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The telecommunications industry is very “equipment reliant” and there is an ever increasing amount of technological components involved in maintaining the day to day operations.  The sheer volume and expense of this equipment prevents many potential players from even entering the market effectively, and creates difficulties with regard to competition for those companies that play in the telecommunications infrastructure space.  One of the primary drags on profitability is the fact that much of the equipment that is involved in the process of telecom connectivity is installed in exposed settings, making it susceptible to damage from a number of potential sources.  Natural phenomenon like weather will produce large amounts of damage to unprotected equipment in a short time in cases like lightning strikes or over longer periods in cases like ongoing degradation as a result of moisture.  Unnatural phenomenon like vandalism can destroy expensive equipment in a matter of seconds.  No matter what the threat, the telecommunications industry’s best defense against damage to exposed equipment is an “outdoor active cabinet” or “street cabinet.”  These devices are heavily reinforced enclosures constructed from materials like aluminum that will not conduct electricity in the case of a lightning strike and surge, while still providing enough ventilation and heat reduction capabilities to prevent enclosed equipment from damaging itself through ongoing use.  The challenge of creating a robust cabinet that can withstand the elements and natural threats must be tempered with building a cabinet that will not cause overheating, and Raycap has developed some of the finest designs in the world. (more…)

Green energy production has faced a long, uphill climb to becoming  accepted as the logical choice in many countries that are currently entrenched in the extraction industry.  Coal, oil and wood have long been the standard with regard to production of electricity, even though they have been proven to be damaging to the environment, dirty and expensive.  Quite simply, burning a fuel source to produce electricity has consequences, and the debate over the reduction of these methods to produce electricity in favor of more modern ideas is rooted in cost and availability.  The supporters of the extraction industry as the primary source of power of a country or region will argue that the damage that is produced by their methods is minimal, and is legitimized by the lower cost.  The supporters of green energy will argue that the unseen costs of environmental damage outweigh the monetary costs that consumers pay, and that we should be willing to pay a higher price to reduce damage and pollution.  The basic problem is that it is difficult to get most populations to accept personally paying more for something that can be produced cheaper, when the added consequences are not visible to them immediately.  Even though few people would argue that they do not want to damage the environment for future generations, most will still choose to pay less today in the hopes that the damage caused will not be too great. (more…)

“Street cabinets” is a phrase describing a type of enclosure known in the telecommunications industry as an “outdoor active cabinet.”  These industry specific power cabinets are designed with the problematic aspects of the telecommunications industry in mind, where critical broadband equipment and network components are often situated in exposed areas.  In transmission networks, there is a significant investment necessary in power and fiber equipment, nearly all of which is both extremely expensive and easily damaged.  The positioning of this equipment in exposed areas is necessary and quite problematic, as damage can be sustained from a wide variety of sources ranging from lightning strikes to rodents seeking nesting opportunities.  Since the best defense against ongoing damage is a good defense, Raycap manufactures street cabinets in a variety of configurations and sizes.

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The telecommunications industry involves a significant amount of high tech equipment installed in exposed settings.  The protection of this equipment from both natural and un-natural (vandalism) phenomenon is paramount to the protection of investment, as the replacement and repair of damaged equipment can be quite costly.  For this reason, along with the manufacture of the surge protection devices that keep sensitive telecommunications equipment safe from electrical surges, Raycap also manufactures enclosures that protect equipment from a host of potential issues.  These outdoor active cabinets (also known as street cabinets) are constructed of aluminum and are designed to feature dual ventilation ports within the wall construction, be resistant to corrosion and heat conductivity.  Overheating is a common issue when large amounts of equipment is housed within a protective structure, and Raycap street cabinets offer the greatest protection aspects available while still allowing for adequate heat exchange.  The cabinets are also lightweight and modular and can be designed specific to customer requirements. (more…)

While the debate over alternative energy rages on, with opponents to wind, solar and hydroelectric power production generally basing their argument on cost, new developments in the surge protection field may help end the discussion.  Alternative energy power production utilizes free fuel sources in order to produce electricity for public consumption, while traditional power production utilizes the burning of fossil fuels to achieve the same product.  While there is no debate that fossil fuel-based production of electricity has environmental impact that is greater than any impact created by green energy technologies, the debate continues based essentially on cost.  Most voters are willing to weigh the environmental impact of a production method against the costs that they will bear to have access to the product, and most will lean toward and support the cheapest method of production.  As technology produces more efficient methods of power production, the pendulum begins to swing in favor of alternative sources.

Windfarms produce electricity through the blades of windmills being turned by the blowing wind. This motion produces electricity and is transferred through components that are attached directly to the wind turbine tower via the electrical grid. The towers themselves need to be able to receive an unobstructed flow of wind across their blades in order to function properly, creating a risk of lightning strike by their very placement and physical makeup.  Being the tallest structure in an area without competing tall structures puts turbines at risk.  As the tallest structures in the area, turbines are always at risk of lightning strikes to the tower or blades, and it is expected that they will sustain a certain amount of damage as a result of a direct strike. However, the damage that is produced as a result of the surge of electricity that travels through the connected power lines toward the components used in the process can also be substantial. The control and production equipment is quite expensive, and damage to this equipment as a result of surges can range from simple destruction of equipment circuitry to fire and explosions. The damage is so commonplace that there have been instances of wind-power producers going out of business due to an inability to acquire adequate insurance.

The damage to the components as a result of lightning surges can be prevented and potentially even eliminated completely through the installation of industrial level surge protection devices at strategic points in the equipment chain. By breaking the flow of electricity across the lines and diverting the excess flow to ground when a surge takes place, the equipment downstream is protected and able to continue to function.  Prevention of this damage, which was built into the business plans of wind-power producers in the past as higher prices charged for power produced, enables wind farm operators to potentially drive prices down below fossil fuel production.  When the two methods of production reach equal costs, there is no reason to continue to debate the issue.  The public will generally support the cheapest method of production, and if that method is also the cleanest then the public benefits in two ways.

Raycap is a leading producer of surge protection devices for Photovoltaic (PV) systems that are used in both industrial power production as well as residential or semi-commercial markets. Solar panels and their associated control systems are highly susceptible to damage from both direct and indirect lightning strikes. The reason for this susceptibility is due to the physical makeup of the panels themselves (being large and flat with fully exposed surface areas), as well as the geographic placement of the panels in remote and unobstructed areas. This damage as a result of lightning strikes or surges, coupled into power lines running to and from the sites, can cause catastrophic failure of systems and result in high replacement and repair expenditures, as well as significant downtimes. Raycap products use fast acting metal oxide varistors (MOV) and other technologies to limit overvoltage to the attached equipment, interrupting electrical flow in order to protect circuitry from transients that are out of the safe range. Since 1985, the UL 1449 standard for SPDs has been the primary safety standard for surge protection. In years previous, the devices covered by the standard were known as Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors (TVSS.)  TVSS could not operate on circuits exceeding 600 V. Modern devices are now known as surge protective devices (SPDs) and may operate on power circuits not exceeding 1000 V. (more…)