A surge arrester is a protective device for limiting voltage on equipment by discharging or bypassing surge current. It prevents continued flow to follow current to ground and it is capable of repeating these functions as specified per ANSI standard C62.11. An arrester does not absorb lightning or stop lightning. It diverts the lightning, limits the voltage and protects the equipment installed in parallel.
Surge arresters have many applications, anywhere from protecting a home to a utility substation. They are installed on circuit breakers inside a residential home, inside padmounted transformers, on pole mounted transformers, on pole-mounted riser poles and substations.
Standards for surge arresters are defined by IEEE standard C62.11 and IEC standard 60099-4.