Overview of component damage by lightning and protection [wind turbines]

This paper summarises the laboratory testing and field data obtained on wind turbine blades and bearings to date in the JOULE research programme. The conclusions presented are interim because work is still in progress. Blades are the second most likely item to be damaged in a lightning strike (after the electronics system) but the damage results in a much greater loss in output. Bearings, in contrast to blades, are often protected against lightning because they are on the path to ground and not too expensive to protect, rather than being seriously affected to any obvious extent