# Power failure and lightning- I think we got lucky!



## ronjnk (Oct 1, 2011)

In 16 years, our power system has been ultra reliable. Our Trace Inverter has never let us down. It was with a great deal of consternation that I watched our power system suddenly start kicking on and off the other night. A light and dishwasher which were on at the time cycled on and off with the inverter. Bummer I thought!

I'm pleased to report that the inverter is working just fine again. Here's why I think we got lucky. We have our wind turbine which sits on a 67 foot steel pipe tower. Our inverter started acting squirrelly during a lightning storm. I suspect, but have no way to know for sure, that we were building up a charge and likely were very close to a lightning strike. The inverter sensed something funky.

Fortunately, I realized the lightning storm and inverter problem might be related and I powered down everything pronto. I usually power down routinely during a major thunderstorm but this one didn't seem to be a big deal so I left the power on. I always unplug computers and critical equipment every lightning storm.

For what it's worth... we have some pretty vicious thunderstorms in the summer and although the lightning cracks all around, we have never been hit. I have lightning rods on the roof as well as chimneys with appropriate stranded copper cable to a grounding rod in the earth. Our electrical system is tied to the same point. We have a lightning arrestor indoors with our set up.

The turbine tower also has a lightning arrestor connected across the output of the turbine. I also have a heavy gauge stranded copper wire that runs to the top of the tower which is grounded. This wire is bent 90 degrees at the top and sticks out about 12 inches. I took the strands and splayed them out in kind of a roundish fan pattern. In theory, my understanding is this set up will bleed off any charges before the big bolt drops from the sky. So far-so good.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

All your lightning protection is worthless if you get a direct hit.. With the exception of some seriously large industrial equipment, no consumer products can protect against a direct strike.

That said, even a close strike will toast most sensitive equipment even if its protected.. 

Consumer Lightning protection devices basically just allow a strike to come about 20% closer without doing the damage it normally would. 

If lightning strikes any part of your home or solar system, you can kiss it goodbye. 

Most lightning arrestors are consumer gimmicks... No $2 diode is going to stop a 100 million volt/amperes of power from frying your electronics.


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## ronjnk (Oct 1, 2011)

Murby, I agree, lightning arrestors may not be up to the task but I'm fairly confident in the lightning rods, plus the entire house is sheathed in metal exterior which is tied to ground. Unplugging equipment, flipping all breakers to off and shutting down all power systems and main breakers can't hurt either. Not much more to be done. Hope for the best.


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## Murby (May 24, 2016)

ronjnk said:


> Murby, I agree, lightning arrestors may not be up to the task but I'm fairly confident in the lightning rods, plus the entire house is sheathed in metal exterior which is tied to ground. Unplugging equipment, flipping all breakers to off and shutting down all power systems and main breakers can't hurt either. Not much more to be done. Hope for the best.


I wouldn't put lightening rods up.. anywhere near your system.. that just serves to draw in the lightening.. If lightning strikes that rod, unless your conductor to ground is a super cooled superconductor, no copper wire is going to be able to pass that kind of power... the resistance in the copper wire will cause the energy to look for other paths to ground.. the wood in your home, the brick, the electrical system.. even you. 

I'd put them on a pole several hundreds of yards out and I'd make sure to sink at least 5 or 6 grounding rods with their own individual leads going to the rod.. Even that might fall shy.

Personally, I'd forget about the lightening rod and unplug your system anytime there's a storm within 10 miles. 

You're wise to be paranoid about it.


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## katlupe (Nov 15, 2004)

We have lost two inverters so far due to lightning strikes. Our system was turned off and everything was unplugged and it still got the inverters. We saw the smoke come from it. The first time it happened we thought it hit the turbine, but no, it was just the inverter. After reading Murby's post, I take it that there is no way to prevent it? My husband got the inverter to work again after this last time, but it is not at full power. I figure we will be replacing it, but now I am afraid of spending a lot of money on it. Our system is fairly small.


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## hornetd (Nov 1, 2011)

How many times have you heard of a radio or television broadcast station being taken out by lightning? Their towers are struck all the time without damage. I have installed photovoltaic and wind power from Cape Horn to Alaska and from Micronesia to Uganda. My employer's clients ran the gamut from Telefonica Argentina, US Air Force, United Nations Development Program, a missionary hospital that would not pay the "Fees" to the Dada regime to get power from their grid. If any of those installations had failed due to lightning damage we would have had to go back and repair them and since some of those installations involved rotary wing aircraft hours (the accounting term for helicopter support) the people in accounting would have had our guts for garters. In the six years that I worked there we did have recalls but I can honestly say that they weren't for lightning damage. It is entirely possible to install power production, telephone, radio, and cellular networks on a zero failure basis. The only problem is a lack of actual knowledge of the materials and techniques to be used. The materials are indeed expensive but they don't cost as much as replacing larger inverters does. 

-- 
Tom


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## Darren (May 10, 2002)

Murby said:


> All your lightning protection is worthless if you get a direct hit.. With the exception of some seriously large industrial equipment, *no consumer products *can protect against a direct strike.
> 
> That said, even a close strike will toast most sensitive equipment even if its protected..
> 
> ...


There used to be. Zenith (Heathkit) used to sell a rebranded Clary UPS that has protected everything in a house that was connected to it from a lightening strike. EVERYTHING ELSE in the house was fried. Clary still sells UPS units into the military and critical medical markets. They show up on eBay but rarely sell.


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