Patent ID: 8179653

Claim:
An electrical surge protection apparatus for protecting at least one component of an electrical system from a transient overvoltage condition, the electrical system being operable at a normal nominal operating voltage, said apparatus comprising: an SPD array having at least one set of surge protection devices (SPDs) per phase, each said set of SPDs having at least two SPDs connected electrically in series with one another, said SPD array having a node electrically coupleable to a ground for conducting current flowing in said SPD array as a result of a transient overvoltage condition to said ground, said SPD array including at least two tap points electrically in common with terminals on electrically opposite sides of said SPDs, at least one of said SPDs being coupled electrically between respective ones of said tap points, each of said sets of tap points corresponding to one of at least two different nominal normal operating voltages at least one of which corresponds to a normal nominal operating voltage of the electrical system, and at least two sets of electrical conductors, each of said sets of electrical conductors being electrically coupled to a respective one of said sets of tap points for electrically coupling the electrical system to a user selectable one of said sets of said tap points which corresponds to the normal nominal operating voltage of the particular electrical system to which the apparatus is to be operably coupled.