3 ms·

Your comment made me wonder something: how delicate are solar panels? Like, if a hailstorm hits a town with solar panels, will they be completely destroyed?

noscrewstoyous 6y ago
they will not (have panels, faced multiple hail storms)
kube-system 6y ago
The cells themselves are very delicate, much of the job of the panel is to protect the cells. Construction can vary, but generally they are designed to withstand normal weather events, just like a roof is. That said, weather can occasionally exceed those design limitations. Large hail can break through a polycarbonate skylight or the tempered glass of a car, it’ll do the same to a solar panel covered in the same.
dapids 6y ago
You know, that would be a very serious design flaw of they just broke like that. Hence the reason they are weatherproof... The solar cells themselves are usually quite delicate, but the surrounding material keeps them safe in the case of weatherproof ones.
- biophysboy 6y ago
  I thought that as well, but then I thought "well car windshields can be busted by hail, so maybe there is just insurance, like we have for cars". By the replies I've gotten, looks like that's not the case!
johnconnolly 6y ago
From a solar installer in Colorado: https://blog.namastesolar.com/hail-solar-panels-how-much-hail-can-solar-panels-handle https://blog.namastesolar.com/hail-solar-panels-how-much-hai.... seems they're likely damaged by hail roughly the size of a golf ball, but in the link above they point to an example where 2.75in diameter hail did little damage to panels at NREL.
- CarbyAu 6y ago
  It's "size of golfball" hail that makes me wonder if shielding the solar panel with 40mm wire mesh (often called chicken wire) is worth the solar efficiency loss. One thing about Climate Change is: more energy in the system means worse extreme events, and the less extreme events more often. But when is the cut over point?
agumonkey 6y ago
Silicon cells are quite brittle, think like very thin dry pasta with a metallic cling. You can find pieces sold in lots on ebay, mostly due to operator error when soldering them.

noscrewstoyous 6y ago

they will not (have panels, faced multiple hail storms)

kube-system 6y ago

The cells themselves are very delicate, much of the job of the panel is to protect the cells. Construction can vary, but generally they are designed to withstand normal weather events, just like a roof is. That said, weather can occasionally exceed those design limitations. Large hail can break through a polycarbonate skylight or the tempered glass of a car, it’ll do the same to a solar panel covered in the same.

dapids 6y ago

You know, that would be a very serious design flaw of they just broke like that. Hence the reason they are weatherproof... The solar cells themselves are usually quite delicate, but the surrounding material keeps them safe in the case of weatherproof ones.

biophysboy 6y ago
I thought that as well, but then I thought "well car windshields can be busted by hail, so maybe there is just insurance, like we have for cars". By the replies I've gotten, looks like that's not the case!

johnconnolly 6y ago

From a solar installer in Colorado: https://blog.namastesolar.com/hail-solar-panels-how-much-hail-can-solar-panels-handle https://blog.namastesolar.com/hail-solar-panels-how-much-hai.... seems they're likely damaged by hail roughly the size of a golf ball, but in the link above they point to an example where 2.75in diameter hail did little damage to panels at NREL.

CarbyAu 6y ago
It's "size of golfball" hail that makes me wonder if shielding the solar panel with 40mm wire mesh (often called chicken wire) is worth the solar efficiency loss. One thing about Climate Change is: more energy in the system means worse extreme events, and the less extreme events more often. But when is the cut over point?

agumonkey 6y ago

Silicon cells are quite brittle, think like very thin dry pasta with a metallic cling. You can find pieces sold in lots on ebay, mostly due to operator error when soldering them.