‘Golf ball-sized’ hailstorms damage Fighting Jays solar project; Array launches hail tracking software

While the operators of the Fighting Jays project have not commented on the incident, CIP told PV Tech that it is currently profiling damage at the project.

“We are currently assessing the extent of the impact of the storm on the generation of the project, while the plant continues to safely operate at a reduced capacity,” said a CIP spokesperson. “The silicon-based panels contain no cadmium-telluride (CdTe) and we have identified no risk to the local community or the environment.”

Raising old questions

The incident could also pose risks for future solar developments in the US, with the extremity of the hailstorm raising old questions about the ability of solar facilities to generate power during extreme weather events.

Drew Philpot, the co-founder of Blended Power, a renewable energy consulting practice based in Houston, said that the hailstorm could discourage further investments into the solar sector.

“Solar projects must meet design standards for the weather conditions they expect to encounter. Events like the recent Texas hailstorm may exceed those conditions and result in a force majeure situation,” Philpot told PV Tech. “These incidents will naturally become more frequent with the growing number of projects nationwide, but an excessive number of incidents could continue to push insurance costs higher.”

These concerns were echoed by David Victor, a professor at UC San Diego, and director of the Deep Decarbonization Initiative. At a webinar hosted by Macro-Energy Systems on renewable finance earlier this week, he highlighted the importance of renewable assets being perceived as safe by investors.

“[Renewable] products have to go through diligence, and due diligence might be flawed, [which is] just shocking, because we never see any flaws in institutions in life, and all the kinds of dynamics … play in,” said Victor. “Folks who are risk-averse emphasise the familiar and the safe, and the stuff that doesn’t get them fired.”

Similarly, Michael Perron, renewable energy leader at Brown & Brown Risk Solutions, said that the incident could be a “significant insurance loss” for the companies behind the project. The Fighting Jays’ website notes that “insurance policies will be in place to cover catastrophic events”, but the specific financial details of these arrangements are unknown.

The threat of hailstorms for solar projects is well known, and engineering firm VDE Americas told PV Tech Premium earlier this year about new approaches to protecting solar projects from these risks. Jon Previtali, senior principal engineer of VDE Americas, suggested that the use of meteorological data could help operators conduct more tailored risk assessments for their projects.

Taking this a step further, US tracker manufacturer Array Technologies launched a form of weather tracking software this week, with a particular emphasis on “autonomously protecting solar assets from hail damage”. The product, Hail Alert Response, uses weather forecast algorithms, and connects to a project’s solar trackers, enabling the software to stow solar trackers around half an hour before a predicted hail event hits the facility.

“New projects can mitigate hail risks with design choices like using fast-stow trackers or panels with high-strength glass,” added Philpot. “For that value to be captured, it’s important for insurance companies to offer more competitive rates to projects that take those extra steps.”

Projects such as these could help establish a form of early warning system for solar operators, who can then proactively respond to potential hail risks before storms break out, and the continued threat of hail could encourage further investment into the sector.