What Are the Risks of Using Inferior Surge Protectors? (Case Study Part 1)

Not long ago, we published an article titled “How to Evaluate the Quality of a Surge Protective Device (SPD).” Shortly after it was posted on our official account, a customer contacted us with a question: Does using inferior surge protectors really cause serious risks and losses? To answer this, we are sharing a real case. For privacy reasons, the names of the LED lighting manufacturer and the SPD supplier involved have been omitted. However, the incident is entirely factual—with photo evidence.

 1. Incident Overview

A streetlight manufacturer in Ningbo, Zhejiang, received two export orders totaling 2,000 LED streetlights for Saudi Arabia.
- For the first order of 1,000 units, which had higher profit margins, the manufacturer selected our company’s 10kV SPD.
- For the second order of 1,000 units, due to the lower profit margin, they chose another supplier’s SPD, whose main selling point was “low price.”

In June 2019, all 2,000 streetlights were installed in Saudi Arabia. However, by September 2019, a severe lightning incident occurred.

 2. Damage Report

- Among the 1,000 luminaires equipped with the inferior SPD, more than 700 units were destroyed in a short period after the lightning strike. Many fixtures even caught fire, completely burning the internal drivers.
- These failures resulted in irreversible product damage, along with enormous financial losses and reputational damage for the manufacturer.

- Among the 1,000 luminaires equipped with our SPD, only one fixture was damaged during the lightning event. Importantly, no fire occurred, and the driver remained intact. A simple replacement of the SPD restored the luminaire to normal operation.

 3. Analysis of the Root Cause

The saying “You get what you pay for” definitely applies to surge protection. Inferior SPDs use low‑grade components to reduce cost. These SPDs rarely meet their advertised surge ratings and typically lack a mandatory internal thermal disconnect device, which is required for safe SPD design.

Our SPDs avoid these failures because we:
- Use high‑quality surge components
- Follow safe and proven internal structural design
- Include certified thermal protection mechanisms

 4. Lessons Learned

(1) The quality of an SPD depends not only on the components used, but also on the internal structural design. Poor‑quality MOVs combined with poor structural design guarantee unreliable SPD performance.

(2) Manufacturers of outdoor luminaires should evaluate whether their products will be used in high‑lightning regions. In lightning‑prone areas, higher‑grade surge protection is strongly recommended.

(3)  In strong lightning environments, we strongly recommend choosing SPDs with thermal disconnect protection and preferably series‑type SPDs when installed together with LED drivers.

(4) If the chosen SPD lacks a thermal disconnect device, or if its quality is uncertain, we recommend installing an additional parallel SPD inside the streetlight distribution box. This provides dual protection, significantly increasing reliability.

Conclusion

As a professional and safety‑focused SPD manufacturer, Shenzhen Greenway Electronic Co., Ltd. uses only high‑quality surge components and adopts safe internal structural designs. All of our SPDs have obtained TÜV (Europe), ETL (United States), and CQC (China) certifications—individually or simultaneously. This ensures maximum protection for our customers’ lighting products and helps prevent unnecessary economic losses and reputation damage.