Compulsory power units to protect home equipment against lightning

Sri Lankan government is to introduce regulations making it compulsory for all households to have power surge diverters to protect electronic equipment against lightning, the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (TRC) said.

Over 90 per cent of the damages to electrical appliances and machinery due to lightning can be prevented by fixing electric surge diverters which are available in the market, noted TRC Director General Anusha Palpita.

These surge diverters or surge arresters can be fixed in front of one's house before the main switch. "Once fixed in front of the main switch that high voltage current coming from the electrical power supplies will go to the ground and the appliance will be safe", he said.

At present there is no law in this regard but in many countries these systems are available. He emphasised the need to instal lightning protection systems at households in vulnerable areas.

Mr. Palpita said that property damages due to lightning though there is no proper calculations can be from Rs. 300 million to Rs. 1 billion per year and most of these damages can be prevented by having lightning protection systems and surge diverters In a prevention measure, LECO Projects (Pvt) Ltd. has introduced four kinds of electronic equipment to protect electric and electronic appliances against lightning and thunder.

A company official said that single phase electricity line safety equipment, three phase electricity line safety equipment, telephone and Internet safety equipment and multi- communication safety equipment had been introduced to the market.