VDE Americas and kWh Analytics have released a new table to assess the hail risk of solar power plants and their defense capabilities during the upcoming hail season. Multiple high-profile hail disasters have posed challenges to the insurance of solar assets, prompting the industry to adopt resilience measures such as deploying thicker and less prone to breakage glass solar panels. But in order for insurance companies to correctly evaluate risk mitigation measures, they need data.

In order to provide meaningful hail risk assessment data, VDE Americas and kWh Analytics have jointly developed the "Hail Accumulation and Risk Assessment" tool, which is an easy-to-use assessment tool for insurance insurers and financiers to confirm and monitor hail defense functions. Ultimately, projects that use this tool and demonstrate the effectiveness of its resilience measures will receive insurance credit. This tool and recommendation are based on VDE's comprehensive hail defense best practices, which include actively accumulating solar panels, utilizing industry-specific hail forecasts, and warning based hail accumulation.

Hail storage refers to placing solar trackers at steep angles during hail weather to minimize impact and protect solar panels from damage. VDE Americas recommends placing solar trackers (devices used to adjust the tilt of solar panels) in hail storage locations immediately after installing solar panels in ongoing solar projects. For projects that have already been put into operation, the company recommends deploying a hail monitoring system and setting up redundant area and specific site alarms to trigger automatic or manual hail storage. After triggering, the hail storage capacity should be confirmed by staff and tested before needed. The tracker should be placed in the hail storage location overnight.

The risk modeling approach of kWh Analytics and VDE America utilizes radar based meteorological data and hail resilience characteristics of specific equipment to create a data-driven model that rewards resilience design and excellent operations. By integrating reliable, site-specific hail risk data and equipment performance indicators, this method creates a more accurate risk assessment framework that benefits proactive solar energy owners and operators.

Nicole Thompson, Senior Manager of Data Science at kWh Analytics, said, "This year, the La Ni ñ a phenomenon is raging, and the risk of hail is extremely high. The risk of damage to solar projects is also enormous. Based on empirical research, our differentiated premiums will reward projects that adopt mature hail prevention strategies, transmit insurance price signals to the industry, and incentivize the design, construction, and operation of more resilient solar projects

KWh Analytics makes hail accumulation and risk assessment tables easy to use. It allows insurance companies to directly contact tracker manufacturers and independent engineers to understand the specific situation of the project. The hail accumulation and risk assessment framework collaborates with VDE Americas' hail risk intelligence suite to address the vulnerability of solar projects to hail.