Lightning rod over green roof

Hello, I made this topic to ask if anyone has any experience installing lightning rods over green roofs. I already have a rough understanding of the layers in a green roof but I'm clueless when it comes to electric installations, I'm not sure if lightning rods is something I can DIY even though I heard from some people it's just a small metal rod wired to a large rod in the ground, has anyone tried to do it on a green roof before? I'm also worried because said green roof is gonna be over a timber frame house filled with straw bale, I saw someone here had their straw-bale house destroyed by lightning so I wonder if there's anything else I should take into consideration.

PS. I'm near but not under a high-voltage line, does that affect the installation in anyway? thanks for any info you can share.

Hi Francisco,
I am not an electrician, but I don't think you would need a lightning rod on an underground house. All the ones I have ever seen are on tall buildings or buildings standing by themselves when they are the tallest thing. An underground house is not going to be struck by lightning as a general rule, any more than an underground cave would be. Again, I am not an electrician, but I don't think you would need a lightning rod.

Well, the roof is "underground" but the walls are above the ground. And lightning surely hits the ground time to time I think.

okaaaaay. I was thinking green roof as in underground. You meant Green Roof on top of a building.

In that case, I think a lightning rod could be useful. How large of a building are you talking about? For a house, I would think a lightning rod or two, mounted on the sides would be sufficient, and could then use normal mounting hardware and wires. If its a large building, like a commercial building where the center of the roof is too far for the sides to be enough... maybe building some sort of plastic mount to attach it, and then just run wire with an underground rating, to the edge of the building, and then down to the grounding rod.

If this is important to you, maybe a metal pole near the building.

I'm curious, will I need to insulate the wire or can it just be laying there on the ground or can it penetrate the roof layers? Do I just grapple it to the wood frame to tie it down? Will a metal pole attract the lightning away from my house? I thought it only worked when it's above the place you want to protect.