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Hail damage accounts for just 2% of filed solar insurance claims but more than 50% of total costs, according to VDE Americas. North America’s $14 billion large-scale solar industry is a “sitting duck” with glass panels sitting in fields with “little to no protection,” said VDE Americas, a technical due-diligence and risk-mitigation service provider. VDE said industry hail damage insurance claims represent only 2% of all claims filed but comprise over 50% of the total costs. The risk is large, but the industry has developed solutions to address and mitigate this increasingly relevant risk. “Climate change appears to be impacting both the frequency and severity of hail events,” Brian Grenko, CEO and president of VDE Americas, told pv magazine USA. “As temperatures warm, the atmosphere holds more moisture, allowing for stronger updrafts and the formation of larger hailstones.” Grenko said utility-scale solar projects located in the “hail alley” region extending from Texas north to the Dakotas are particularly vulnerable to baseball-sized hailstones. VDE announced it teamed up with climate insurance provider kWh Analytics to create a checklist tool that enables project developers to quantify risks, report mitigation strategies, and achieve lower project premiums. The hail risk tool is a form for developers to fill out project information such as its location, hail alert systems used, on-site staffing, and components used such as PV module models and racking/tracker models, among other data. The form is a tool to help insurance underwriters assess risk and enhance loss prevention practices. VDE’s tool and a hail best practices form can be found here. VDE said insurance claims for utility-scale solar projects damaged by hail average roughly $58 million per claim. However, there are many ways to invest in the resilience of a solar project. |
