Placement of lightning rods [RE-wrenches]

[sunwise at cheqnet.net]

Soluciones Energéticas wrote:

> We have a couple of clients who have had some problems with lightning and
> we are in the process of installing lightning rods. 

Greetings Ned,

Are these systems fully grounded to a really solid earth ground?  It is
my understanding that lighting rods are used to attempt to avoid direct
hits of lightning to a structure.  Most damage to PV systems comes from
induced voltages from nearby lightning strikes, not from actual direct
hits.  Also, these voltage surges often come in on other system wiring,
not necessarily from the PV array itself.  If you are taking direct hits
to a well grounded array you have my sympathy!  Otherwise you may want
to take a long hard look at your grounding, and make sure there are no
multiple ground paths and that SOV's are installed on both DC/PV
conductors as well as any AC wiring.  Good luck -- Kurt Nelson.

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