Clean Energy Surge Protection

The production of electricity is crucial to modern life as we know it, and the most effective means of producing this energy will always be employed.  There are several different methods of effectively producing electricity for public consumption, and the methods that are employed en-masse are generally dictated by several factors.  The first of these factors is overall production costs, and the ultimate price that a consumer must pay for the use of a specific amount of power.  The costs associated with producing that unit of power must be completely covered, and a profit structure applied to the amount on top of these costs.  The fixed costs of production across all forms of energy production involve the storage and transport of the electricity, as well as method-specific costs that are different depending on the way that the product is generated.  In the case of fossil fuel production, costs of a fuel source like oil or coal must be factored in, as well as the costs associated with the processing of that fuel source ultimately resulting in electricity being produced.  In the cases of “clean energy” sources there is no cost associated with the actual fuel as it is a sustainable and renewable element that is not burned to produce the ultimate product.  The fuel sources of wind, sunshine and flowing water are necessarily purchased although there are costs associated with taking these natural resources, and the associated costs of processing involve the transition of that free fuel into electricity through mechanized turning of turbines. (more…)

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

Emerging technologies face hurdles that slow down progress towards widespread adoption, most of which develop over time as the systems become more elaborate. Consumer demand drives interest in the technology as a solution to a problem, then the technology improves over time by addressing customer complaints and dissatisfaction if and when it arises. While many consumer complaints are easy to forecast in advance, as the technology becomes accepted and embraced by more people the tolerance levels for shortcomings becomes less and less. Simply put, the more people use an emerging technology, the faster they demand that it evolve to be more user-friendly. This is the case with the emerging technologies involved in electric vehicles (EV). (more…)

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

Industrialized facilities face a unique suite of issues that potentially reduces the amount of profit that can be generated through the facility.  Where other types of businesses will seek methods of increasing profitability that involve cheaper materials or more efficiency in the work process, industrial facilities also face potential losses through equipment damage that happens at far higher rates than other types of businesses.  This characteristic can be found in industrialized facilities across all types of business models. This primarily has to do with the modern methods of doing business being technologically advanced, and the necessity to modernize in order to maintain competitiveness. Businesses must utilize expensive computer equipment in order to compete with others who have done the same, and each new piece of technologically advanced equipment that is placed into service increases the risk of losses. This is because industrial types of businesses are far more exposed and impacted by weather conditions than other types of businesses. More specifically, industrial facilities must operate under the constant threat of weather events such as lighting strikes to their exposed areas, destroying the expensive electronic equipment used in the process. (more…)

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

Within both existing and emerging industries today, industrial surge protection plays a pivotal role in determining profitability.  Because of increasing the costs associated with the purchase of equipment necessary to maintain operations in an increasingly technological world, the need for protection of that equipment becomes more critical every year.  New industries that have been born within the technical age have always faced these types of challenges, but even the modernization and computerization of older industries illustrates the need for protection if businesses are to compete.  There are almost no industrial businesses operating today that do not have a technological element, and all these types of businesses are also in need of cost reduction plans in order to maintain their competitiveness.  The most obvious way to reduce expenses is to prolong the lifespan of the equipment used in the production process, adding to the bottom line by reducing both maintenance costs associated with replacement as well as the costs of purchasing new equipment.  If equipment can be made to operate beyond the expected and predicted lifespan, the situation becomes even more positive.  Industrial surge protection devices exist for this sole purpose, to extend the life span of equipment utilized in a wide variety of industrial processes.  Surge protection devices which are integrated into facilities that have the danger of damage as a result of power surges will almost always cost significantly less than the costs associated with repair or replacement of damage to equipment. (more…)

Lightning Protection For Wind Turbines And Green Energy

The entire concept of “green energy production” focuses on the production of electrical power in a way that would have less impact on the environment and ultimately would be affordable for consumers.  Essentially, the development of green energy production methods comes in response to dramatic changes to the environment and atmosphere, and the costs associated with using so much of it.  While the damage that is being done is unmistakable in the form of removal of resources that have a limit (coal, oil, natural gas), as well as the obvious pollution that is produced when these resources are burned, the debate over how much damage is done to the atmosphere continues to rage by those with short sighted goals.  The justification for continual use of these methods as opposed to pushing forward with development of more alternative energy production is based on corporate profits vs damage to the environment.  Consumers have not been fully convinced that the use of fossil fuels is doing significant damage to the Earth, and as a result they tend to lean towards the least expensive and most reliable method of electricity production. (more…)

Protection From Overvoltage

Industrial sites need to be protected from electrical surges with overvoltage protection devices and systems.  Raycap’s offerings for overvoltage protection are comprised of components which are of the highest industrial grade, for example the unique Strikesorb and SafeTec surge protection technologies.  Strikesorb offers the ultimate level of protection for the entire facility by providing service entrance protection, while Safetec is deployed at feeder panels inside the facility to protect the critical and sensitive equipment inside including computers and data microprocessors, as well as any other devices connected to and powered by an electrical grid.  Power surges produced by lightning strikes carried by the grid or by switching transients produced by equipment inside the facility itself, as well as other types of overvoltage events, are some of the most common and costly issues faced by industry when it comes to equipment damage and replacement.  It is only through adequate overvoltage protection (OVP) that these costs can be avoided. (more…)

The surges and spikes in power occurring on data lines as a result of lightning strikes either directly or as strikes nearby to the lines themselves can produce corrupted data as well wreck complete destruction of communications awards.  This is why unwanted energy must be diverted through the use of surge protectors which have been designed specifically for these purposes.  Data surge protection is crucial in order to maintain critical information as well as important records used in the ongoing daily business.  Surge protection devices must be compact in size yet offer surge capacities which are very robust.  Surge protection solutions that are found within technologically advanced industries are one of the primary methods of protecting both the equipment involved in the process as well as the satisfaction of the customer base.  For example, cellular users care little about natural events like lightning strikes which will produce damage and limit connectivity.  Their only concern is a lack of ability to connect to the network or communication slowdowns which will deliver long download times or buffer in on streaming services.  The unhappy customer will move to the nearest competitor almost without thinking, since they believe that anything shy of 100% connectivity and strong signals is inferior.  As a result of maintaining both equipment used in the process as well as the customer base in a happy state, some competitors outperform others.  Those that invested in the most technologically advanced surge protection devices are generally the winners.

RF signal protection is the industry terminology for the devices which assist in maintaining of an ongoing uninterrupted signal between the base station unit and the remote radio heads at the top of a cell tower.  The ongoing communication between these two systems is crucial when it comes to keeping the signal strong and ongoing.  Lightning strikes to either the power lines which supply electricity to these components or to the data lines which allow communications between them create issues with regard to both equipment damage as well as data loss.  Both of these factors contribute to negative customer experiences and can cost carriers significant customer loss and profits.  Data lines are directly connected to the equipment in the cell tower system.  This means that these connectivity lines absolutely must be shielded from transients in order to maintain the communication levels customers demand. Signal protection devices will shield the radio frequencies involved in this process from an interruption while also protecting against electromagnetic pulse issues provided by those same lightning strikes.  The equipment involved in the process can be not only better protected but potentially used for far longer periods in the field before maintenance for replacement will be necessary, significantly impacting the bottom line of the owner. Signal protection devices for radio frequencies help to build stronger networks and happier customers every day.  The integration of these surge protection devices and systems is crucial to maintaining a competitive advantage.

Just a few years ago it would be unthinkable to not use your computer for the majority of your daily life.  Only two decades ago your cell phone was just a novelty that allowed you to receive and make phone calls without having to be connected to a cord, but few could ever envisioned what would ultimately become a total dominance of the internet space by cellular phones.  This has led to a near total replacement of that connected computer sitting on your desk with your mobile phone.  It has evolved from being able to create clearer calls and better connectivity through an upgrade of the equipment involved in the process, to actually transmitting larger packets of data across the network.  Once the possibility of this was realized, the integration of internet connections was the next logical step.  Once people were able to make calls, connect to the internet and stream video to a variety of platforms, the cellular phone has seemingly all of a sudden become the way that people remain productive in innumerable ways.  It also creates the issue of a total reliance upon that connection in order to have so many aspects of life remain functional.  If a mobile phone cannot connect to the towers around it, life almost stops completely as far as productivity goes.  Most people do not have a backup wireline phone to rely upon, and fewer every year have another source of internet connectivity.  If the phone goes down, so does the ability to access the network, resulting in almost no ability to do the things that are necessary to do throughout the day.  As a result of the magnitude of this issue, cellular providers have invested heavily in devices that are intended to protect the integrity of their connected networks, and investing in industrial surge protection devices for their towers and equipment in the field has become the norm.

Because of the general makeup of a cellular tower, they are magnets for lightning strikes.  Being the tallest structure in a region is necessary in order to provide uninterrupted signals to the users on the ground, but this physical characteristic also makes the tower the prime target for lightning strikes.  The materials with which the tower is constructed also plays a role in the attraction of lightning.  The damage as a result of a lightning strike to the tower itself is seen as not only the damage that occurs at the strike point but also the damage that occurs as a result of both network outages and equipment overload.  Lightning strikes produce a massive power surge which will damage the circuitry of the equipment which is used at the top of the tower to send and receive signals as well as the bottom of the tower which houses critical network equipment.  Equipment at these positions are connected through both power lines as well as data transfer cables, which provide a perfect pathway for the electrical surge to travel and damage that equipment.  Only through investment into the most robust surge protection devices, those that can take a lightning surge and not fail, are cellular providers able to keep your calls connected and your internet connection functional.

Lightning Strikes To Solar Panels

While solar generated power is one of the most innovative and potentially earth changing technologies to ever be developed, it does have costs associated with it.  Many people do not understand the costs, due to the fact that the sunshine that ultimately is used as a fuel source to produce the power is free.  The comparisons to fossil fuel production methods using oil and coal as fuel sources can be made with regard to the final product that is produced, but ultimately the processes are quite different and have different expenses.  Within the fossil fuel space, the main cost is the fuel source itself, but within the green energy space the main costs are operating expenses, or the maintenance and replacement of equipment. (more…)