Case Studies
Preventor Systems in the Field
Case studies from the Preventor's field record. Most of these are not our installations — they are documented outcomes from the system we install, at sites whose engineers tested it before committing.
These are Preventor installations — most of them are not ours.
We install this system in Florida. These cases are documented because they show what the system did when lightning actually struck, at sites where the decision was made by engineers rather than marketing.
Florida Power & Light, Orlando Utilities
Utility plants depend on the Preventor
Power plants around the state and the country use the Preventor for structural lightning protection. When the companies that generate and distribute electrical power choose a system, you can be confident they have investigated and tested it first.
The Orlando Utilities Commission installed the Preventor at its Indian River Plant in Titusville. Before installation, the plant had sustained substantial damage to its fire control systems. Since installation, that part of the plant has not sustained any damage — and on the strength of that result, plant officials went on to install additional Preventors in other critical areas.
Florida Power & Light uses the system at its Indian Town plant in Martin County, and at many other plants throughout the state and country.
Motorola, Plantation, FL
Strike counters validate the Preventor
At its facility in Plantation, Florida, Motorola attached lightning counters to its Preventor systems to find out how many strikes the terminals were actually taking. During the first season after installation, the counters logged seven strikes.
To date the counters have registered 59 strikes. Motorola is convinced the system is saving the corporation time and money and keeping employees safe — and unusually, they have the records to prove it.
59 recorded strikes taken by the terminals rather than the buildings.
Pro Player Stadium, Miami
Super protection for the Super Bowl stadium
When 75,000 fans attended the Super Bowl at Pro Player Stadium, home of the Miami Dolphins, they had no idea the stadium was protected by the Lightning Preventor. Before the Preventor system went in, the stadium had a Faraday system and was suffering repeated problems and losses. Since installation, the problems stopped: no direct strikes to the structure have been recorded and no damage has been reported.
Stadium officials chose the system for three reasons: the manufacturer's field record at the time showed no documented failure on a properly installed system; the product is backed by a performance guarantee; and a single system installed to HBP-21 Level II standards can protect a typical structure of 337,810 square feet.
“I was leery to begin with. But one afternoon during a storm, the whole team was on the practice field, and we all saw lightning strike the Preventor at the end of the field. Prior to the installation we experienced substantial losses throughout the lightning season. Since our Lightning Preventors have been installed we have not incurred any losses. This is the system to go with in any situation.”
FCCI Insurance, Lakewood Ranch, FL
High-tech insurance: protecting the data as well as the building
FCCI is a multi-line insurance company with a reputation for dependability and fast service to agents and policyholders. When they built their fiber-optic technical complex, the security of their data, equipment, and employees was paramount.
The 40-acre Lakewood Ranch campus in Manatee County was built to meet the company's service and storage needs, including the largest redundant backup generator in the southeast and buildings engineered to withstand 185 mph hurricane winds.
Consulting engineers and the plant facilities supervisor specified a two-pronged approach: the early streamer emission Preventor system for the structure, plus a comprehensive surge protection package. With both in place, employees, client records, and electronic equipment are protected from strikes above and from the internally and externally generated transients that damage computers and electronics.
Florida Hospital
Lightning and surge system upgrade at a 2,048-bed hospital
Florida Hospital is a 2,048-bed acute care not-for-profit system whose Florida facilities had long been plagued by electrical, electronic, and structural damage from lightning and other dirty-power problems.
A two-month investigation found degradation in the existing structural lightning protection and a mismatch of improperly sized, poorly installed surge protection. In practice they had very little effective protection for highly sensitive electronics.
Healthcare facilities are required by AHCA to have multi-point Faraday cage structural protection, so the Preventor was added to enhance the existing Faraday systems rather than replace them. Each building's grounding system was improved so the structural protection could perform to its potential, and surge protection devices were installed on the main services, distribution systems, and motor control centers — with a wide-band filtering suppressor on critical care electronic-grade panels.
A review one year later found no lightning damage of any kind since installation, reduced downtime on microprocessor equipment in biomed, fewer circuit board replacements in diagnostic equipment, less downtime and fewer lockups in administrative equipment, clearer ultrasound images, and more reliable operation of x-ray computer equipment.
Bollettieri Sports Academy (now IMG), Bradenton, FL
Lightning protection for a world-class sports training facility
The Bollettieri Sports Academy in Bradenton — now IMG — is a world-class training facility with a baseball academy, tennis center, and soccer camp. The site is fully protected from lightning strikes by the early streamer emission Preventor system.
For a facility whose entire business happens outdoors during Florida's storm season, with hundreds of young athletes on open fields, the case for protection is not really about equipment.
“It was after practice one afternoon, and I was waiting with four or five kids for their parents to pick them up. All of a sudden, we saw a bolt of lightning hit the Preventor about 40 yards from us. We actually saw the lightning change course and seek the Preventor. The hair on my head stood up. But absolutely nothing happened to us. We were all safe thanks to the Preventor.”
See Who Else Trusts the Preventor
From Florida Power & Light to Harvard's Widener Library and both towers of the Brooklyn Bridge.
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