The Case of Lightning Protection Solutions for Electric Power Facilities

Lightning protection performs an important and imperative function in the energy and electric power sectors helping companies avoid the downtime and restoration costs that come with outages. A single outage lasting one hour can cost upward of $1m not only to the company, but also to its customers depending on the users that are serviced.

But sometimes, the initial choice of a lightning protection solution can become the problem when outside or unknown influences are factored in. Weather, particularly lightning is one of the biggest threats to facilities of this type all over the world. Several companies have found that traditional lightning protection tends to create more issues than solutions and have opted to implement a solution based on charge transfer technology.

The direct opposite of shield wires and/or lightning rods, the Dissipation Array® System (DAS®) uses a different, innovative method of operation compared with both. While shield wires are meant to re-direct an incoming lightning strike's energy to the ground, away from equipment, the damaging secondary effects of the strike are still experienced. A lightning rod collects the strike and carries the current into the ground as well, creating the same effect. DAS uses 'charge transfer' technology, which prevents the termination of lightning within the area of desired protection altogether. The technology is so effective, the DAS has over a 99% success rate and is the only lightning protection product to offer a full no-strike warranty.

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