Protection of Pump and Motor Systems Against Overvoltage and Lightning
19 January 2016
Industry 4.0 and Smart Surge Protectors
24 January 2016
With the acceleration of LED conversions, complaints about LED systems being damaged by lightning and switching surges are also rapidly increasing. At this point, manufacturers producing LED lighting systems face the greatest difficulties. Customers and end users see the manufacturer as responsible for the fault and refer to the product warranty. However, sudden overvoltage surges from lightning and the mains leave low-voltage LED systems helpless. The only correct step for the manufacturer at this point is to protect the system with AG Surge Arrester products manufactured according to IEC 61643-11 Standard. Although it may cause a small additional cost, this is a situation that must be explained to the customer. When Type 1+2+3 coordination is ensured within the step-by-step protection principle, systems will not be damaged by lightning and sudden overvoltage surges.
Energy lines and communication lines in LED systems must be protected. In pole-type street lighting systems, Class 1+2 products should be installed under the poles, and Class 3 coordinated products on top of the poles. Some manufacturers import only Class 3 products from the Far East to reduce costs. However, these products, consisting only of diode systems, are directly damaged by surges above 5–10 kA. In the protection package we prepared as Lightning Protection Center, we recommend using modular products under poles with 100 kA withstand, Type 1+2 VG technology, providing unlimited damping with gas discharge tubes. Additionally, on the pole, we use a D-class (Type 3) sensitive protection product connected in series to the system, which reacts in less than 25 nanoseconds and eliminates all surges from 40 A to 1 kA.
Finally, our project implemented in Turkmenistan has been very well received. Due to the potential differences between poles, an overcurrent occurring at one pole can easily damage other poles. Furthermore, in many projects, lightning surges affect LED systems even from areas 2 km away due to differences in ground-specific resistance. AG Surge Arrester systems must remain an integral part of LED projects. Every produced LED product must contain a protection module. Our products manufactured in France are tested with maximum values according to IEC 61643-11 Standard. Therefore, to ensure customer confidence and to take correct steps under IEC 62305 standard, we recommend using LED Lightning Protection modules.
