Assessment of probability of damage of an apparatus protected by a surge protective devices system

•Low voltage power system protection and safety in civil buildings and industrial plants.•Lightning simulations.•Efficiency of coordinated system of surge protective device.•Selection and installation of coordinated system of surge protective device.

This paper deals with the efficiency of a coordinated system of surge protective devices (SPD), which is indicated by the IEC standard 62305 as typical protection measure for electrical and electronic apparatus against surges due to lightning. For practical applications, the probability of a given SPD system to reduce the risk of failure of apparatus is a key point for its proper selection and installation. The paper aims to give the rationale for the evaluation of such probability and shows application examples of different types of SPD systems in the case of direct lightning stroke to the structure (source of damage S1).