Electrical damage from Ground Potential Rise GPR costs companies millions of dollars every year
Many electrical engineers are unfamiliar with the phenomenom of ground potential rise. Adequate protection from Ground Potential Rise is more that simply following NEC requirements.
Damage from Ground Potential Rise can occur when a high-voltage difference exists between a grounded cell site such as a cellular BTS (base station transmitter) experiences ground potential rise that is connected to a remote site such as a central teleco office which acts as a remote ground path for the current to follow. This is why proper cell site grounding design is of particular importance to the Teleco industry. The amount of Ground Potential Rise is a function of the amount of grounding electrodes in contact with the soil, soil resistivity and various other factors such as the number of conductors leaving the site.