by admin | Jan 7, 2012 | Lightning News |
This terrific video from the UK shows a wind turbine triggering a lightning strike during a snow storm. Snow storms can create a significant amount of charge in the storm clouds. All that is needed to trigger lightning is a tall object. From the still photos of the event, shown below, it is evident that the lightning event started from the turbine and traveled up to the clouds. Hopefully the turbines were not...
by admin | Dec 23, 2011 | Lightning News |
New video from Reuters discusses the latest in lightning research with the scientist from the University of Florida. One exciting note is that lightning creates anti-matter! This discovery may help identify how lightning is formed and travels through the atmosphere. See the video...
by admin | Dec 8, 2011 | Lightning News |
The town Conneaut, Ohio has been without its wind turbine since August when a lightning strike damaged on of the blades. The turbine was used to power the town’s waste treatment plant. The turbine is now being repaired and the local newspaper photographed the damage to the blade (see below). Unfortunately, lightning damage to turbine blades is pretty common. Using simple lightning protection devices like WXGuard lightning diverters help reduce the likelihood of damage to turbine blades. See the full news article here: wind turbine damage...
by admin | Nov 29, 2011 | Lightning News |
This video from Texas shows a lightning attachment to a wind turbine. Watch closely as the lightning stays attached to a blade as it rotates and then jumps to another...
by admin | Nov 23, 2011 | Lightning News |
Vestas and Qinetiq have successfully deployed a stealthy wind turbine that has a low radar signature. Existing wind turbines have a large radar signature and can interfere with weather and air traffic radar systems. Through careful placement of RF absorbing “stealthy” materials, the RF signature was greatly reduced. Read the full article here: Stealthy Turbines...
by admin | Nov 9, 2011 | Lightning News |
New video from Oklahoma where a tornado passed through a wind turbine site. See the video below:
by admin | Nov 5, 2011 | Lightning News |
On a recent evening in Brisbane, Australia a severe thunderstorm passed through the area and unleashed 24,000 lightning strikes. Up to 14,000 homes were left without power. See the news report at the following link....
by admin | Nov 4, 2011 | Lightning News |
The Mainchi News in Japan has a news article discussing the difficulty that Japanese wind turbine sites are having with lightning. The article quotes wind turbine manufacturer Mitsubishi who is doubling the number of receptors on their blades to help reduce lightning damage. The coastline on the Sea of Japan has a high lightning strike rate and wind turbines along this coast definitely need extra protection. Adding WXGuard lightning diverters to Mitsubishi’s existing lightning receptors would greatly improve the performance of the lightning receptors and help reduce damage! You can read the full article here:Mainchi News...
by admin | Nov 1, 2011 | Lightning News |
The country of Lesotho, in southern Africa, is investing $15 billion in wind and water energy programs to generate up to 10,000 MW of power. Most of the country is located a mile above sea-level and has one the highest lightning strikes rates in the world. Hopefully the wind turbines incorporate a good lightning protection scheme. See the news article from The Guardian here: Guardian...
by admin | Oct 30, 2011 | Lightning News |
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have developed a toughened wind turbine blade that uses polyurethane and carbon nanotubes. The results was a much lighter, more resilient blade. The addition of the carbon nanotubes would make the blade somewhat conductive and attractive to lightning. This will be a significant difficulty as the research progresses forwards. See the articles here: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110830102159.htm...
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