Lightning Protection for Wind Turbines
Lightning strikes happen in a fraction of time, where they can transfer huge amounts of charge and high currents in a single strike. The chances for a structure to be struck by lightning increases as the height increases; thus, tall structures are more prone to lightning. Lightning looks for the path of least resistance to ground. That tall metal tower with your wind turbine on top, at least 60 feet high, and sticking out at least 30 feet over everything else in a wide area around it may very well be that easiest path. In the case of wind turbines, there are a few issues specific to their intrinsic properties and geometries such as blades, nacelle enclosures, electronics within the nacelle, and bearings. Damage to each of the components in question have different sensitivities of various modes of failure and can lead to different types of outages, such as: · Blades: lightning strikes can cause structural damage resulting in catastrophic failure and long-term outage. · Nace