Why is the world demand for lightning protection systems increasing?

The worldwide demand for the lightning protection systems is increasing. According to the TechNavio research, in the period of 2017 to 2021, the annual average rate of the lightning protection market growth will be 8%. The growth is observed in all market segments. And there are serious reasons for it.

Lightning protection market: factors

At the end of January 2017, the researcher company TechNavio published the report "Global Lightning Rod Market 2017–2021" describing the conditions in the world market of metal conductors for the lightning protection systems. The researchers have studied all market segments (industrial, commercial, and residential buildings) in North and South Americas, APAC (Asia and Pacific Region), and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa).

Figure 1. Lightning detection system

According to the global TechNavio research, the sales of conductors for the lightning protection systems are increasing due to the demand of industrial enterprises, power plants, oil and gas producing units, and refinery plants. Moreover, the use of the lightning protection systems in the commercial and residential buildings has also increased significantly. This fact is related to wider use of costly electronics, for example, CCTVs, smart lighting systems, computers, wireless communications, etc. Lightning strikes may inflict severe damage by making costly equipment of the modern building inoperative.

Middle East is the leader in the number of unique high-rise lightning protection systems. Nineteen of the world highest buildings are located there. E.g., Burj-Khalifa (Dubai), which is 828 m high. Such buildings are more susceptible to lightning strikes and require perfect lightning protection.

Figure 2. North and South Americas are leading in terms of general market volume. There are many lightnings in this region of the world. There are also many high buildings and industrial facilities in the US, which provide persistently high demand for the lightning rods. The greatest part of the market is the industrial segment; the fastest growth is observed in the APAC countries

Cities are "magnets" for lightnings

The important factors of the lightning protection market growth are large-scale construction of high buildings and global urbanization trend. It is important to understand that, according to the statistics collected by satellites, more than 85% of the strikes occur over the land. Moreover, they occur twice more often over the cities than in rural or inhabited areas. In total, annually 32 billion lightning strikes are observed in the world, wherein about 80 million are observed above the Russian territory.

Figure 3. Smog and warm airflows over the cities increase the probability of lightning strikes. Moreover, the more the city, the more lightning strikes it receives

Actually, the civilization creates "magnets" for lightnings. High residential density in the cities increases the number of accidents caused by lightnings significantly, even when the growth of the lightning strikes number is insignificant. The example is Singapore. Probably, it is the best lightning-protected city in the world due to large amounts of storms (about 171–186 days per year). However, despite this fact, the number of lightning strikes in the city is 42% higher than, for example, in Great Britain, where the number of storms is four times lower.

Another example is Ostankino TV Tower in Moscow. It withstands up to 50 lightnings per year, while one square kilometre of Moscow receives only one lightning strike. Therefore, high structures create a higher danger of lightning strikes, even in the regions with moderate storm hazard. Since the number of high modern building gets increasingly higher, the lightning protection systems become mandatory, and the demand for conductors grows.

Technological trends

The demand for new lightning protection system types is rapidly increasing. In the first place, these are specially designed products for skyscrapers and private households as well as the lightning strike warning systems. The latter are the sets of sensors, which analyse the electrical field in order to predict the risk of an atmospheric discharge. Sometimes the systems are equipped with photocells that detect the lightning outburst. Such systems are used more often in protection of the locations, which entail special hazard in terms of lightning strikes; for example, pools, stadiums, and other facilities that have to be cleared of the people's presence in storms.

The most proven ways of lightning protection are traditional lightning rods with metal conductors, including lightning guidewire, which is better suited for the buildings with complex architecture.

Figure 4. ZANDZ lightning guidewire

Lack of understanding is the major problem of the lightning protection market

TechNavio researchers emphasize that the major problem of efficient use of the lightning protection system is poor awareness of their importance. Until today, when making decisions related to construction, industrial equipment or residential area operation, many people do not have an objective perception of danger constituted by lightnings. The problem is particularly pronounced in developing countries, and this fact is a main catch for the growth of the lightning protection system market.
When we are talking about misunderstanding and poor awareness, please note that there is a huge pool of experience of construction and operation of the lightning protection devices in the world. Today, in their work, most manufacturers of the lightning protection systems rely on the safety standards requirements defined both by international and national as well as regional organizations. In other words, in order to provide quality and efficient lightning protection, we need, first of all, customer understanding and engagement in the process of creating safe living environment, and only after that, investments and technical means.