The power of energy industry lightning protection

Supplying surge safeguards to diverse energy sectors

As an international transient voltage protection powerhouse, DEHN has experience in all sizes and scopes of markets. Within the energy supply industry, we’ve tailored our innovative solutions to the individual needs of several specific sectors, including:

• Solar energy
• Biogas plants
• Power grids
• Wind energy

Request a risk assessment today and get in the know about the threats to your unique energy supply business.

Transient voltage protection to ensure solar success

Solar systems and photovoltaic systems are critical infrastructures within the energy supply industry. PV systems specifically are at the top of global energy source lists and have a large role in the production of reliable energy for North American consumers.

As PV and solar systems are often housed outside in designated open fields or on rooftops, they are exposed to harsh elements including weather-related external transient voltage threats. Additionally, their wide distribution makes them and their connected systems more susceptible to electrical events if left ungrounded.

While these systems are designed to withstand diverse weather conditions, surges resulting from a lightning strike can penetrate their basic factory defenses and compromise the extremely vulnerable electric components inside. Even the smallest malfunction can lead to a chain reaction that can disrupt the power quality of the entire PV plant and the connected power grid.

Though lightning protection systems should be a top priority for solar systems, the most effective power quality protection for any energy supply sector consists of grounding systems, as well as both internal and external protective solutions.

DEHN specializes in solutions for the following PV and solar systems:

Rooftop PV systems

While the installation of a PV system on top of a building or energy supply facility does not necessarily increase the risk of lightning strikes, its direct connection to the building’s electrical infrastructure can make the effects of lightning-related overvoltage more severe.

DEHN has the knowledge and expertise necessary to implement protective solutions for PV systems on rooftops that observe separation distance standards and account for various system configurations.

Free-field systems and solar parks

Lighting protection systems for solar parks can protect the entire power plant area from lightning-related damage, as well as safeguard modules, inverters, and monitoring systems from transient electromagnetic impulses and the resulting overvoltage.

Our solutions accommodate a variety of possible options, including a centralized configuration with a central inverted or a distributed configuration with a string inverter.

Request an assessment with DEHN today.

Electrical threats that impact biogas plants

It's especially important to minimize power quality disturbances to biogas plants as they house and work with a plethora of toxic, flammable, and downright dangerous chemicals and pharmaceutical products.

Even a small electrical disturbance could trigger detrimental damage throughout all aspects of your plant, compromising your electrical systems and your ability to safely manage these hazardous materials. As a result, your energy supply company could face harsh legal penalties and financial repercussions related to production downtime, costly repairs, and non-compliance with environmental standards.

One of the silent heroes of the biogas sector is storage facilities and tanks. When you’re not using your chemical products or are in between processes, you need a safe place to house these materials. Without proper transient voltage and lightning surge protection, these important facilities are exposed to serious threats. The sites and natural environment around them face fires, explosions, and chemical spills caused by lightning strikes or internal transient surges.

As part of our comprehensive transient voltage protection solutions, DEHN offers fire protection and explosion prevention systems for these high-risk environments within biogas plants. We’re experienced in everything from protection devices that minimize the risk of fires igniting after a lightning strike to surge protection devices that monitor and maintain fire fighting and cooling systems.

Contact DEHN today to be informed of the risks to your biogas plant.

Power grid protection to fight the blackout blues

The U.S. electric grid is a large network of power plants, power lines, and distribution centers that work together to provide reliable electric power. While the power grid is one of the largest cohesive infrastructures in the country, it often goes unnoticed by the general public, working behind the scenes to power industrial facilities as well as households.

Attention typically only shifts to the grid when a major electrical event or weather phenomenon affects grid stability in a significant way. The large-scale blackouts caused by unusually harsh winter weather conditions in Texas in 2021 sparked widespread discussion about the setup and reliability of our grid and power quality.

As climate change continues to progress and new threats, such as cyberattacks, loom higher over the stability of the electrical grid, it’s more important than ever to pursue proactive protection from these external and internal electrical events.

The good news is that DEHN is a partner who knows the risks and understands how transient voltage will affect your operations. We can help implement solutions that will reduce the need for expensive maintenance and repair work and maintain your power quality as an important part of the U.S. electrical grid network.

Our solutions extend to every aspect of your grid systems, including electric battery storage systems to help counterbalance fluctuations and peak loads from electrical components in the energy supply sector. Surge is a natural part of the power grid, but without protection, it could render your sensitive systems, like battery storage centers, inoperable.

Contact DEHN to get started on a tailored protection concept.

The sky-high costs of surge-related damage to wind energy

While much of the power grid is still relying on fossil fuels to power the country’s electrical systems, many leaders in the energy sector are turning to renewable energy sources such as wind energy.

In fact, more than 70,000 wind turbines work to create clean reliable electric power across the U.S. according to the American Clean Power Association. Like solar systems, these powerful giants are exposed to the elements and their locations’ weather conditions, opening them up to more frequent and extreme external transient surge threats.

A lightning bolt that makes contact with a turbine can cause significant damage to rotor blades, bearings, and internal components in one split-second strike. Not only is this damage extremely costly to address, but any resulting downtime or system-wide overvoltage could disrupt service and compromise your contracts.

Transient voltage threats change with the wind, but the risks to your wind energy systems don’t have to be finite. With proactive action, such as requesting a risk assessment from DEHN, you can take the first step to combating power quality disruptions before they strike.

Reach out to DEHN to start your journey to proper protection today.