How to protect the landscape lights from lightning?

A considerable threat to outdoor LED lighting fixtures today is transient surge events that occur in AC power lines, especially lightning surges, which are likely to cause damage to the fixtures. Today, any LED luminaire contains DC-DC power conversion devices, LED drivers, heat sinks for thermal control and optics for optimizing light quality. Lightning surges can cause failures in the internal components or circuits of LED lamps directly connected to AC input power (such as 120/220Vac mains), causing damage to the LED lamps due to short circuits and overloads. 640.webp (12).jpg

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u003cbru003e In recent years, there have been many LED lighting companies, almost all of them are struggling with cost, whether one SPD can solve all surge problems: this is impossible. Lightning protection is a science, a science, and an entire industry. It is wishful thinking to want a medicine to cure all diseases.

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u003cbru003e The academic and theories based on such as: electromagnetic field theory, arc theory, electrical contact theory, electrical principle, power supply and distribution, communication theory, signal transmission and processing, advanced mathematics, etc. The current main standards are IEC61643, GB18802, UL1449 and so on. Different standards, how can they be mixed? There is no comparison.

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u003cbru003e We have four levels of stratification for the industry chain of lightning protection industry:

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u003cbru003e 1. Material level;

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u003cbru003e 2. Component level;

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u003cbru003e 3. SPD finished product level;

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u003cbru003e 4. Interface level of external lightning protection engineering.

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u003cbru003e Since the development of the lightning protection industry, with a history of more than 50 years in China, this is a complete and mature industry. We have been pursuing the mutual integration of the lightning protection industry and the LED lighting industry, and ultimately bring reliable protection solutions to end customers. However, the 'cost' of each company's senior management sentenced a reasonable lightning protection design to death.

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u003cbru003e Indirect lightning induced surge

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u003cbru003e Due to the opening and closing actions of nearby electrical equipment, overvoltage transient surges may occur on the AC power line. Nearby lightning strikes can also generate transient surges on AC power lines, especially in outdoor environments.

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u003cbru003e At the moment of a lightning strike, the level of electrostatic discharge from the cloud to the ground usually reaches millions of volts. A lightning strike that occurs several miles away can induce an induced voltage of thousands of volts on current-carrying copper wires (such as underground cables for street lights). These indirect shocks are characterized by specific waveforms that usually contain large amounts of energy in excess of 1000A2s.

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u003cbru003e About 70% of lightning strikes occur on land in tropical regions, which is where most thunderstorms occur. African countries have experienced the worst and longest lightning strikes in history. The most frequent lightning strikes are near Kifka, a small village in the eastern mountains of the Democratic Republic of Congo, at an altitude of about 975 meters. On average, there are 158 lightning strikes per square kilometer each year in this area. A large area around this place is also severely affected, because the induced surge impact caused by lightning increases the probability of damage to outdoor LED lighting equipment.

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u003cbru003e According to the research of NASA on lightning frequency around the world, Central and South America, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia also have lightning frequency similar to the United States; therefore, in the United States, we recommend equivalent surge immunity Between 5kA and 10kA. For other regions with less lightning frequency, such as Europe, East Asia and Australia, a lower surge immunity of 3kA to 5kA can be considered.

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u003cbru003e This type of indirect lightning energy in stormy weather will adversely affect outdoor LED lighting devices. Lamps are easily damaged under both differential mode and common mode conditions:

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u003cbru003e Differential mode: The high voltage/current transient between the phase and neutral terminals or the phase and phase terminals of the lamp may damage the power supply device or the components in the LED module board.

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u003cbru003e Common mode: High voltage/current transients between the phase and ground or neutral and ground of the lamp may penetrate the safety insulation in the power supply unit or the LED module board, including the LED heat sink insulation.