Patent ID: 8643998

Claim:
System for protecting a wind turbine against atmospheric discharges, wherein the wind turbine has a self-orienting nacelle ( 2 ) comprising a transmission ( 5 ) and a generator ( 6 ), and a rotor ( 3 ) having blades ( 4 ), wherein a surface of the blades has a conductive surface ( 13 ), the system comprising: a programmable central control unit located within the nacelle ( 2 ) and in communication with an electric field compensating device ( 7 ), an electric field sensor ( 8 ), an electromagnetic field sensor ( 9 ), an anemometer ( 10 ), a relative air humidity sensor ( 11 ), and a temperature and atmospheric pressure sensor ( 12 ); wherein the electric field compensating device ( 7 ) is associated to the nacelle ( 2 ) and the blades ( 4 ) by a first pair of concentric rings ( 14 ), located between the rotor ( 3 ) and the nacelle ( 2 ), the rings being conductive and a dielectric between the rings being air; wherein the electric field compensating device ( 7 ) is associated to the nacelle ( 2 ) and a tower ( 1 ) by a second pair of concentric rings ( 15 ) located between a bottom of the nacelle ( 2 ) and the tower ( 1 ), the rings being conductive and a dielectric between the rings being air.