Information

Lightning Protection For Wind Turbines

Green energy technology is a phrase used to describe several different industries that generate consumable electricity using a variety of methods. The unifying element across these different production methods is the use of a clean and renewable fuel source in order to turn the turbines necessary to create power. Within the fossil fuel industry, this same process is completed by burning a fuel source such as coal, oil or wood in order to turn the turbines that produce the electricity, but in the green energy space there is no need to burn fuel. This creates the same effect without pollution or damage to the environment in the form of greenhouse gas emissions, and also without the necessity to mine or harvest the fuel source. With green energy technology the fuel source, including wind, solar or water, is harnessed and converted into electricity. These fuel sources are also available without cost, positioning green energy technology as being the obvious logical choice for anyone desiring a cleaner environment. While global warming and the actual amounts of damage caused to the environment by fossil fuel production is understood in the scientific community, some still debate the causes of the excessive greenhouse gases causing climate change. However, there is no denying that green energy technology does produce a cleaner process, and in doing so poses a definite threat to the fossil fuel industry profits because of its potential for also producing a less expensive product. (more…)

Surge Protection Devices

Raycap is a leading designer and manufacturer of surge protection devices.  The devices that are produced are designed for industrial applications, but can easily be implemented into home systems as well, protecting against the damaging electrical surges produced by lightning strikes, switching errors, transformer malfunctions or a bevy of other sources.  The Strikesorb technology produced by Raycap often exceed the standards that are placed on typical surge protection components, integrating more robust housings, more advanced components and an “always on” design that needs no replacing or resetting after it has performed its duty.  This provides a constant protection to equipment and systems, even after a surge instance that would require conventional surge protection technology to sacrifice itself in order to protect, yet leaving the formerly protected equipment vulnerable to future surges.  Blocking additional surges after the initial incident are critical in effective protection of equipment, and only Raycap devices are most capable at it. (more…)

Street Cabinets For Telecommunications And Other Industries

Raycap is one of the world’s leaders in the development and manufacture of surge protection devices.  These devices are designed to have a single purpose, to cut the flow of overvoltage to equipment beyond the point of their install.  The devices are designed to be the premier products available in the surge protection market, not only surpassing the levels of protection offered by competitors but also going above and beyond to offer unique characteristics that provide value to users.  Raycap designs its products to not only protect investments, but also to provide protection of function, keeping systems online or restoring them to functionality in less time than competing devices.  This commitment to not only a higher standard of performance, but to the highest standard available, is what has driven Raycap technological research since its inception.  That same commitment to protection is seen in other devices that may not have the technological level that the surge protection devices do, but that are equally important.  This same degree of commitment to producing the best possible enclosures for street level equipment is seen in the Raycap line of “outdoor active cabinets.” (more…)

Street Cabinets And The Protection Of Critical Components

Within the telecommunications industry, an issue that is continually being addressed with improvements is the protection of field equipment.  There is a necessity for the placement of significant amounts of high tech equipment within settings that are exposed to potential harm and damage.  Both natural and un-natural damage is a risk to exposed equipment, which can be vandalized as easily as being destroyed by weather.  In order to provide the greatest level of protection available, the “street cabinet” or “outdoor active cabinet” was developed.  These aluminum enclosures are designed to provide the maximum amount of protection available while at the same time allowing for ventilation in order to prevent internal overheating issues.  These enclosures are constructed of aluminum alloys, reducing the possibility for corrosion while also reducing electrical conductivity, creating a balance between strength and critical limitations of materials.  In addition to strength and security, street cabinets are also modular and are able to be designed and configured for any number of customer needs. (more…)

RF Protection From Raycap

RF Protection is an industry term that describes surge protective devices that are installed with the task of shielding radio frequencies. This type of technology is generally integrated into and near telecommunications equipment in order to protect RF and coaxial data or signal lines.  Raycap’s concentration within this space is the design of products that will assist service for areas where RF equipment must remain up and working, protecting against surges and spikes that will result in damage to communications equipment.  While the vulnerability of power lines to electrical surges is well known, less widespread is the understanding that data and communications lines are equally susceptible.  Lightning strikes to connected data lines can just as easily knock out communications capabilities between components as well as networks, as well as potentially destroy data storage components, leading to massive losses of stored data.

The technology that has been developed by Raycap to provide cellular surge protection for RF equipment protects against electromagnetic pulses and electrical surge transients.  Strikes can produce a steep rise in electric fields within micro-seconds, generating extremely high voltage pulses to antennas and to other unprotected equipment.  These events produce not only physical damage, but will also damage customer satisfaction, an element that is critical to the modern telecommunications business.  Outages and disruptions create unhappy customers that switch networks, and they do not care about the reasons for the disruptions.  The fallout from a lightning strike to power lines, data lines or directly to equipment itself can result in massive losses in the form of equipment replacement costs, but also customer revenue.

Raycap specializes in electrical protection in the telecommunications field.  Even a single lightning strike to an unprotected system can cause losses that will put a strain on a business, making the protection of communications systems paramount.  For this reason, Raycap has developed specialized products that are integrated at critical points within the system in a redundant manner, ensuring that no strike will produce the levels of damage or prolonged outage that would be seen if other methods are trusted.  Quite simply, Raycap manufactures the world’s most technologically advanced and physically robust surge protection and connectivity devices available to the telecommunications market  in order to  keep communications systems in place and functioning.  Raycap takes this effort so seriously because we understand that not only your business is relying on us, but also your customers.  A lack of connectivity during emergency situations can be the difference between life and death, and because of this we understand that it is not just a cellular phone in your customer’s hand, but a tool that can make all of the difference in a critical situation.  We are constantly researching ways to improve our SPDs even further, and push the connectivity level to as close to 100% as possible.  We strive to make your business better for both you and your customers, and promise to provide the best protection on the market both now and in the future.

FTTA PTTA Solutions

Raycap is well known globally as a manufacturer of surge protection devices for numerous industries, including the highly specialized telecommunications industry.  Within this specialization is RRH protection (remote radio head) which is essentially the exposed equipment that is housed atop cellular towers and other structures, designed to communicate with the base band unit (BBU) network in order to provide connectivity for individuals within range of that network.  This equipment has been recognized as being vulnerable to damage from a number of weather-related sources, most importantly lightning strikes to the tower or structure.  These strikes create immediate damage at the strike point, but also bring with them surge oriented damage to equipment that is in the vicinity of the strike.  Strikes to the structure are often times coupled into power and communications lines which connect the RRH and BBU, as well as associated equipment midstream.  The lightning surge event that transpires is nearly always of a great enough magnitude to destroy circuitry in all components, and is only able for equipment to be protected by the integration of industrial surge protection devices at critical points.  Using Raycap’s unique Class 1 MOV surge protection technology in the FTTA (Fibre to the antenna) and PTTA (Power to the antenna) connectivity architectures, DC power is effectively protected against lightning surges and fiber-optic cable is better distributed at distributed base station (DBS) or RRH architectures. (more…)

Protect The Turbines

The alternative energy industry consists of different areas that make up the bulk of what is considered “renewable energy”.  These are wind, solar and hydroelectric power, with wind and solar showing the most promise of greater adoption and expansion in the future.  The push towards renewable energy sources is not necessarily grounded in the protection of the environment, although that does play a major role in public support.  In reality, the move toward renewable sources of energy is about sustainable resources for the future, and cost. To be completely beholden to oil or coal as the primary fuel sources of a nation’s electricity puts that nation’s coming generations in a tenuous position for the future.  With regard to fossil fuels, countries are generally reliant upon trade agreements with oil producing countries, and the desire for energy independence combined with the potential for the ability to produce energy cheaper, leverages public support for renewable energy as oil prices increase.  People have begun to call for technological advances that provide cleaner and cheaper power, and are looking to the wind and solar industries to provide these solutions. (more…)

Protection From Lightning For Businesses

Each business is unique, even if they share the same industry.  Each type of business no matter what the product or service they provide are seeking a common goal, the maximization of profits through customer retention and new customer acquisition, the streamlining of operations and the reduction of costs.  As industries get more crowded with competitors offering the same products to their customers, the levels to which they operate must improve.  The market itself will eliminate those who do not provide superior products and low prices, as it has grown easier and easier to find competing businesses offering more and more to their customers.  Pressures mount to provide a better product at a lower price, and the only way for companies to reduce prices is either by reducing profit margins or improving operations. (more…)

Solar Surge Protection On Industrial Levels

Solar power production on an industrial level is accomplished using fields of solar panels which harvest sunlight in order to heat liquid within attached tubing and turn turbines.  This electricity is then captured and transported via electrical grids to customers for consumption.  While the storage and transport aspects of solar power production are much the same as the processes used by fossil fuel producers, the mechanisms deployed for solar power production are far more “high tech” than many used in the processes of extracting and burning fossil fuels.  While the high tech nature of the equipment used allows for more efficient generation, it also creates a more expensive product.  This is due to the fact that the equipment involved in the process that controls panel alignment, regulation and system analysis is computerized and highly susceptible to damage.  This equipment is attached directly to the panels via power and data cables, and electrical transients that alter the typical power flow to and from this equipment can easily overload the circuitry and cause damage or total destruction.  The costs of equipment repair and replacement, as well as the costs of downtime and non-production during peak hours as a result of damage, lead solar power to ultimately cost more than the fossil based fuel production of the same product. (more…)