How Does Photovoltaic Surge Protection Work?

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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.