High-altitude lightning surge grounding for solar inverters in the Knuckles mountain foothills?
3 Answers from travellers
The Matale hill country records some of the highest lightning strike densities in South Asia during inter-monsoon convective thunderstorms. Array frames must be bonded using 25mm² bare copper conductor routed down to dedicated copper-bonded earth rods driven at least 3 meters deep, treated with bentonite clay to maintain resistance below 5 Ohms. Install Type 1+2 DC Surge Protective Devices (1000V DC SPD) directly inside the array combiner box and another set at the inverter DC input, alongside a Type 2 AC SPD on the distribution panel.
Never tie the structural lightning protection down-conductor into the same grounding electrode as the sensitive electronics AC neutral line, as back-surges fry inverters instantly.
Elevated solar arrays mounted on ridge lines require air-termination lightning rods positioned to cast a 45-degree protective cone over all photovoltaic modules.
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