Photovoltaic panels and the climate crisis.

In recent days, the Italian territory has been hit by a series of unprecedented hailstorms, causing significant damage to many photovoltaic plants.

Hail is certainly a threat to plants which today play a fundamental role in the transition towards a sustainable energy future.

The growing awareness of climate change and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are pushing us towards a more mature and aware development of renewable energy sources.

And it is precisely photovoltaic energy that plays a leading role in this transition scenario.

In this perspective, it is essential to evaluate which preventive measures and innovative solutions can be adopted to make their installation and use safer and more efficient.

First, we should consider the importance of developing technologies that are able to withstand extreme weather conditions, ensuring constant and reliable energy production, despite adverse weather events.

But how?

First of all, it must be said that on a photovoltaic system, unlike agricultural crops, it is somewhat discouraged to install anti-hail and protective nets.

The same would create a constant and natural shading throughout the summer period on the photovoltaic panels, so as not to make it perform at 100%.

Unfortunately hail is a sudden and unpredictable phenomenon to be scheduled daily, weekly and monthly.

To deal with the problem, the only viable solution is to develop a product (photovoltaic module) resistant, on a technological level, to the impact of hail.

 

Recent weather phenomena

At the end of the previous month, between 21 and 22 July, 46 violent hailstorms were recorded in Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy.

These atmospheric phenomena have had a devastating impact on the area, with hailstones the size of tennis balls, causing serious damage to crops, greenhouses, agricultural structures and the roofs of many homes and businesses, equipped with photovoltaic panels.

The hailstorms affected both the past generation photovoltaic panels and the latest generation ones, which are significantly much more resistant.

There are around 2,000 plants damaged in the aforementioned area, i.e. more than 80%.

(80,000 forms out of 100,000).

The worrying thing is the recording of the increase in the meteorological phenomenon itself, (+137%) in the first seven months of 2023 compared to the previous year.

PV modules are usually made with a 3.2mm tempered glass, followed by two layers of EVA, a plastic film that encapsulates the PV cells in the manufacturing process.

On the back of the panel there is the "backsheet", a rear part made up of a highly resistant plastic film, called Tedlar.

This package is designed to withstand considerable stress and undergoes laboratory tests, which simulate the impact of hailstorms using balls of packed ice fired at high speeds.

The latest generation photovoltaic modules are tested with spheres with a diameter of 25mm at a speed of about 80 km/h.

The robust construction of photovoltaic panels is essential to guarantee their resistance to extreme climatic events, but the growing frequency and intensity of these events requires a continuous commitment to research and development of innovative solutions to ensure that solar energy can continue to be a reliable and beneficial source for our future.

 

The importance of an adequate insurance policy

The insurance policy is the true salvation of a photovoltaic system in the event that hailstorms become an exceptional phenomenon.

The recent hailstorms recorded in Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto lead us to this reasoning: the hailstones were well over 25 mm in diameter, and the speed over 80 km/h, parameters by far greater than those tested in laboratories.

In our experience, an adequate insurance policy must have at least two certain contractual conditions:

> In the event of hail damage to the photovoltaic modules, the deductible must not exceed 2,000 euros.

> Compensation for specific claims must not be less than 50% of the total value of the photovoltaic system, declared when the policy was stipulated.

Most likely the insurance companies adjust their offers with different parameters, therefore, we suggest carefully checking both the specific contractual conditions, possibly renewing the policy including compensation for damage caused by hail, and above all consulting only the primary companies insurance.

 

The photovoltaic optimizers

Having installed photovoltaic optimizers on your system, in the event that a system has been damaged by hailstorms, does not completely solve the problem, but in part safeguards the producibility of the same of the photovoltaic modules that have remained undamaged.

In fact, with their installation, it is possible to make each single photovoltaic module autonomous and productive.

Photovoltaic optimizers are primarily designed to solve the efficiency losses of individual modules, which often cause a decrease in energy yield, while safeguarding the efficiency of the entire string.

Furthermore, they make the system safer, reducing the voltage applied to each panel of the photovoltaic system to 1 volt.

Without them, in fact, especially if the inverter is switched off, the current would continue to produce electricity continuously with a very high voltage, around 200-400 volts.

 

 

Last year, for Castello Italia SpA, a production plant in Casalmorano CR, we installed a 602 kW system, i.e. 1,116 latest-generation 545-watt modules, with a hail resistance certificate having the parameters mentioned above.

Soresina, a Municipality of Cremona very close to the industrial plant where we built the plant, was one of the Lombardy Municipalities most affected by the hailstorms at the end of July.

Fortunately, the Castello Italia SpA plant was not damaged.

In recent days, our team has checked the entire industrial roof with specific inspections, module by module.

If there had been any photovoltaic module damaged by hail, thanks to the 1,116 optimizers installed, the plant would have continued, even partially, to produce energy.

Our client would certainly have called their insurance company and reported the accident.

Thanks to our prompt intervention, we would have been able to replace the damaged modules within a fortnight, minimizing the efficiency losses of the system.

In conclusion, extraordinary phenomena such as those that occurred at the end of July in Northern Italy will remain recorded as extraordinary events of meteorological rarity.

In fact, no plant would have resisted hailstones with diameters greater than 40 mm, which fell from the sky like bombs at speeds exceeding 120 km/h.

INVECO not only installs photovoltaic systems, but also provides many customers with a 360° technical consultancy service.

If you too are the owner of a system and would like more information and all the relevant suggestions, our technical team is always available to answer your questions and needs.