Lightning is a common cause of failures in photovoltaic (PV) and wind-turbine systems. A damaging surge can occur from lightning that strikes a long distance from the system. But most lightning damage is preventable by getting the system grounded and install a surge arrester.

Grounding is the most fundamental technique for protection against lightning damage. You can’t stop a lightning surge, but you can give it a direct path to ground that bypasses your valuable equipment, and safely discharges the surge into the earth. An electrical path to ground will constantly discharge static electricity that accumulates in an aboveground structure. Often, this prevents the attraction of lightning in the first place.