Overview of lightning interaction and damages to wind turbines

It is well known that tall structures such as telecommunication towers can be exposed to numerous lightning incidence. Wind turbines are in this group, but two particular characteristics distinguish wind turbines from the rest. The first peculiarity is that a substantial part of the structure is rotating. That corresponds to the rotor blades. The second, is also related to the rotor blades and corresponds to the intensive use of composite materials. Due to these two factors, protection against lightning requests very special attention.Postprint (author's final draft