Big hailstones are a significant concern for large solar farm operators. However, there hasn’t been clear data on how widespread the risk is – until now.
The bottom line is that damaging hail is occurring close to many PV solar sites across the U.S. This is just one of the insights from the seventh annual Solar Risk Assessment, a research effort led by kWh Analytics.
Using a new scientific model, researchers analyzed 4,184 solar power plants across the country. They found that every one of these sites lies within 17 miles of an area likely to experience hailstones 2 inches or larger at least once every 25 years. Notably, about 64% of the plants face a similar risk from hailstones exceeding 3 inches.
When researchers looked at a shorter period of ten years, they found about 91% of…
