Lightning Protection, The Myths Most Engineers Believe - with Franco D'Alessandro S2E25

What do most engineers get wrong about lightning protection? In this episode, Veli sits down with Franco  D'Alessandro from LPI to explore lightning protection for commercial solar, battery storage and critical infrastructure. From astrophysics to lightning engineering, Franco explains how lightning forms, why blunt air terminals outperform sharp rods, and why surge protection, earthing and bonding are just as important as capturing the strike. Franco has multiple patents to his name with numerous research papers published and we were so lucky to have him on!  ⚡ What we cover: ✅ How lightning forms ✅ Direct vs indirect strikes ✅ Solar farm protection ✅ Earthing and bonding ✅ Surge protection ✅ Floating solar ✅ Lightning myths ✅ Risk assessmentsTHE CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro: Lightning & Solar 01:12 Growing Up In Tasmania 04:15 Astrophysics Journey 08:45 Entering Lightning Protection 15:10 Australia & Lightning Myths 19:40 How Lightning Forms 25:20 Why Lightning Protection Matters 33:00 Four Parts Of Protection 42:10 Air Terminals Explained 50:45 Sharp vs Blunt Rods 1:00:35 Solar Farms & Risk 1:07:15 Floating Solar 1:15:00 Large Solar Farms 1:22:00 Wrap Up  If you work in commercial solar, engineering or renewable energy, this episode is packed with practical insights that come from a massive mind that is Franco D'Alessandro!#LightningProtection #SolarFarms #CommercialSolar #RenewableEnergy #ElectricalEngineering #SurgeProtection #Earthing #Bonding #BatteryStorage #BESS #FloatingSolar #GridInfrastructure #PowerSystems #LPI #SolarAustralia #RenewableEnergyAustralia #EngineeringPodcast #GreenwoodAcademy