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SWANSEA: Council electricians patent lightning-protection process experts said couldn’t be done

Two electricians who met working for Swansea Council have patented a new process for lightning protection systems — after some industry experts told them it couldn’t be done.

David James and Ross Miller, founders of James Miller Solutions, developed the technique over hundreds of hours of testing — much of it, by David’s own account, in a shed.

Lightning and high-voltage earthing conductors are fitted anywhere a strike could cause damage or danger — churches, stadiums, hospitals, airports, power stations and electrical substations among them.

Joining the copper or aluminium parts of those systems has traditionally involved blow torches or high-heat chemical reactions — methods the pair say carry safety risks, can fail, and produce high carbon emissions.

Their answer is an induction-based process — using electromagnetic heating rather than open flame — which they say makes the bonding safer, more consistent and less dependent on operator skill.

The idea came on a live job in Port Talbot during Covid. “It became clear there had to be a better way,” David said. “From there, we spent hundreds of hours developing and refining the system in a shed.”

“Coming from Swansea — with its strong copper and engineering history — we’ve always understood the importance of working safely and precisely with metals,” he added.

Ross said the work “involved constant testing and refining, even when we were told it wouldn’t work”, adding: “In many ways, it reflects Swansea’s long engineering tradition — solving real problems through practical innovation.”

According to the company, independent testing at Cardiff University’s high-voltage laboratory showed the system could handle electrical loads around three times stronger than a typical lightning strike — while tests at Swansea University’s Swansea Materials Research and Testing (SMaRT) facility found it withstood up to 9,700lbs of physical force without failing.

The pair met as electricians at Swansea Council. David now teaches renewable energy at Gower College Swansea, while Ross still works for the authority — and a council secondment has allowed him to work on the technology full-time after James Miller Solutions was selected for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Regional Talent Engines programme.

“We never set out to become entrepreneurs — we were just trying to solve a problem we faced at work,” Ross said. “Along the way we’ve become inventors and business owners, which has been an incredible experience.”

The project was supported by a Swansea Council business innovation grant, funded through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.

Council leader Rob Stewart said: “It’s inspiring to see two people who started their careers with the council develop an idea that has the potential to improve safety and sustainability across the electrical industry.”

David said the approach “could significantly reduce carbon emissions compared to traditional methods” on large projects such as substations.

The company says the technology is attracting interest from electricity network operators, major contractors, universities and industry bodies, with talks under way about trials — and the pair plan to expand into infrastructure and construction projects across south Wales and beyond.

Fittingly, the pair marked the news at the Hafod-Morfa Copperworks — the cradle of the copper industry David cites — where restoration of the historic engine houses is gathering pace.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Scaffolding tops the copperworks chimneys — as engine house restoration gathers pace
The restoration under way at the site where the pair were photographed.

Two ex-Swans staff turn one billboard into a seven-screen empire in a year
Another pair of Swansea colleagues who turned an idea into a business.

“Internationally significant” discoveries shed new light on Swansea’s industrial past
The copper-processing history unearthed at Hafod-Morfa.