The growing fleet of utility-scale solar assets in the United States is currently “dramatically underprepared” for severe hailstorms, according to John Sedgwick, CEO of technical advisory firm VDE Americas. In a statement accompanying the launch of VDE’s new Hail Risk Intelligence monitoring program, Sedgwick remarked, “Despite the increasing demand for extensive solar power generation infrastructure, it is evident that many owners of valuable solar assets are often unaware of the hail risks that these large-area installations face.”
Damaging hailstorms are a frequent occurrence in many central, southern, and Midwestern states, including Texas and Illinois, which have emerged as significant markets for utility-scale solar. These storms can severely impact solar installations, disrupt energy production, and lead to millions of dollars in damages. VDE Americas asserts that its newly developed system can forecast the economic risks associated with potential hailstorms for U.S. solar projects. The program utilizes test data and on-site forensic analysis to model both weather conditions and the hail-resistance capabilities of available solar modules. It generates maps and data assessing hail risks throughout the continental United States.
The Hail Risk Atlas was developed in response to a series of hailstorms that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to U.S. solar infrastructure. Sedgwick previously wrote a blog post for PV Tech discussing the impact of hail damage on the Fighting Jays solar project, which experienced multiple hailstorms in March 2024. In that post, he noted that hail mitigation measures—where tracker systems adjust the angle of solar modules to shield them from direct hail impacts—helped prevent significant physical damage at several nearby utility-scale solar farms also subjected to severe hail.
Sedgwick emphasized, “North America’s solar energy infrastructure is dramatically underprepared for catastrophic events like hail.” He further explained that the introduction of the Hail Risk Atlas, part of the broader suite of Hail Risk Intelligence solutions, aims to address this issue, ensuring that solar power assets remain operational and sustainable for decades to come. He believes that this advanced weather mapping represents a significant advancement in the industry’s ability to adapt to and mitigate losses from extreme weather events, providing a new asset protection tool for the energy sector.
In addition to a changing climate that may lead to more frequent extreme weather events, the construction of solar modules can also influence how hail impacts these installations. A report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), an entity under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), found that thinner and taller modules are contributing to an increase in cracks and breakages. The larger dimensions and thinner glass, resulting from the slim profit margins faced by many module manufacturers, also make these modules more vulnerable to hail damage. In response, the DOE launched a $2.4 million initiative in September aimed at exploring new strategies to enhance the resilience of solar PV installations.
Original article by NenPower, If reposted, please credit the source: https://nenpower.com/blog/us-solar-industry-ill-prepared-for-hailstorm-risks-warns-vde-americas/
