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This article describes common steps to avoid lightning strike damage to controls, batteries, and other wind turbine electrical generator system components. We provide information about lightning strikes, lightning hazards, related equipment, sources of lightning protection system installers, and lightning strike risk assessment. The photograph at page top was taken by the author from an aircraft. Text below is reprinted/adapted/excerpted with permission from Solar Age Magazine - editor Steven Bliss. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

Lightning Protection Details for Wind Turbine Controls & Circuits

• Lightning Protection Details for Wind Turbines - use your browser's back button to return to this page

The question-and-answer article about wind turbines and lightning damage protection appears in expanded text below and quotes-from, updates, and comments an original article, (see links just above) from Solar Age Magazine and written by Steven Bliss.

Question: We have installed a 1935-vintage Jacobs wind generator (1500 watts; 35 volts DC) on an island in Wisconsin. Since the 55-foot tower is on a hill in the middle of a lake, it gets hit with lightning all the time. We have a standard electrical panel box but an electronic charging control. The wind generator tower has a lightning arrestor and a ground rod. Each time lightning hits, the lightning strike destroys an integrated circuit and a couple of transistors.

• How can we prevent even small charges from the lightning from going into the electrical panel box?
• What effect does lightning have on storage batteries when it passes through them?

- Richard Armhein, North Oaks, MN

Answer: You should probably have surge suppressors on every wire entering your electrical panel box. The surge arrestors should be grounded to the existing ground rod. Never use separate ground rods for different parts of the same installation. The ground rod or stake should make better contact with moisture in the earth than do the wind turbine generator tower footings.

Since your wind generator system is on a hill, you might want to check this (on a sunny day with no risk of a lightning strike while you are working).

Installing a lightning rod at the top of your wind generator tower isn't likely to protect your electronic equipment further and may not be cost-effective because the lightning rod may interfere with the wind's flow around the wind generator's turbine blades.

Lightning strike current passing through your storage batteries could be expected to destroy them by means of a powerful (and dangerous) explosion. But the lightning may also be inducing transient surges in the batteries. It is doubtful that they cause any harm.

SAFETY WARNING: Engineers we spoke with stressed that generic answers are not universally right. Since lightning has a deadly potential, show your installation or an accurate diagram of it to a qualified electrical engineer who specializes in lightning arrestor system design.

See LIGHTNING PROTECTION SYSTEMS for details; also, at Lightning Protection Systems Defined the UL illustration caption recommends a secondary surge arrestor on electrical service conductors or at the electrical service panel. While some details about electrical ground rods are shown just below, readers should also see GROUND SYSTEM INSPECTION.

Our photo (above) shows the old windmill on the city rampart at Montfoort, Holland.

Lightning Protection System Certification for Wind Turbines

Lightning protection systems are examined and certified by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. Be sure your installer is listed by UL and that a Master Label application is submitted to UL for your installation. There are other listing and certifying agencies as well, including the Lightning Protection Institute (LPI) and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA).

Verify that your Wind Generator Lightning Protection System Installer is UL-Listed

To verify that an installer is Listed or to obtain further information call the Follow-Up Services Department at UL, 1285 Walt Whitman Road, Melville, NY 11747 516/271-6200. UL has other offices in Northbrook, IL, Santa Clara, CA, and Research Triangle Park, NC.

Where do Electrical Ground Wires Go?

Here we include solar energy, solar heating, solar hot water, and related building energy efficiency improvement articles reprinted/adapted/excerpted with permission from Solar Age Magazine - editor Steven Bliss.

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LIGHTNING PROTECTION SYSTEMS
What is Lightning?
Lightning Protection Systems Defined
How do Lightning Systems Work?
Damaged, Unsafe Lightning Systems
Lightning Protection Certification
Outdoor Lightning Protection Design
Lightning Protection for Trees
Hidden Lightning Protection Design
Lightning Strike Risk Assessment
How to Avoid Being Struck by Lightning
Lightning Strikes Small Boat
WIND TURBINES

• Solar Age Magazine was the official publication of the American Solar Energy Society. The contemporary solar energy magazine associated with the Society is Solar Today. "Established in 1954, the nonprofit American Solar Energy Society (ASES) is the nation's leading association of solar professionals & advocates. Our mission is to inspire an era of energy innovation and speed the transition to a sustainable energy economy. We advance education, research and policy. Leading for more than 50 years. ASES leads national efforts to increase the use of solar energy, energy efficiency and other sustainable technologies in the U.S. We publish the award-winning SOLAR TODAY magazine, organize and present the ASES National Solar Conference and lead the ASES National Solar Tour – the largest grassroots solar event in the world."
  
• Steven Bliss served as editorial director and co-publisher of The Journal of Light Construction for 16 years and previously as building technology editor for Progressive Builder and Solar Age magazines. He worked in the building trades as a carpenter and design/build contractor for more than ten years and holds a masters degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Excerpts from his recent book, Best Practices Guide to Residential Construction, Wiley (November 18, 2005) ISBN-10: 0471648361, ISBN-13: 978-0471648369, appear throughout this website, with permission and courtesy of Wiley & Sons. Best Practices Guide is available from the publisher, J. Wiley & Sons, and also at Amazon.com.
  Excerpts with updates and annotations expanding the original Best Practices Guide text can be found in the online review and book summary at BEST CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES GUIDE and also at DECK & PORCH CONSTRUCTION, at INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE, and in other articles found at InspectAPedia.com such as HOUSEWRAP AIR & VAPOR BARRIERS, SOUND CONTROL in BUILDINGS, and other topics.
• Portions of this information are based on UL publication 200-81 11/87 and other local service company information about lightning protection systems and lightning strike hazards.
• Thanks to Alan Carson and Bob Dunlop, Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, for permission to use illustrations from their publication, The Illustrated Home which illustrates construction details and building components. Carson Dunlop provides home inspection education, publications, report writing materials, and home inspection services. Alan Carson is a past president of ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors.
• Special thanks to Associated Lightning Rod Company, Cooper Road Box 329A, Millerton NY who has been contributing technical content in presentations to NY ASHI home inspectors since 1996. Some of that information [on lightning system material and installation details] was edited for clarity. ALRCi can be reached at 518-789-4603, 845-373-8309, 860-364-1498 and will inspect your lightning protection system at no charge. [We have no financial nor any other business relationship with any company or product discussed at this website--DF]
• For more details on how lightning protection systems work, see Lightning Protection from Pacific Electric and Gas Company, and Electrical System Grounding and Lightning Protection, Engineering Technical Letter 90-6, Department of the Air Force, HQ USAF.
• Lightning strike risk assessment: for the full body of this excellent article which summarizes recent opinions about lightning strike risk assessment and safe practices for individuals or groups needing to avoid being struck by lightning, see Updated Recommendations for Lightning Safety - 1998 Ronald L. Holle and Raul E. Lopez from National Severe Storms Laboratory, NOAA and Norman, Oklahoma, Christoph Zimmermann Global Atmospherics, Inc. Tucson, Arizona
• As we indicated in an original version of this article, a lightning strike risk assessment guide can be found in Appendix I of the National Fire Protection Association's Lightning Protection Code, NFPA #780. The guide considers type of structure, type of construction, structure location, topography, occupancy, contents and lightning frequency. Contact NFPA, Batterymarch Park, Quincy, MA 02269 617-770-3000.
• Lightning Protection Institute, 3365 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Suite J., Arlington Heights IL 60004
• Underwriters Laboratory Standard UL96A. These requirements cover the installation of lightning protection systems on all types of structures other than structures used for the production, handling, or storage of ammunition, explosives, flammable liquids or gases, and other explosive ingredients including dust. These requirements apply to lightning protection systems that are complete and cover all parts of a structure. Partial systems are not covered by this standard. These requirements do not cover the installation of lightning protection systems for electrical generating, distribution, or transmission systems. These requirements do not cover lightning protection components, which are covered by the Standard for Lightning Protection Components, UL 96.
• Underwriters Laboratory Standard UL96: These requirements cover lightning protection components for use in the installation of complete systems of lightning protection on buildings and structures. These requirements do not cover the installation of lightning protection components. Products of this type are covered by the Standard for Installation Requirements for Lightning Protection Systems, UL 96A.
• "Lightning Awareness," Gerry Schulte, BMW ON magazine, June 2007 pp. 58-60, provided some technical details about lightning, and refers readers to www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/outdoors.htm

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• Armor Lightning Protection Inc Manchester Center, VT, 802-375-0266 state-of-the-art lightning protection and surge protection for residential and commercial buildings in Vermont, New England, and throughout the Northeast
• Associated Lightning Rod Company, Inc., Box 329A, Cooper Road, Millerton, NY 12546 914/373-8309 518/789-4603
• A-C Lightning Security, Inc., 2100 East First St., PO Box 329, Maryville MO 64468 816-582-8115 800-821-5575 816-562-2932. In New York, Hudson Valley, contact Christensen Electrical Power Systems, Richard G. Christensen, 518-537-4128.
• Lightning Eliminators & Consultants 6687 Arapahoe Road Boulder, CO 80303 (303) 447-2828. "Engineering Solutions For Lightning, Grounding and Surge Protection Worldwide Since 1971"
• Electrical EINET
• Lightning Protection for Facilities, Dr. Bruce Gabrielson, Robert B. Marcus, Published and presented: EMCEXPO92, Washington D.C.
• MIT's Electrical Safety Files
• Newton's International Electrical Journal
• Lightning Protection for Workers What to Do if You're Outside in a Lightning Storm - Center to Protect Workers' Rights (PDF)
• 1998 and Current Lightning Protection Conferences & Exhibitions
• Lightning Risk and Hazard Analysis Measurement from the National Lightning Safety Institute (NLSI).
• "Lightning Fatalities, Injuries, and Damage Reports in the United States from 1959-1994", E. Brian Curran, Ronald L. Holle, Raul E. Lopez, NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-193 October 1997
• UL - Underwriters Labs Lightning equipment certification program. "Underwriters Laboratories Inc. (UL) has been testing and certifying lightning protection equipment since 1908. UL issues certificates of conformance for systems, inspecting system components and checking completed installations. Installations are required to comply with UL's internationally recognized Standards for lightning protection systems. Manufacturers, suppliers and installers demonstrate their commitment to safety by building, selling and installing only those lightning protection products that pass UL's rigorous testing." -- (Op.Cit.)



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