Lightning is a leading cause of death for wind turbine technicians. The risk of lightning strikes for wind turbine technicians is even greater during the summer months, when thunderstorms are more common. Allen discusses the lightning dangers with Vaisala lightning experts Hans Loewenheath, Product Manager for Xweather Lightning at Vaisala, and Ryan Said, Senior Scientist at Vaisala. The Vaisala Xweather system detects lightning in real-time and provides near instantaneous alerts to technicians in the area. These alerts allow technicians to get to safety before tragedy strikes. When thunder roars, go indoors!



Vaisala Xweather - https://www.xweather.com/Vaisala Annual Lightning Report - https://www.xweather.com/annual-lightning-reportVaisala Interactive Lightning Map - https://interactive-lightning-map.vaisala.com/Pardalote Consulting - https://www.pardaloteconsulting.comWind Power Lab - https://windpowerlab.comWeather Guard Lightning Tech - www.weatherguardwind.comIntelstor - https://www.intelstor.com











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Vaisala (1)



Allen Hall: I'm Allen Hall, host of the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. Our guests this week are Hans Loewenheath Product Manager for Xweather Lightning at Vaisala. And Ryan Said, Senior Scientist at Vaisala. If you're not familiar with Vaisala, Vaisala is a global company specializing in environmental and industrial measurement solutions.



Founded in 1936 and headquartered in Finland. Vaisala has grown to become a leading provider of reliable and accurate instruments, systems, and services for a wide range of industries and applications. Ryan and Hans, welcome to the program. 



Ryan Said: Thanks for having us. Hi. Happy to be here. 



Allen Hall: Just reading some news stories this week unfortunately of people attending to a soccer field.



I got hit by lightning and, and they were clearly out in, in a time when it wasn't raining, right? This is sort of the clearer lightning strike scenario. There's, there's thunder off in the distance, but they don't think twice about it. And next thing you know, you're in an ambulance going to a hospital and then, and the wind turbine technicians.



I think the case is so much more risky because if you're up in a turbine or around turbines, turbines are lightning magnets for the most part. And you don't have a lot of advanced 



Ryan Said: warning. That's right. Lightning is chaotic and unpredictable. There's really no safe place to be outside when there's a thunderstorm nearby.



A lightning can even strike several miles from the thunderstorm core. There are general guidelines in place that reflect this unpredictable and unsafe environment. The National Lightning Safety Council has a motto when thunder roars go indoors and advise not to return outside for at least 30 minutes after lightning passes by.



So for these reasons, it's really important to be aware of your environment and surroundings in particular. Be able to track thunderstorms in real time, right? 



Allen Hall: What is a safe position? If you're, if you're around a wind turbine, where are you gonna go? Is the vehicle enough? 



Ryan Said: Usually the safest place to be during a thunderstorm is in a modern building.



The electrical wiring and plumbing. Serves as a Faraday cage, or it safely guides the electrical energy from a lightning flash that hits the building through these wires into the ground. Now, of course, you don't want to be touching any of these wires or, or plumbing during a thunderstorm. If you can't get to a modern building,