Can Solar Panels Take on the Impact of Hailstorms & Hurricanes?
Solar panels are becoming common energy supply systems as the world is gradually inclining towards utilizing sustainable energy resources. While solar panels have stellar performance without causing any impact on the environment, the panels are exposed to tackle harsh elements of the environment as well.
Hailstorms are one of the obstacles that can cause severe damage to its performance. This is why it is important to test the capacity of solar panels with the right solar equipment testing. You can get a hail impact tester from a hail impact tester supplier in Dubai or in other locations.
But before you settle on one, here’s everything that you need to know about hailstorm impact on solar panels and hail impact tester.
How much solar panel damage can hail cause?
Solar panels are typically made of tempered glass and they can ideally withstand the impact of hail stones on most occasions. As per the global standards, the panels are required to endure direct hail stone impact of approximately 35 mm diameter that is a typical size of a golf ball.
However, hailstones larger than the size of 35mm can definitely cause severe damage to the panels as they can smash through the tempered glass causing external and internal damage to the solar panel system.
How to check for hail stone damage?
If your solar panel has been impacted by a hailstorm and you need to check for hail stone damage then here are the two-steps to carry out the damage check.
Firstly, you need to check the inverter. If there’s any severe damage caused by hailstones then the inverter shall be detecting the issue. You need to check the inverter’s display screen.
If any faults such as earth faults appear or any red light is displayed or if there’s no power generation indication, it is a sign of an issue or a damage.
Secondly, it is important to perform a visual damage check of the solar panels. View the panels from a distance and see for any damages. If the panels appear smashed this can result in leaking voltage.
Contact your solar panel installer for further assistance.
The Hail Impact Test
The hail impact test is one of the solar equipment tests that verifies a solar panel’s capacity of withstanding the hailstones’ impact. It is a mechanical test that authenticates the overall quality and safety of solar panels that shall be featured in the market.
Solar panel products that have been hail impact tested and successfully passed the test shall only be purchased. This test is a general qualifying test conducted in order to certify a new solar panel. It is applied during the internal quality check and research phase.
The hail impact test procedure is carried out by typically using a pneumatic ice ball launcher. The launcher is enabled for launching ice balls at various weights and specified speed.
The product passes the test when there’s no damage, however, the product failure occurs when any damage is identified on the panels.