4/2/2014 Lightning and Lightning Protection

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All About Lightning and Lightning Protection
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Lightning is the number one cause of catastrophic failures in solar electric systems and components. The first major reason is
that many PV systems are poorly grounded and poorly protected. That is also the 2nd and 3rd major reason.
All photos courtesy of NOAA unless otherwise noted. Click on pictures for full
size image.


Facts and Myths About Lightning
Because the subject of lightning is so complex, we have abbreviated some of the information here.
Facts:
The purpose of lightning protection is NOT to stop the lightning from striking. You can't do that. Lightning protection controls the
PATH of the lightning after it hits. Like it or not, that is about the best you can do. It's not lightning that causes the damage, it's
lightning going through places you don't want it to.
At any instant, there are more than 2,000 thunderstorms taking place throughout the world. These storms combine to produce
about 100 lightning flashes per second, each one with a potential of up to a billion volts, currents ranging up to 200,000 amperes
and temperatures of over 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
One hundred million feet per second is the quickness of the lightning streak through the sky. No
wonder the flash is difficult to watch from beginning to end; it starts and stops at almost the same
time. Lightning travels 90,000 mi/sec (nearly 1/2 the speed of light), 100,000 times faster than
sound and therein lies the reason thunder is heard after the flash is seen. The stroke, which is
about two inches across and between 200 feet and 20 miles long, lasts but a microsecond.
The longest lightning strike ever verified was 121 miles long.
Lightning likes land. According to images of data from NASA's Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS).
From December 1997 through January 1998, LIS saw that 90 percent of lightning was over land.
Almost nothing can offer 100% protection from lightning strikes or damage - but it can be reduced
95% or more with simple precautions and relatively inexpensive installation methods.

Myths
There are a lot of myths about lightning. Some have persisted for centuries. Some really silly ones seem to stay around forever.
A few of the more popular ones are below.
A lightning rod or grounded tower or high structure makes it more likely that lightning will strike:
Wrong - It will have little or no effect on how likely it is that it will strike in the immediate area, the important thing is it will be
conducted directly to ground, without having to go through your inverter and computer first. It does make it more likely to strike
where you want it to. There is some evidence that a few strikes can be prevented with the use of special sharp-pointed "air
streamer" lightning rods, which bleed off some of the accumulated charge. However, that has been a controversy for at least 50
years.
Lightning always strikes the tallest object:
Wrong - It can strike anyplace - although it is most likely to hit the highest object, there is no guarantee. It is also more likely to
strike something with a good path to ground, such as a steel tower. Sometimes, even if it strikes the highest object, you can
get side flashes if the object it hits is not well grounded.
You should not touch metal objects if lightning is in the area.
This is goofy, yet the myth has even been perpetuated on some of the National Weather Service web pages. If you seriously
think that lightning is going to worry about a 3 foot golf club after tearing through 5 miles or more of air, you probably should not
be playing golf. Their was also a recent news story about how an under-wire bra had "attracted lightning" - not hardly. However -
carrying something like an umbrella might increase the chance of a hit by a tiny amount - but because it is higher, not because
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carrying something like an umbrella might increase the chance of a hit by a tiny amount - but because it is higher, not because
it is metal. Touching a grounded metal object (such as a water pipe) may increase your chances of being struck, as it may
decide to use you for a path to ground.
Lightning could be used as a power source.
Not going to happen. Unless you can figure out some way to store up 100,000,000 volts in a few microseconds. Most of the
energy in a strike is converted to heat, sound and light energy anyway, so there is not that much left over.
Some people can attract lightning:
This pretty much falls into the Little Green Men category, yet some still believe it.
If you want to see more myths and more detail, see these links:
Lightning Injury Facts - Myths, Miracles, and Mirages
Lightning Myths: Lightning doesn't strike the same place twice.
NOAA Lightning facts and myths.
Where Lightning can Strike
As can be seen on the map at the right, lightning can strike anyplace. Obviously, some areas are much more active than others
- in fact Florida is usually considered the "lightning capitol" of the world - second only perhaps to some areas of Australia. This
map does not show the relative intensity, so it can be a little misleading. Although the Southwest does not rate that high in the
total number of strikes, some of the largest strikes ever recorded are from that area due to the sometimes violent updrafts from
the super heated desert floor.
What Causes Lightning?
Lightning originates around 15,000 to 25,000
feet above sea level when raindrops are
carried upward until some of them convert to
ice. For reasons that are not widely agreed
upon, a cloud-to-ground lightning flash
originates in this mixed water and ice region.
The charge then moves downward in 50-yard
sections called step leaders. It keeps moving toward the ground in these
steps and produces a channel along which charge is deposited. Eventually,
it encounters something on the ground that is a good connection. The
circuit is complete at that time, and the charge is lowered from cloud to
ground. The flow of charge (current) produces a luminosity that is very much
brighter than the part that came down. This entire event usually takes less
than half a second.
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What Kind of Damage can Lightning Cause?
Most electrical and electronic damage in both grid-tie and off-grid solar electric systems is NOT due to a direct hit. In fact, direct
hits are rare. Most damage occurs from nearby hits, usually within a few hundred feet. A near-strike can induce thousands of
volts onto the house and PV array wiring if not protected. In a ground hit, it can also spread out and travel into buried
conductors, such as pipes and buried cables. Contrary to popular assumption, the panels themselves are not the biggest victim
- inverters and controllers are. The frames and mounts on panels are usually grounded (sometimes more by accident than
design), and that often diverts the lightning directly to ground, saving the panels. Also, the battery banks on most off-grid PV
systems acts as a fairly good surge arrestor if you have good connections and a good ground - but it may take out the controller
on it's way. If the battery bank is not grounded, damage can be much more severe - it may then leap around all over trying to
find a path to ground.
Cloud-to-ground lightning can kill or injure people by direct or indirect means. The lightning current can branch off to a person
from a tree, fence, pole, or other tall object. In addition, flashes may conduct their current through the ground to a person after
the flash strikes a nearby tree, antenna, or other tall object. The current also may travel through power or telephone lines, or
plumbing pipes to a person who is in contact with an electric appliance, telephone, or plumbing fixture.
Similarly, objects can be directly struck and this impact may result in an explosion, burn, or total destruction. Or, the damage
may be indirect when the current passes through or near it. Sometimes, current may enter a building and transfer through wires
or plumbing and damage everything in its path. Similarly, in urban areas, it may strike a pole or tree and the current then travels
to several nearby houses and other structures and enter them through wiring or plumbing. In some cases lightning can strike
the ground and travel up buried power lines for hundreds of yards.
It is very important to note that lightning does NOT have to hit directly to cause damage. In fact, because of the EMP
(electromagnetic pulse) associated with large strikes, the static and electric fields that occur actually cause most of the
damage in unprotected electrical and electronic equipment. In a nearby strike, the wiring in a house or photovoltaic system acts
like an antenna, and if unprotected and/or ungrounded can feed thousands of volts back into your inverter and other equipment.
Step One - Proper Grounding
First off, the NEC Article 780 (NFPA) codes for lightning protection may not be totally adequate for off-grid installations. In fact,
in some cases, the recommended practices can actually make it MORE dangerous. Unfortunately, some local inspectors
assume that the National Electrical Code book is a bible and will not allow any deviations. For example, Zones of protection,
including cones and rolling balls, lack warnings about lightning's' unpredictable nature. These geometric abstractions are
presented as factual, rather than statistical levels of protection. This is not to say that you should not follow the NEC
recommendations in most cases - but you should be aware that recent research shows that there might be considerable
variations from the average. Further steps may be needed for PV systems. NEC grounding is primarily concerned with electrical
safety, not lightning protection, and the two may not always be compatible. For lightning protection you may need to take steps
beyond the code minimum requirements.
The Purpose of Grounding: Equipment: Panel frames and mounts are grounded in order to provide the easiest path for
lightning to get to ground. You would much rather have it go down the mounting pole or your ground rod than down your wiring to
your controller or inverter or new wide screen TV. Without proper grounding, lightning can do some really strange things, and
can jump around all over while trying to get to earth. If your inverter happens to be in the way, you will probably be buying a new
one. You cannot stop lightning, but you can usually direct where you want it to go.
Fuses and Breakers offer NO protection: Fuses and circuit breakers offer no protection at all to lightning strikes. That is not
their purpose. Lighting usually lasts for only a few microseconds - much faster than any fuse or breaker can blow. It's pretty
unlikely that a one-inch fuse gap is going to offer much protection from a bolt that just cut through two miles of open air. Yet the
myth persists that a fuse will offer lighting protection. It will not.
Single Point Grounds!!: The importance of a single-point protection ground cannot be stressed enough. All equipment should
normally be bonded to one single good earth ground. If you have some equipment on one ground, and other equipment on
another ground, it is quite likely that in a nearby strike that there will be a large voltage difference between the two grounds. This
means that the equipment will be at different voltages, sometimes high enough to get arcing from one to another. There is an
exception to this: If you have a panel array that is more than 50 to 75 feet or so from the rest of the system, it should have it's
own frame/mount ground (not electrical ground).
A Single Ground Rod is Seldom Enough: Tests done over the past few years show that in most cases, a single 6 or 8 foot
ground rod is NOT enough, even when the ground is salted to improve conductivity. The problem is, in arid climates with dry
soil, it could take as many as a dozen rods to get it down to the 10 ohms ground resistance that is usually accepted as the
optimum (25 ohms is the NEC minimum). To get down to the 25 ohm NEC minimum, you may have to use 2-3 10 foot rods, all
bonded together with #6 wire and copper wire clamps. However, if you cannot do this, something is better than nothing. In some
cases you may have to go so far as to bury lengths of bare copper wire or copper pipe in trenches.
Grounding and NEC Requirements
The NEC requires that all exposed metal surfaces be grounded regardless of the nominal system voltage. Systems with PV
open-circuit voltages below 50 Volts are not required to have one of the current-carrying conductors grounded. Any system with
ac voltages at 120 volts must have the neutral grounded. Some inverters do not isolate the AC and DC sides; grounding the AC
neutral will also ground the DC negative. Other inverters have the case (which must be grounded) connected to the negative
input which grounds the negative current-carrying conductor.
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The NEC requirement can be extended. A separate conductor (as large as possible, but not less than number 10 AWG) should
be fastened to each metallic module frame with a grounding lug or other approved method. The other end of these conductors
should be connected to a single point on the array frame or rack again with another self-threading, stainless-steel screw or
with a stainless-steel bolt in a drilled and tapped hole. From this point, number 4-6 AWG or larger copper conductor should be
run directly to the nearest earth where it is connected to the longest, deepest ground rod that can be afforded. Eight feet is the
minimum length recommended. Use a UL-listed clamp to make the connection. If a steel well casing is available, drill and tap
the casing and use this as the ground rod.
In dry areas, several ground rods spaced 20-50 feet apart in a radial configuration, all bonded to the central rod can be effective.
Buried copper water pipe can also improve the grounding system. Pipe or copper wire can be buried in trenches 12-18 inches
deep in a radial grid. All grounding members should be connected or bonded to the central ground rod with heavy, bare
conductors buried under ground. Direct-burial, UL-listed grounding clamps or welding should be used for all connections.
Soldering should never be used for underground connections - it can corrode underground due to the different metals.
You can't get a "perfect" ground unless you are prepared to spend megabucks on buried copper cables. However, a good
ground is possible to get in most areas and need not be expensive. In dry and/or rocky locations, it may be more of a
"challenge". If you can't get it perfect, ANYTHING is better than nothing at all. If you have bedrock at 3 feet, try driving in 3 to 6
short ground rods and tie them all together with at least #4 wire and good clamps. - not perfect, but far better than nothing.
Another way is to bury heavy wire or (usually cheaper) lengths of copper pipe in ditches. Keeping the ground wet and/or salting
the nearby area will also help.
The negative side of the battery bank should be grounded to the same point as all other ground wires. Batteries usually have a
very low internal resistance, and can help act like a large surge arrestor on all but a direct hit. This may stop a hit near your
panels from jumping around to your inverter and other equipment. The ground wire should be at least #8, and #6 or #4 is
recommended.
Surge Arrestors
Surge arrestors act like "clamps" in most cases. They go across the live wires with another wire going to ground. Normally they
just sit there, but if the voltage goes above a certain level, they start to conduct, shorting the higher voltage to ground. In lighting
prone areas you should also install a surge capacitor - this is not really an arrestor, but acts extremely fast, and will catch
those high voltage spikes on the AC line that are too fast for a surge arrestor. For most systems to get the best protection, you
should have a DC surge arrestor, such as the LA302DC on the side coming from the array - this should go on the INPUT to the
charge controller. It should be as near the charge controller as possible. On the AC side (and this applies to BOTH the inverter
AC input and AC output (for generator and/or grid tie systems) you should have both an AC surge arrestor and a surge
capacitor.
Most inverter damage is caused by surges on the AC side coming in through house or generator wiring. In many systems with a
backup generator, the generator is located outside, quite some distance from the inverter, and is a common hit point for
lightning strikes. The Delta LA302R AC surge arrestor and the CA302 surge capacitor should be used on the AC portions. The
benefits of also putting arrestors at the generator end are not all that great, and if installed you will probably need a separate
ground rod system.
For most mid size and larger systems we recommend the Midnite Solar surge arrestors, or the Outback Power types. For
smaller systems, or for general household AC protection the Delta brand will offer some lesser protection but are quite a bit
cheaper.
The Delta arrestors are not perfect, but they work a lot better than nothing. Better arrestors are available, but the problem is
price - complete system protection using the Polyphaser units could easily cost over $1000. The biggest problem with the Delta
arrestors is that they may not always trigger on "low "level" spikes, but if you also have a surge capacitor installed, that will
catch most of those.
It may seem a bit high to spend over $200 on surge arrestors, but the typical repair bill for large sine
wave inverter that has been lightning hit can run well over $1000. Delta Surge arrestors and capacitors
may be ordered from our online store.
Installing Delta Arrestors
Most of the Delta surge arrestors that we sell have 3 wires (a few, for pumps, have 4). In all cases, the
GREEN wire is ground, the black and white wires are wired across the AC or the DC power side. Even
though the white in most AC systems is neutral, and is supposedly grounded, don't count on it - make
sure you have both sides protected. In DC systems, such as PV arrays, it really does not matter much
which of the two wires go to what, but again both sides of the input to the charge controller or whatever
the panels are feeding should have one wire from the arrestor attached. To protect a 3-phase
submersible pump motor, connect the black wires to the line terminals and the white and/or green wire
to the casing ground. Most of the arrestors that we sell have a separate green ground wire - this wire
should ALWAYS be attached to a good ground.
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