Does Lightening Hitting Solar Panels Damage It

What kind of damage can lightning cause.

Does lightening hitting solar panels damage it. Lightning strikes whether direct or indirect can result in both down time and expenses in identifying and replacing damaged parts. But most lightning damage is preventable. Most electrical and electronic damage in both grid tie and off grid solar electric systems is not due to a direct hit. No lightning isn t attracted to solar panels and putting solar panels and the metal racking it requires on top of your roof doesn t increase your home s risk of getting hit by lightning.

A damaging surge can occur from lightning that strikes a long distance from the system or even between clouds. Most damage occurs from nearby hits usually within a few hundred feet. Since the metal panel frames and racking of the solar array are located on the roof the egc will direct a strike to the solar array to ground and may reduce additional damage to the building. As well as damaging the electronics in the box in the back of the panel where the connecting.

If you want to protect your solar power system solar panels and solar inverter from lightning that is possible but it will cost extra. They re almost asking for a lightning strike which can damage or destroy solar panels inverters and other critical equipment. Lightning can cause devastating damage to solar panels and protection needs to be considered during the design stages. Lightning damage the following solar panel came from a system that was struck by lightning somewhere and no longer works.

So it s no surprise that lightning activity and surge related over voltage abnormalities are identified as leading causes of solar project downtime. Your solar power system can be damaged by direct strikes or more likely voltages induced by nearby lightning strikes. Lightning is a common cause of failures in photovoltaic pv and wind electric systems. Right off the bat i ll give you the answer.

In fact direct hits are rare. Here are some of the most cost effective techniques that are generally accepted by power system installers based on decades of experience. However it is likely that if there was a direct hit the lightning would damage the egc and other metal components exposed to the strike. Solar farms are just big fields covered with conductive material.