Intelligent LED Street Lights

Today's increased reliance on very sensitive electronics makes surge protection an important topic for LED Lighting. The Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety study found that $26 billion dollars was lost due to non-lightning power surges. In addition, there are about 25 million lightning strikes in the US each year that cause between $650M to $1B in losses according to the Insurance Information Institute, State Farm©.

Pole mounted lighting contactors are typically used in parking lots, intersections, highway entrance ramps and sub stations where multiple outdoor lights are wired into one location.

Given their exposed mounting locations, lighting contactors can be damaged by surges caused by lighting, power cross and power switching. To assure system uptime and reduced maintenance costs, a comprehensive approach to surge protection should be considered.

Immunity Against Surges

The latest release of ANSI C136.2-2018 provides surge protection requirements for luminaires and control devices. Based on performance requirements and transient immunity testing, these devices can be classified into three categories:

The ANSI C136.2-2018 standard can also be used as guideline for evaluating the surge immunity of other devices attached to light poles such as lighting contactors. In cases where internal protection of equipment is insufficient a reccommended external Surge Protection Device should be installed to assure long and reliable performance.

| Lighting Contactor |

This table shows the recommended C136.2-2018 transient immunity levels for common outdoor lighting applications:

Selecting the appropriate SPD

Surge Protective Devices (SPDs) shall be UL1449 Type 4CA or better including Type 1, Type 2, Type 1CA and Type 2CA. Per ANSI C136.2-2017, it should be tested to the appropriate exposure level based on the application or installed location.

The UL1449 Type 4CA Surge Protective Devices (SPD) have undergone more stringent safety testing than UL1449 Type 5 Components including the critical abnormal overvoltage - limited current testing.

Contactors can be tested to ANSI C136.2-2018 with the SPD installed. The coordination of the SPD is key in making sure that the contactors pass testing and not only the SPD passes by itself. CITEL can provide manufacturers with full C136.2 surge testing for all exposure levels in our surge laboratory in Miramar, FL.

Recommended Surge Protectors for
Pole Mounted Lighting Contactors

Lighting Contactor: Input 120/240Vac
120Vac Control

Mounting Location	Voltage Type	System	Surge Protector Model#	Link
Internal Mount Hand Hole	Input Line Voltage	120-240Vac	DS73US-120T/G
External Mount	Output Control Voltage	120-277Vac	MLPXUVG-277S

Lighting Contactor: Input 277/480Vac
277Vac Control

Mounting Location	Voltage Type	System	Surge Protector Model#	Link
Interna Mount Hand Hole		120-480Vac ​	DS74US-277Y/G
External Mount	Output Control Voltage	120-277Vac	MLPXUVG-277S

References