Open Access

[Paper of the X International Symposium on Lightning Protection 9th - 13th November, 2009 - Curitiba, Brazil. 6 pages] The international standard IEC 62305-3, published in 2006, requires as an integral part of the lightning protection system (LPS) the consideration of a separation distance between the conductors of the LPS and metal and electrical installations inside the structure to be protected. IEC 62305-3 gives two different methods for this calculation: a standard, simplified approach and a more detailed approach, which differ especially regarding the treatment of the current sharing effect on the LPS conductors. Hence, different results for the separation distance are possible, leading to some discrepancies in the use of the standard. The standard approach defined in the main part (Clause 6.3) and in Annex C of the standard in some cases may lead to a severe oversizing of the required separation distance. The detailed approach described in Annex E naturally gives more correct results. However, a calculation of the current sharing amongst all parts of the air-termination and downconductor network is necessary, in many cases requiring the use of network analysis programs. In this paper simplified methods for the assessment of the current sharing are presented, which are easy to use as well as sufficiently adequate.