Creating A Better World With PV Surge Protection

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Protection-of-Solar-Power-G09-00-001.pdf

 

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.