A Study on the Detection of Lightning Strikes on Wind Turbines with a Camera System

Abstract

With the spread of wind power generation systems, there have been many reports of lightning damage to wind turbines. In particular, when a wind turbine is hit by winter lightning, incidents could lead to damages such as blade breakage. To prevent such damages, wind turbines in winter lightning areas in Japan are required to be equipped with a lightning detection system. This system allows wind turbines that have been struck by lightning to stop operation and restart after their integrity has been confirmed. However, in many cases, it is difficult to conduct inspections quickly, resulting in prolonged inspection times and reduced the availability. This paper reports the results of a study on a system that monitors wind turbines with camera system and detects the presence or absence of lightning strikes with higher accuracy.