The saving of these devices also allows for a quicker restoration to functionality after a strike, allowing more power to be created while the sun is shining. Through the integration of better surge protection devices, solar power itself is evolving to be the mainstay of power production.

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.