Surge Protective Devices

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/surge-protection/

“SPD” is a common way to refer to surge protective devices. It stands for “Surge Protective Device”. These technological wonders are the single best defense against lightning produced power surges.  They are found in nearly every low voltage application at industrial facilities, and are critical in producing safe operations within the solar, wind and telecommunications fields as well as transportation.  Transient voltage surge protection is critical in today’s environment for operation of almost any type of industrial business if profitability is to be maintained.  This is due to the fact that a large portion of the ongoing expenses associated with doing business is found in the repair and replacement costs of equipment in the field.  While lightning strikes are unpredictable and very difficult to control, damage that occurs at the strike point itself is not the entirety of the damage that is generally associated with the power surge.  This can be found further down the chain, in the equipment that is being used in the process.  What happens is that the lightning strike itself hits an exposed piece of equipment or structure, allowing for a massive power surge to enter into the power transfer chain or data lines.  This allows extreme amounts of electricity and travel without effort from component to component that shares the same lines, overwhelming the internal circuitry of computerized equipment.  These types of components have an operational range that is not able to handle power surges without internal damage happening.  The outcome tends to be a shutdown of the process itself coupled with internal damage to the equipment which renders it inoperable until it is repaired or replaced.  More extreme levels of damage can result in fires and explosions that can threaten entire structures.  Only through the elimination of a voltage surges that can cause damage to equipment and the critical functions that they provide can a level of operations be reached that protects ROI.  The most effective standard for these protections are the technologically advanced surge protection devices that are manufactured specifically for these uses.  They are installed along data and power lines, as well as within enclosure systems and structures at critical junction points as well as along surfaces that have the ability to conduct electricity effectively.  They provide the ability to stop electrical flow and give excess electricity a path towards ground rather than to the equipment, and do so without completely shutting down both the system and the surge protective device itself.  One of the most common occurrences that produces damage is the “multiple strike” instance, in which one lightning strike produces the surge that ultimately renders the surge protective device inoperable, only to be followed by a secondary surge which overwhelms the now unprotected equipment.  Through the “always on” Strikesorb technology that has been developed by Raycap, the need for resetting or replugging of the devices in order to return them to functionality is unnecessary.  This provides the level of protection against power surges that is necessary within industries that operate using billions of dollars’ worth of equipment.  When the stakes are this high, only the best will do.  Has your business achieved a level of protection that is satisfactory?

 The Difference Between Lightning Protection And Surge Protection

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/lightning-surge-protection-devices/

When researching and executing any plan for a system that is designed to protect critical equipment within a facility against damage that can be caused by power surges, it is important to understand the difference between the lightning protection and surge protection systems.  Although the overall goal of both types of systems is the protection of equipment against damage that can be caused by surges of electricity outside the safe operating range, the causes for these surges differ.  This means that different systems must be designed to address the specific causes for the electrical surge in order to effectively deal with it, and the systems also must act together in order to provide a more total protection of the assets of the business.  Lightning is known as the most potentially damaging and significant of all types of power surges, and there have been recorded lightning bolt levels that have gone upwards of a billion volts.  While lightning is the most spectacular cause of electrical surges, it is not the sole cause of electrical overvoltage events and will make up only a portion of these potentially damaging situations.  Lightning originates from an external source, and therefor lightning protection systems are defined as protecting the structure itself against the direct lightning strike.  Air terminals or systems that are comprised of air terminals and grounding components will generally make up a lightning protection system.  These systems function in a way that will intersect the strike and divert it into the earth in a manner so that it does not have an impact on the surrounding buildings.  Surge protection devices are more specifically designed to protect the electrical systems and equipment inside of a facility from transient surge activity and voltages that are outside of operational ranges.  Around 65% of all transients that are typically seen in industrial facilities are coming from the grid, caused by general switching errors where minor surges are seen as equipment is powered on or off.  Surge protective devices installed in between components and along critical pathways will protect the downstream equipment from degradation over time, or complete destruction as a result of these surges.  Surge protective devices also protect the equipment against the power surges that accompany the lightning strikes, so it is difficult to sometimes identify where the surge protection system begins and a lightning protection system ends.  It is well known that surges produced by lightning strikes many miles away have the ability to couple into connectivity lines and other types of cables, as well as structures nearby and still invade the facility.  This means that even if the lightning protection system does draw the strike away from the facility, the power surge that follows still has the ability to do damage if the equipment is left unprotected.  Lightning protection devices and systems must work in unison in order to perform the function of maintaining an ongoing protection against the large scale loss is that can be seen in an instant from power surges which can happen at any time.

Technologically Advanced Electrical Protection

 

Read More: https://www.raycap.com/electrical-protection-2/

As the equipment which is utilized by businesses grows more technologically advanced, so too must the equipment which is utilized to protect investment.  System components in almost every business are continually being upgraded and improved in order to provide higher levels of the service that they are designed to provide.  By performing at a higher level, the profitability of the business is able to be influenced in a positive way.  The simple aspect of almost every type of business is that the more improved the systems can function, the more profitability can be had by the business itself.  These improvements can come in the form of speed as well as uptime.  Creating proper service in a faster time frame will provide more profitability.  Allowing systems to remain online and functional for longer periods of the day will also provide more profitability.  It is the constant struggle of businesses to influence these types of elements in a positive way in order to remain competitive.  Each business within an industry that provides the same types of products and services is going to attempt to outmaneuver their competition through innovation of either their systems or their process.  Many times this innovation and improvement will require investment into more technologically advanced equipment, and with that investment comes the potential for greater losses as a result of unforeseen incidents.

Lightning strikes are going to happen, and even though they cannot be predicted as far as when or where they will happen, it must be expected that sooner or later they will take place.  Industrial facilities are generally housed in regions where they are vulnerable to lightning strikes, and the physical makeup of the structures within the facility act as an attraction for lightning strikes themselves.  Simply being the tallest structure within a region is going to make that particular structure have the potential to be a strike point.  The damage that occurs at the point where lightning strikes is almost unavoidable, but the unfortunate damage as a result of the subsequent power surge has the potential to be avoided through the integration of specialized systems.  Advanced electrical protection has the ability to stop the excess electrical flow from moving from component to component, ultimately minimizing and isolating that damage to the point in between the lightning strike itself and the first surge protection device.  In the past, these devices were rendered inoperable after they performed their duty, ultimately leaving the entire operation vulnerable to subsequent lightning strikes and surges, as well as taking the systems offline from the function that it was tasked with.  The restoration of the system to functionality was reliant upon resetting or replacing the electrical protection devices, but the evolution of Raycap’s technologically advanced Strikesorb surge protection devices allows systems to now stay operable even after these surge incidents.  Through this technological advancement in the surge protection industry, businesses are able to operate more effectively as well as within a greater level of security and protection against damage

PV (Photovoltaic) Surge Protection

Read More:  https://www.raycap.com/lightning-surge-protection-solar-panels/

When talking about PV surge protection it is important to understand that protection against lightning and surge protection are two sides of the same coin.  If you are the residential person who utilizes a photovoltaic system on your roof to generate power, or if you are an industrial operator who produces energy for mass consumption using PV systems, the weather-related damage that happens to the exposed areas of your power generation equipment is ultimately not the only damage that will be seen with that system.  Wind and rain as well as environmental issues are going to cause the ongoing degradation of the exposed solar panels, resulting in the need for them to be repaired or replaced over time.  Because of the physical makeup of PV systems as well as their need to be relatively isolated from taller structures in order to function appropriately, it must be expected that there will be a certain amount of damage as a result of weather, including lightning strikes.  While the acute damage that happens when lightning strikes a panel is going to be difficult to avoid, the damage that happens as a result of the subsequent surge in power can be.  When lightning strikes either the panels themselves or their region or around them, electricity can enter connectivity lines and ultimately travel along them to the control equipment.  This equipment is sensitive and can be damaged on the circuitry level by power surges that are outside of the safe operational range.  Therefore the power surge itself must be avoided or re-routed and drawn down in order to extend the operational life of the remaining equipment in the system.  This can be accomplished through proper grounding techniques, the installation of lightning rods or  other methods of drawing lightning strikes away from the system, and the integration of technologically advanced surge protection devices within the system itself.  Surge protection devices are not all equal, and the more robust and technologically advanced that the surge protection devices themselves are, the higher level of protection success will be achieved.  The overall goal of the surge protection system is to avoid equipment damage, and as a result the surge protective devices which are integrated into these systems are directly connected to the level of damage which can be expected as a result of the strike and surge.  Raycap Strikesorb surge protection devices are the industry leaders in the protection of photovoltaic power systems, utilizing metal oxide varistors (MOV) as well as superior components and robust housings.  They additionally feature the technological advantage of not needing to be reset or replaced after a lightning surge  instance, thus providing protection from a multiple strike scenarios where typical surge protection systems would fail.  The overall costs of operation of the photovoltaic energy production systems are determined by the amount of ongoing maintenance, repair and replacement to the components.  Through the reduction of these costs using enhanced surge protection equipment, solar power emerges as not only a viable but a superior technology.

Protection Of Data Through SPDs

Anyone that has experienced data loss understands the pain and annoyance that is involved.  The functionality level of systems is directly proportional to the amount of data that can be integrated into that system in order to more fully support the needs of the user.  Thinking about it from a personal level, you can compare the difficulties associated with data loss on a company level with losing your phone.  When you got your phone, the first thing you did might have been to experiment with the systems that were integrated into it and explore the functionality that it provided.  You began to take these systems and input your personal data into them to use their ability to make your life more convenient.  You input contacts in order to provide a quick and easy way to not only remember information about other people, but also to contact them without needing to look up their information and input it yourself.  You put your personal preferences into different settings and applications within the phone in order to provide yourself shortcuts to the way that you prefer to use that system.  If you had to adjust the volume on your phone every single time that you used it, not only would it be irritating, but also an exorbitant waste of time.  The systems are designed to store information about you as a user in order to allow for a more streamlined experience on your part.  Your phone actually becomes more functional over time as more information is input, eventually becoming so integrated into your life as the go-to source for information and connectivity that you almost can’t exist without it.  Now imagine suddenly being without that device or any of the convenience that it provides.  If your phone suddenly blew up, you can go and purchased a new phone exactly like your old one, but you’ll have to go through the entire process of restoring that functionality all over again.  Until this is completed, the phone will only provide the bare minimum of functionality it has been designed to do.

Now imagine if you are in control of a business system that thousands of people rely upon for information of some sort.  The system has been built over time to integrate the data of the customers and provide the convenience and functionality that they demand of you.  Suddenly all this information is gone, and you’re left with only the minimal functionality of a system without data.  Customers would be angry and leave, losses would be catastrophic, and the business might not even survive the incident.  Therefore, protection of data through surge protection systems is so critical.  Electrical surges are one of the leading causes of data loss to businesses, and there is no ability to predict when they will occur.  These types of losses are as a result of mistakes or errors within the system, and as a result are difficult to thwart.  The best that a company can do is provide redundant backups and the highest level of protection against surges that is available to them.

More Info Link: https://www.raycap.com/data-surge-protection/

Cellular Towers Need Surge Protection Devices

https://www.raycap.com/electrical-protection-telecom-system/

When you pick up your cell phone and begin a call or a connection to the internet, your understanding of the process probably stops at the amount of bars that your cell phone has.  This graphical presentation of the strength or weakness of the signal essentially tells you how unobstructed your signal is with regards to the nearest tower that is involved in your network.  These towers must be the tallest structures within a general area in order to provide the most unobstructed signal to you on the ground.  This physical necessity also creates an issue within the system, ultimately making them the perfect target for lightning strikes during inclement weather.  Lightning strikes to cellular towers ultimately destroy or damage equipment necessary to the process, or take the cell tower offline which ultimately provides you with no connectivity.  This is why cellular communications companies utilize industrial surge protection as a defense against the expected damage that will occur to their equipment in the field every year.

The main components within a cellular tower are the antennas, the remote radio head and the base station unit which are housed within that tower itself.  The lightning strike to the top of the tower will ultimately damage equipment located within the strike point, but unfortunately the electrical surge that is produced as a result of that strike can damage active telephone equipment further away.  This is due to the fact that the base station unit must be connected via cables directly to the remote radio head in order to provide ongoing communication.  This connectivity is a pathway for electrical surges to travel upon, ultimately allowing far more electricity than can be handled by the equipment to come into contact with it.  In order to minimize the amount of damage that a single lightning strike can produce, cellular companies have begun integrating surge protection equipment in between these components, installed along these critical pathways.  By providing a barrier that has the ability to not only monitor the amount of electrical flow but also cut off that flow if it exceeds a specified amount, the telecom companies can reduce their expected amounts of maintenance and damage significantly.  In doing so, these predictable amounts of damage in the field can be reduced or eliminated completely, in some cases.  This not only reduces the amount of expenditure necessary to keep the system going, but also provides the better customer experience due to the fact that connectivity issues are reduced as well.  Keeping the systems online as much as possible keeps customers as happy as possible.  Keeping their bills as low as possible also keeps customers happy, ultimately creating a situation where the reduction of electrical surge related damage can have a dual effect on the profitability of the business.  In the hyper competitive world of telecommunications, those who have created the systems which can function with the longest up times and the smallest amount of ongoing maintenance and repair costs are the ones who will ultimately survive the test of time.

Surge Protection For Telecom

https://www.raycap.com/electrical-protection-telecom-system/

Telecommunications systems rely upon critical equipment in order to not only provide coverage within specific areas to their customers, but also to provide communications capabilities through their interconnected network.  People rely upon cellular connectivity for their routine daily tasks as well as for critical communications during times of emergency.  Connectivity to emergency services is crucial at all times, and can be the difference between life and death in some instances.  The challenging aspect of this responsibility is the fact that the same kind of inclement weather conditions that can bring on the necessity for connectivity to emergency services, also has the capability to destroy the equipment that provides that connectivity.  One of the most common causes of damage to telecom systems as well as outages in connectivity is lightning strikes to the towers that provide the unobstructed signals to cell phones.  In order to provide the best and clearest signal possible, cellular towers must be the tallest structures within an area, ultimately making them a perfect target for lightning strikes.  Much of the equipment that is housed within these towers as well as the materials with which the towers themselves are constructed are also attractants of lightning.  When the strikes happen to the cell tower top, it has the ability to not only damage or destroy equipment located nearby but also equipment further away.  This is due to one of the inherent issues with the telecom business:  in order to provide an unobstructed signal you often must also position yourself as the best possible target for lightning.

In order to compensate for the obvious issues that come with these kinds of flaws  to a system, the telecommunications industry has utilized surge protection devices as a buffer between the lightning strikes and the equipment housed within the towers.  This is an attempt to minimize the amount of damage that is produced by inclement weather and the lightning strikes which must be expected.  There are various methods of attempting to lessen the risk exposure of a site to lightning strike, overhead shields and lightning rods being examples, but it must be expected and predicted that there will be a certain amount of lightning strikes to the towers themselves every time there is a thunder storm in the area.  The damage that will be produced by the lightning strike can be mitigated through surge protection equipment.  The damages that will generally be found outside of the strike point are usually based on the electrical surge that is produced by the strike itself.  This surge overwhelms the circuitry of the computerized equipment, and is able to travel along power lines that interconnect these devices.  These surges are stopped in their tracks by surge protection equipment installed along the lines that interconnect these devices.  Through a redundant and effective installation of surge protection devices, the amount of predictable damage to equipment as well as the outages that will be expected as a result of this damage can be brought to a minimum.  The integration of surge protection equipment therefore is critical to the ongoing functionality of telecom systems.