Solar Panels Hit By Lightning

Many people do not understand the costs due to the fact that the sunshine that ultimately is used as a fuel source to produce the power is free.

Solar panels hit by lightning.

However in the rare event of the solar generator be. Also the battery banks on most off grid pv systems act as a fairly good surge arrestor if you have good connections and a good ground but it may take out the controller on. A damaging surge can occur from lightning that strikes a long distance from the system or even between clouds. Since the metal panel frames and racking of the solar array are located on the roof the egc will direct a strike to the solar array to ground and may reduce additional damage to the building.

The frames and mounts on panels are usually grounded sometimes more by accident than design and that often diverts the lightning directly to ground saving the panels. How to protect your solar power system from lightning lightning is a common cause of failures in photovoltaic pv and wind electric systems. Lightning strikes to solar panels while solar generated power is one of the most innovative and potentially earth changing technologies to ever be developed it does have costs associated with it. Likewise roof mounted solar panels on high buildings are also a target and should be protected.

Solar farms are just big fields covered with conductive material. Since a photovoltaic installation does not increase the probability of lightning strikes the solar modules themselves are no more at risk than the inverter or other loads connected to the grid. Pv farms installed in open areas where there are no high buildings or trees have a high probability of being hit by lightning and should seriously consider lightning protection in their solar designs.