Surge protection devices have come a long way from their humble beginnings. As soon as there was an ability to provide electrical current to a device, there was the need to figure out a way to safely stop that current from flowing. The dangers that current posed were obvious in the form of electrocution, fire and explosions. A more subtle damage was found in equipment failure as a result of unregulated current, that equipment only being able to tolerate so much before the internal components were destroyed. This was amplified further as equipment became more technologically advanced and circuitry was further employed in computers. Devices became more sensitive and more expensive at the same time, and the simple “shutoff switch” could no longer be as the only adequate protection once the need for continuous uptime became prevelant. The circuit breakers that were once the only form of protection against flowing electricity needed to be improved upon. They were not going to be replaced, but instead added to in the system of protection that shields the most sensitive components from the brute strength of flowing electricity. Anyone who ever plugged their expensive computer into a wall outlet only to find that a power surge finally destroyed its circuitry understands the need.
Magnify that need by millions and millions, and you find yourself in the industrial surge protection market. The equipment is more expensive and is relied upon to provide products and services to millions of people and businesses. When these services are interrupted due to equipment failures, consumers see prices rise or potential dangers through interruptions of critical communications. These failures must be protected in order to ensure not only that revenues are secured, but also to keep the services working that industrialized nations have come to rely upon. For example: if a lightning strike to a cell tower interrupts service to the cell phones in an area during an emergency, communication is now cut off when it is most needed, and lives could be potentially at risk. The need for the most robust and advanced surge protection systems becomes more obvious every year.
Surge protection devices further evolve all the time. What is essentially a gapping strategy in order to cease the electrical flow in a straight line has gone from being a crude mechanical process to a highly advanced technological process. The improvements to SPDs allow them to not only cut off surging electricity faster, but also to stay active longer. People may be unaware that a weakness in protection systems exists when a surge has triggered a device and it is now rendered powerless to protect against subsequent surges. The more technologically advanced surge protection devices do not “shut off” when they are triggered, and instead remain fully functional after the surge to protect against multiple instances of power surge. This added layer of protection saves millions of dollars every year across countless industries, and probably impacts your life in ways you never even knew about. Surge protection is impacting your daily life every day, and as it improves your life will too.
