Development of Enhanced Lightning Protection System for a Wireless Base Station and its Performance Evaluation Using the FDTD Method

Abstract

Parallel down conductors, which are connected with a lightning rod at the top and a grounding ring electrode (independent of the grounding electrode for internal equipment in a structure) at the bottom, are sometimes installed outside the structure to be protected. This system was proposed and named Surge Sheltering Perfection System (SSPS). In order to enhance its performance, an insulating layer or wall is installed to a depth of 1 m or so in the ground between the grounding electrode for internal equipment to be protected and the grounding ring electrode for down conductors. In this paper, the performance of this enhanced lightning protection system is examined using the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, and its effectiveness is shown.