Low-Cost IoT-Based Near Real-Time Lightning Strike Counter with Multi-Channel Telemetry for Enhanced Lightning Protection Systems

Hemant Kasturiwale; Vedant Pachchigar; Sachin Prajapati; Anish Bhurke

doi:10.57159/jcmm.5.4.26962

Authors

Hemant Kasturiwale Department of Electronics and Computer Science, Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai, India https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5919-0855
Vedant Pachchigar Department of Electronics and Computer Science, Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai, India https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0355-7509
Sachin Prajapati Department of Electronics and Computer Science, Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai, India https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7691-9909
Anish Bhurke Anish Electricals and Engineering, Mumbai, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2175-3664

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.57159/jcmm.5.4.26962

Keywords:

IoT, Lightning Protection Systems, GSM-Based Alerting, Cloud Data Logging, Surge Monitoring, Smart Infrastructure

Abstract

Lightning poses a major hazard to infrastructure facilities such as renewable energy systems, skyscrapers, and telecommunication networks. Lightning Protection Systems (LPS) effectively reduce the physical hazards associated with lightning strikes, but their monitoring is primarily manual. Current lightning strike counters (LSCs) based on the IEC 62561-6 standard record only cumulative lightning events and lack near real-time alarm features. This paper proposes an IoT architecture for monitoring lightning strikes in near real-time using non-intrusive sensing: a ferrite-core current transformer (CT) coupled with fast signal-conditioning circuitry, including Schmitt-trigger threshold detection, for immunity to industrial electromagnetic interference (EMI). Signal transmission uses an ESP32 microcontroller paired with the SIMCom A7670C 4G LTE/GNSS module. Experimental validation shows the system captures transient surge pulses with a latency of approximately 55 seconds from strike occurrence to cloud visualization. On successful detection, the system automatically logs location information and a timestamp, updates a local 20x4 LCD display, sends an SMS alert, stores data to the ThingSpeak cloud platform, and synchronizes with a Bluetooth-enabled Android application. Laboratory tests comprising 150 simulated 8/20 microsecond surge pulses and 200 electromagnetic interference trials demonstrated a detection accuracy of 98%, a false positive rate of 1.5%, and successful end-to-end telemetry performance across a range of GSM signal strengths (RSSI -51 to -113 dBm). The average end-to-end latency from detection to SMS and cloud logging was 55 +/- 5 seconds, with the session validation window and network conditions the main contributing factors. The results show that the proposed architecture provides a cost-effective IoT telemetry solution for a Lightning Protection System, with enhanced data granularity for predictive maintenance and lightning risk management.

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