lightning protection

Lightning protection refers to electrical measures that protect people, buildings, systems and equipment from damage caused by lightning discharge. These structural measures include the various lightning protection zones(LZs), the outer and inner lightning protection zones, which are used to protect buildings against lightning strikes.

The outer lightning protection zone includes the outer building area with lightning conductor and grounding system and the building surface protected by a Faraday cage. With these devices, lightning can be discharged to ground without danger. Internal lightning protection affects the rooms and the equipment, systems and devices housed in these rooms, as well as the low- voltage networks, telecommunications networks and network cabling. Surges caused by lightning strikes are discharged by lightning equipotential bonding.

At the system and equipment level, lightning protection is concerned with discharging overvoltages that can be triggered by electrostatic discharges. Measures at this level are shielding and surge arresters.