Industrial surge protection systems protect wind farms, cell sites, electrical vehicle (EV) charging stations and other industrial installations that rely on continuous uptime to remain profitable and serve the public. In cellular installations, customer connectivity to communications and data networks is facilitated by the ongoing operations of computerized equipment at cell towers in the field. Each cellular tower or rooftop cell site is a component of a communications grid which allows customers to remain connected while they are within range of that particular tower. The structure itself is a target for lightning strikes due to its physical makeup. The tower is designed to be taller than surrounding structures to provide unobstructed signals to be sent and received via the sites remote radio heads (RRHs) installed on tower or rooftops. The RRH is a sophisticated piece of radio equipment located at the top of the tower structure, and directly connected to the base station unit through fiber-optic cable and copper power cables; or by a hybrid combination cable consisting of both. Any lightning strike to the RRH or to the structure itself will generally create a surge that travels directly down parallel lines or is coupled into lines, easily moving from one component to the next through the metal structure to the power cables. These electrical transients must be prevented from making this journey in order to minimize the damage from lightning surges. In addition to physical damage, the downtime from being knocked offline due to electrical surges creates unhappy customers who are unable to connect to the network.
In wind farms, the physical height of wind turbines and their blades makes them obvious targets for lightning strike activity. The blades of the wind turbines are generally the most vulnerable to strikes, and the surge produced threatens the entire structure of the turbine and all electronic equipment in the nacelle, at the wind turbine generator, and other locations along the tower. The connection to the circuitry provides a perfect method for the transmission of electrical transients via the metal structure that damages or destroys equipment. Expected losses in the wind power industry on a regular basis involve both physical damage and maintenance downtime, as electrical protection systems are often destroyed after a lightning surge incident. During these timeframes, the turbines are also vulnerable to subsequent strike damage, and are in many cases completely unprotected from the elements. All of these issues are avoidable with the simple installation of industrial surge protection technology from Raycap. While strikes to the blades are nearly impossible to prevent, damage as a result of these strikes can be minimized.
Raycap’s Strikesorb surge protection technology is far more robust than many other industrial strength surge protection products available. By utilizing both a strong metal housing and a larger varistor under pressure that can take multiple lightning strikes without failure, Raycap’s products and systems have the ability to provide continuous protection to your industrial application, enabling longer and more sustained uptimes, resulting in increased customer satisfaction levels, and largely reduced replacement costs for sensitive equipment. The easy installations in OEM systems as well as the retrofitting without significant downtime needs makes the products the clear choice for industrial operators in all industries worldwide. Contact Raycap today for more information.
