Every now and again we read about blackouts, where the voltage of the power grid drops and the infrastructure is paralyzed. But have there ever been cases where the power grid experienced a massive overvoltage? What kind of damage would that do?
Electronic – Has there ever been a case of overvoltage in a power grid
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Best Answer
There are three main effects,
They are slightly interconnected:
To actually damage things, generally you're going to need to trim down the margins of your particular device. If there is a lot of grid-tied solar installations in your area this can raise your mains voltage very close to the maximum, meaning any load spikes end up higher in peak voltage, and more likely to damage things. Generally the amplitude of this is limited.
On the other side of the fence, lightning is a very large amount of current. Even the clouds moving overhead can change the relative voltage of your mains ground by a few hundred volts if your country does not require any in-house earth strap/ground rod.