Grounding, Lighting & Lightening Systems Design, Installation & Commissioning

Lightning is a natural disaster causing various damage. Therefore, Lightning protection system is necessary because lightning results can lead to loss of life and property.

GROUNDING system

In an electrical installation, an earthing system or grounding system connects specific parts of that installation with the Earth’s conductive surface for safety and functional purposes. The point of reference is the Earth’s conductive surface. The choice of earthing system can affect the safety and electromagnetic compatibility of the installation. Grounding or earthing refers to the provision of a low-resistance conduction path from points in the PV power system to the earth ground, and can be divided into two aspects:

Grounding of equipment casings (e.g. the PV array frames and support structure)

Grounding of the electrical circuits

Grounding can reduce the risks of damage from lightning-induced surges, may reduce the hazards to people, fix the maximum system voltages relative to the earth ground, and improve radio /TV reception.

lighting system

Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve a practical or aesthetic effect. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. Day lighting is sometimes used as the main source of light during daytime in buildings. This can save energy in place of using artificial lighting, which represents a major component of energy consumption in buildings. Proper lighting can enhance task performance, improve the appearance of an area, or have positive psychological effects on occupants.

Lightning protection system

Lightning protection systems are used to prevent or lessen lightning strike damage to structures. Lightning protection systems mitigate the fire hazard which lightning strikes pose to structures. A lightning protection system provides a low-impedance path for the lightning current to lessen the heating effect of current flowing through flammable structural materials.The parts of a lightning protection system are air terminals (lightning rods or strike termination devices), bonding conductors, ground terminals, and all of the connectors and supports to complete the system. The air terminals are typically arranged at or along the upper points of a roof structure, and are electrically bonded together by bonding conductors, which are connected by the most direct route to one or more grounding or earthing terminals. Connections to the earth electrodes must not only have low resistance, but must have low self-inductance. The majority of lightning protection systems in use today are of the traditional Franklin design. The fundamental principle used in Franklin-type lightning protections systems is to provide a sufficiently low impedance path for the lightning to travel through to reach ground without damaging the build.