MUMBAI, India, Oct. 26 -- Intellectual Property India has published a patent application (202641123786 A) filed by Vellore Institute Of Technology on October 15, 2026, for Solar-Powered Field Node For Lightning Ground-Current Hazard Mitigation Via Equipotential Refuge.
Inventors include Sam Navin M; and Shlokkumar Goenka.
The application for the patent was published on October 23, 2026, under issue no. 43/2026.
Abstract: ABSTRACT SOLAR-POWERED FIELD NODE FOR LIGHTNING GROUND-CURRENT HAZARD MITIGATION VIA EQUIPOTENTIAL REFUGE A solar- powered field node apparatus for lightning ground-current hazard mitigation includes an atmospheric electric-field sensor (101) generating a strike-imminence signal, an edge controller (301), an equipotential-bonding contactor (401), and a solar power unit (603) with battery backup. A buried soil-resistivity array (102) measures apparent soil resistivity in situ, and paired buried potential-gradient electrodes (103) measure a pre-actuation surface step voltage. A lethality-index fusion stage (203) derives a ground-current lethality index from the strike-imminence signal jointly with the measured resistivity, so that the condition under which the edge controller (301) commands the contactor (401) to bond a buried ring electrode (404) into an equipotential refuge is set by the measured resistivity. The electrodes (103) re- measure a residual step voltage across the refuge, and a refuge adequacy verifier (502) withholds an all-clear and causes re-commanding of the contactor (401) until the residual falls below a tolerable limit computed from the measured resistivity. (Fig. 1)
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
