It makes sense to protect photovoltaic systems from direct and indirect lightning strikes. To ensure an effective protection, it is necessary to prevent a direct lightning strike into the system itself as well as to prevent damage to electrical devices in the event of an indirect impact. Adequate protection is achieved by a lightning conductor system that is separate from the photovoltaic system and the installation of surge protection. When lightning strikes into a lightning protection system, voltage surges can occur in the photovoltaic system as a result of inductive and capacitive connections. Defects in the photovoltaic system due to such voltage surges are prevented by a careful selection and installation of a high-quality surge protection.
Various surge arresters are available based on the recommended use in the lightning protection zone concept at the LPZ boundaries (according to IEC 1312-1 and EN 62305) to equalize the potentials of positive and negative conductors of photovoltaic systems and eliminate transient overvoltage generated during atmospheric discharges or switching processes.