PV Surge Protection Systems And Devices

Read More: Solar System Surge Protection

PV surge protection it is one of the most important aspects of your photovoltaic system with regards to ongoing operations.  The cost of power generation is one of the main concerns to both the residential customers as well as industrial operators, and although solar PV systems have the added benefit of not producing greenhouse gases through their operation, the overwhelming majority of people who are interested in solar power are probably looking into the cost savings that can be achieved.  The operation of a system that needs no fuel to be purchased in order to create the electricity product should theoretically be less than the operation of the system that has to have a fuel source purchased in order to manufacture the same electrical product.  Unfortunately, when you look at the overall cost of operations over time, and factor in all the elements that are involved in the production of power, many times we find that the solar power systems are still more expensive to operate.  We see this on both the industrial and the residential level if you look at the macro vision of the entire system.  While the actual production of electricity costs less within the solar power system, we find added costs building up in the repair and maintenance of the equipment involved in the process.  It is these costs that inflate the overall cost of production to a higher level than fossil fuels, ultimately providing an argument for those who oppose green energy technology.  Luckily, technology evolves over time in ways that will generally produce cheaper products, and within the solar genre we find that the panels are being made cheaper now than they were 10 years ago.  This offers an opportunity to reduce the costs of operation over time of panels ware out or are damaged through their exposure to the elements.  The cheaper panels will reduce the overall operational expenses, but we still find issues with regards to power surges that damage control equipment downstream.  The panels are exposed and ultimately can be  targets for lightning strikes, producing electrical surges that travel all alone power lines and damage equipment further down the line.  The control equipment used in the process must be fed electricity within a safe operational range in order to operate effectively.  The power surges that are produced by lightning strikes to the solar panels send electrical transients far out of this range along the DC power lines to downstream equipment.  The damage to these critical components creates an overall operational cost it is generally higher than fossil fuels.  Technology however can once again come to the rescue.  Through the installation of technologically advanced surge protection systems and devices which are designed for the DC side of PV systems, that we can extend the life span of the control equipment to far longer timeframes been in the past.  The evolution of superior surge protection equipment integrated within the systems might very well be the catalyst that drives the prices of solar power production down below fossil fuel production, ultimately tipping the scales towards green energy.