As climate change brings more severe hailstorms, weather forecasters and the solar power industry are working together on technology to reduce damage.
When a baseball-size hailstone slams into a solar panel at more than 90 mph, the result is not pretty. That was demonstrated in March when a hailstorm decimated parts of the 350-megawatt Fighting Jay s Solar project in Southeast Texas . Images circulated on social media and in news coverage showing thousands of panels pockmarked with white circles of broken glass. Some local news outlets appeared eager to report what they they described as evidence of the unreliability of solar power.
Texas could more than double solar power capacity by the end of the decade, new data suggests The challenge comes as solar generation has become the world’s fastest-growing electricity source, according to the International Energy Agency. It’s part of a mix of renewable sources that are on track to produce most of the world’s electricity by mid-century.
Is solar finally the energy source of the present in Texas? “Will solar continue to get developed and built in hail regions? The answer is yes,” said Greg Beardsworth, senior director of product marketing at Nextracker. “The way that will happen is through a combination of understanding the magnitude of the risk based on location, selecting the appropriate combination of module technology and tracker stowing capabilities.
Solar farm to power EV parts maker opens in Seguin, continuing Texas’ record-breaking pace Experts agree more research is needed. At the Fighting Jays solar farm, project co-owner Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners issued a statement after the storm saying “the plant continues to safely operate at a reduced capacity.” The damaged panels “contain no cadmium-telluride and we have identified no risk to the local community or the environment,” it said.
Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Inside Climate News International Energy Agency Longroad Energy VDE Americas Texas Commission On Environmental Quality Fighting Jay Renny Vandewege Greg Beardsworth Nextracker Southeast Texas West Texas Fort Bend County Tornado Alley California Western Nebraska Minnesota Oklahoma Midwest Fighting Jays Seguin Fighting Jays Solar Kwh Analytics EV Prospero 1 Prospero 2
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