Lightning strikes are a natural hazard that can cause significant damage to solar panel systems. Without proper protection, strikes can lead to costly repairs, system downtime, or even permanent damage to your solar setup. In this blog, we’ll discuss comprehensive strategies to safeguard your solar panels and inverter against lightning.
How to Protect Solar Panels From Lightning?
1. Install Lightning Rods for Direct Strike Protection
Lightning rods are metal rods installed near solar systems to attract lightning strikes, directing the electrical current safely into the ground.
Steps to install lightning rods effectively:
- Placement: Ensure the lightning rod is positioned higher than the solar panels to provide a protective cone.
- Grounding: Connect the rod to a grounding system with heavy-duty wiring. This ensures the electrical current disperses safely into the earth.
- Professional installation: Hire licensed electricians for installation to ensure compliance with local building codes.
2. Use Surge Protection Devices (SPDs)
When lightning strikes, it can induce power surges that travel through electrical wiring, damaging sensitive components like inverters and batteries. Surge protectors act as a shield, absorbing excess voltage and preventing it from reaching critical parts of your system.
How to implement surge protection:
- Install SPDs in key locations: Place them at the inverter, junction box, and battery bank to protect all vital system components.
- Select high-quality SPDs: Look for devices with high energy ratings and certifications for reliability.
- Conduct regular maintenance: Inspect SPDs periodically to ensure they remain functional after power surges.
3. Ensure Proper Grounding of Your System
Grounding connects the solar panel system to the earth, providing a safe path for excess electrical energy during lightning strikes or power surges.
Best practices for grounding:
- Connect all components: Use heavy-duty copper or aluminum wiring to ground panels, mounting frames, and electrical components.
- Install grounding rods: These rods should be driven deep into the ground to effectively disperse electrical currents.
- Inspect regularly: Look for signs of corrosion or loose connections, as these can compromise grounding efficiency.
4. Consider a Lightning Protection System (LPS)
An LPS integrates multiple protective components, including lightning rods, grounding, and surge protectors, into a unified defense mechanism.
Benefits of an LPS:
- Comprehensive protection against direct strikes and surges.
- Reduced risk of fire or structural damage.
How to set up an LPS:
- Work with licensed professionals to design and install a system tailored to your solar setup.
- Ensure all components meet national safety standards.
- Perform annual maintenance to keep the system in top condition.
5. Mitigate Risks in High-Risk Areas
Solar installations in regions prone to thunderstorms or in elevated locations are more vulnerable to lightning.
Strategies for high-risk areas:
- For roof-mounted systems: Enhance protection with an LPS and lightning rods.
- For ground-mounted systems: Use lower-profile designs and maintain a safe distance from tall structures.
- Invest in monitoring systems: Install sensors to detect and alert you to potential lightning damage.
6. Secure Comprehensive Insurance Coverage
Despite implementing protective measures, there’s always a residual risk of lightning damage. Insurance can help cover repair or replacement costs.
What to look for in a policy:
- Coverage for both direct lightning strikes and power surges.
- Inclusion of electrical and structural components.
- A clear claims process to ensure timely compensation.
How to Protect Inverter From Lightning?
I. Inverter side grounding - work grounding
Photovoltaic power generation system, all non-current-carrying metal parts as well as the shell of the equipment need to be grounded. Work grounding: a single inverter needs to be the inverter PE cable grounding, multiple inverters need to be all the solar inverter PE cable as well as the PV array metal frame connected to the same ground, in order to achieve equipotential connection.
II. Inverter Side Grounding--Protective Grounding
Protective grounding: the left or right side of the inverter body side generally have a grounding hole is to do repeated grounding, to protect the inverter and the operator's safety, inverter chassis protective grounding can be used individually with grounding electrode, but also can be shared with the distribution box with a grounding electrode (usually), as follows: inverter side grounding - protective grounding.
In order to improve the corrosion resistance of the grounding terminal, it is recommended that after the installation of the grounding cable is completed, the outside of the grounding terminal is coated with silicone or painted for protection.
In addition in order to provide the effectiveness of the household PV system lightning protection, for household PV lightning protection also need to pay attention to the following points:
If the system capacity is large or located in a high lightning strike area, additional lightning rods need to be installed next to the square array to improve the lightning protection level of the system;
There are other metal facilities on the roof (e.g. receiving antenna, solar water heater, etc.), the DC circuit should be as far away as possible, and the PV racking must not come into contact with it, and it is recommended that additional lightning rods be installed on the roof;
The area of the series circuit of the system is as small as possible to reduce the intensity of the occurrence of induced lightning;
It is recommended to make a separate lightning protection network for the PV system to avoid lightning intrusion into the PV system through the building lightning protection network;
Final Thoughts
Protecting your solar panels from lightning is crucial for ensuring reliable and long-lasting performance. By combining lightning rods, surge protection, grounding, and comprehensive insurance, you can minimize risks and maintain uninterrupted energy production.
For maximum safety and efficiency, consider Shielden’s solar inverters and solar systems, designed with advanced lightning protection and reliability in mind.
