Electrical Surge Protection: December 2022

Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Solar Surge Protection

Solar power is not only a method of possibly creating a power source that is cheaper to manufacture, it very well might be necessary for survival in the future. Solar energy is being looked upon as the failsafe for the inevitable point in time when the fossil fuels run out, or become too expensive to be effectively used to generate power for the masses. If this point comes without solar being developed to the point of being able to produce an adequate amount of power to satisfy the needs of our biggest cities, we are most assuredly going to suffer. Imaging not having enough power to your house to use your computer or lights. That is a possibility of solar power is not developed to the point of being able to produce enough to satisfy everyone in your area. There is no ability to create more sunlight each day, so instead we are relying on ways to make more power from the same amount of sun. The way PV systems work is that sunlight is collected on a solar panel and used to heat liquid in a sealed system. This liquid flows and turns turbines in order to generate power. The fossil fuel systems work much the same way only they burn fossil fuels to create the turbine movement. Solar is a system that does not rely upon destroying an element to create the product, and therefor only relies upon how much of that sunlight can be collected during the day to put the system in motion. Extending the amount of uptime of the system itself is the best current method to produce more power with the same amount of sunlight, and the private sector is developing methods of achieving this longer uptime.

Through the integration of PV surge protection devices throughout the systems, the inevitable weather events that cause the majority of outages can be reduced. Lightning strikes to the panels are one of the primary causes for downtimes, as the panel is destroyed and the control equipment is damaged by the subsequent power surge. This massive surge of electricity flows along the connectivity lines and destroys equipment at the circuit level, creating far more damage that needs repair than a simple panel replacement. Because this situation is harder to fix in order to restore functionality, it takes longer and wastes more of the existing sunshine. Through the integration of PV surge protection along the critical pathways, the costs of creating power can be dramatically reduced at the same time as increasing the uptimes of the facilities. This creates clean power in a cheaper method, and also makes it more plentiful. Through these types of improvements and streamlining of processes, solar power will soon not just be an alternative that can be called upon in a pinch, but will become the mainstay of power production. This will replace the antiquated methods, and user in a new dawn of power being available for cheaper prices, while the atmosphere doesn’t suffer as well.

Why Surge Protection Is Important For Solar Panels

Solar energy production is considered by many to be one of the most important technological developments in the las 100 years. This is because the energy appetite of the world is growing every year, while the resources necessary to satisfy that consumption are growing less plentiful. The supply of fossil fuels that can be burned in order to move turbines to produce power is limited, and some models are showing the supplies to run out within the next few decades if the rate of consumption continues. This means that without the evolution of alternative energy sources that can completely fulfill the demand, we will be caught short and not able to supply the electricity that is needed. Imagine flipping your light switch on only to find out that there is not enough power produced in your area to fulfill your request! The rate of development of the technologies that can fill these needs has been slow, namely due to the lack of funding from governments and institutions that can solve the issues that keep development hindered. Government investment in technological research could move the development along faster, but the powerful fossil fuel industry does not want anything that threatens their bottom line to come about until it is absolutely necessary. They view the development of solar as a technology that could replace fossil fuel production as a threat to their current bottom line, so they work diligently to slow the development of the methods that could allow production totals to be enough to satisfy demand. This keeps fossil fuel production relevant.

Luckily, the private sector is not slowing down in its own development of solutions. One example of this is the development of surge protection devoices specifically for PV systems, which can both increase production totals as well as reducing costs. This is accomplished through thwarting the travel of power surges from the source to the equipment used in the process. Lightning strikes to solar panels is a common occurrence, and the power surge that follows flows along the connectivity cables that are necessary to join the panels to the control equipment. This pathway is used by the surging power to travel large distances from the strike point and overwhelm the equipment at the circuit level. This compounds damage that is caused by every strike, necessitating the repair or replacement of control equipment in addition to the panels. The system gets knocked offline for as long as the restoration process takes place, and as a result the amounts of power produced by the same amount of daily sunlight are diminished. Through the installation of PV surge protection, these surges can have little to no impact on that downstream equipment, limiting damage to the panels themselves. This allows for quicker restoration to functionality as well as lower operational costs, driving down the costs of electricity and cleaning up the environment at the same time. The private sector may be the saving grace of the world as far as atmosphere and economy

Surge Protection For Solar Panels

One of the biggest threats to solar power development is the fact that it is still on par with fossil fuel production. What this means is that even though there is little to no discussion about the fact that solar is a superior method from the aspect of cleanliness and damage to the atmosphere, the overall cost of production still hinders full favor from the public. Simply put, people do not like to pay more for something, even if the creation of that something had negative impacts. People weigh the pros and cons of their purchase decisions each time they make one, and if it is not an obvious and gratuitous problem that the manufacture is creating it will be overweighed by the cost savings. People are willing to risk their own health for the savings they can have, and that is being exploited by the companies who run fossil fuel plants. Through the leveraging of a lack majority public support, they can manipulate public funding to not fully develop anything that would promote the solar industry. They can stagnate the technological growth and development of the genre as a whole through forcing only private industry to fund innovation, and push the point of their replacement farther down the road. If solar was not only cleaner but cheaper over all, then there would be no discussion as to why we should continue using the older methods.

Luckily, private industry is solving these issues. One of the biggest contributions to the evolution of the solar industry has been the integration of surge protection devices into the systems. Through the integration of specialized PV surge protection, a large portion of the ongoing operational costs of power production can be reduced. This is done through the stoppage of power surges from using the power chain to deliver too much electricity to control equipment. When lightning strikes a solar panel, which is a common occurrence since they are remotely placed, the panel itself is not the only damage that occurs. An additional power surge travels along the connectivity cables and lines and overwhelms the equipment that is used in the process which is downstream. This compounds the need for repair and replacement beyond the panel, and also involves large amounts of the equipment as well. Through the integration of surge protection, the equipment downstream can be salvage or damage minimized to a point of not only saving money, but also keeping the systems online and producing for longer. This is because it is far easier to replace only the panel than the equipment as well. This gives the systems the ability to have longer uptimes when the sun is shining, thus creating more accessible power for public consumption from the same amount of fuel. Since the sun is free, the amount of power that can be produced is dependent upon how much uptime the system has while the sun is shining. Through this integration, we can improve the systems to be on par with the costs of production of fossil fuels, and the transition can be furthered.

Why Surge Protection For PV Is Critical

The understanding that we can not use fossil fuels forever in order to create electricity for our homes is common, and even those unfamiliar with the dwindling levels of fossil fuels will generally understand after only a few moments explanation. Simply put, the earth has a limited supply of fossil fuels to burn in order to make electricity, and sooner or later we will run out. Because of the understanding that the estimates of fossil fuel consumption place us in a precarious situation within only a few decades, the obvious conclusion is that we need to figure out alternative methods of creating power. Unfortunately, those with a vested interest in the fossil fuel forms of production are powerful, and would rather see their methods be the only game in town. As long as they can stagnate the progression of technology through the use of political avenues and misinformation, they can limit the support of development money flowing to the channels necessary to move the green technology forward. They can literally keep their own methods profitable by limiting the technological progress of the alternatives. Luckily, this can only go on so long before the natural progression of technological advancement takes hold, fueled mostly by the private market that cannot be manipulated by the interests. One of the most poignant developments to happen over the last few decades within the space is the integration of advanced surge protection devices into the systems that generate green energy. Through this integration, one of the avenues that has historically cost money is controlled, ultimately bringing down the production costs to around the levels of fossil fuels, These advancements also make the plants more able to produce at a higher capacity, using the same amounts of sunlight. As long as green energy production plants remain online, the fuel source that is available for free for half of each day is not squandered.

How this all transpires is hinged on the fact that the solar power plant must position solar panels within the danger zone in order to work appropriately. Solar panels must be remotely located and not surrounded by taller structures, so as not to interfere with sunlight collection. This makes them the path of least resistance to the earth for lightning strikes, creating a situation that damages several components critical to the process. The panels are damaged by explosion and fire at the strike point, and the subsequent power surge travels along the connections from that panel to the control equipment. This overwhelms that equipment at the circuit level, and takes it offline until repair or replacement can happen. This tragic situation limits capacities as well as costing repair budgets, making the totals that are seen as far as production costs go higher than the rival fossil fuels. Through the integration of surge protection along the routes that excess power can flow, these losses can be minimized and a more satisfying amount of power can be produced each day that the sun is shining. This is how the future of solar power will play out, and eventually take the lead.

Surge Protection For PV Systems

Photovoltaic systems that produce electricity for public consumption rely upon solar panels that are positioned in a way that they are not compromised by shade. The entire job of a solar panel is to collect as much sunlight as possible in order to utilize that fuel source to expand liquid within a sealed system. That expanding liquid flows through tubes and eventually creates motion within a turbine that generates electricity. Only through the harnessing of as much of that sunlight as possible does the system work to its fullest capacity, and produce as much electricity as possible using that free fuel source. Any shade or night-time situation where the sun is not fully present compromises the output of electricity for that panel, and as a result of this fact solar producers must place the panels into harm’s way in order to gain the maximum. The harm that is being produced is the potential for being struck by lightning as the panels are positioned in a way that makes them the most opportune strike point during a storm. Lightning takes the path of least resistance to the ground, generally striking the tallest structure within a range of where the lightning bolt originates. If that panel is the most opportune target, then it gets struck. This will almost always result in the need for repair or replacement of the panel, but also results in damage to the control equipment that is directly connected to it. This is due to another issue, that the computerized equipment necessary to the process also must be connected to the exposed panel through direct lines that can conduct electricity. These control wires and cables allow a power surge to move along them and impact the equipment that is nowhere near the strike point, generating far more damage that simply the place where the lighting struck. In order to fully restore the functionality of the system, all of these items must be repaired or replaced, losing critical moments that the sun is shining and the system could be producing. In the competitive world of power manufacture, solar systems need to operate at full capacity in order to come close to the productivity and cost basis of fossil fuel systems, and until they are monetarily comparable it is going to be difficult to imagine a world powered exclusively by renewable energy.

One major development in the solar world is the integration of surge protection throughout the systems along pathways that electrical surges can travel. This reduces or completely eliminates the secondary damage that adds to production costs, as well as making system restoration easier and less time consuming after the inevitable strikes happen. This integration allows systems to function far closer to their intended capacities for longer periods of time between maintenance, and this brings the total amounts of electricity produced far closer to the fossil fuel standards. Combined with the reduced operational costs, we have a potential in the future for more reliable as well as less expensive power for the entire world.