4,000 acre solar farm in Texas badly damaged by hail

[True Dough]

Video below.

A large solar farm about an hour southwest of Houston has attracted online attention after photos and videos emerged showing extensive damage to the panels in the aftermath of a severe hailstorm in the region two weeks ago.

In an email statement, a spokesperson for Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners confirmed its Fighting Jays Solar project was damaged by hail on March 15. The project spans 3,300 acres and can produce 350 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 70,000 Texas homes during the hottest summer days, according to the Fighting Jays Solar website.

The damaged solar farm continues to operate safely at a reduced capacity as its owners assess the impact of the storm on the project’s generation, according to the CIP spokesperson. “We have identified no risk to the local community or the environment,” the CIP spokesperson wrote.

According to the Fighting Jays Solar website, insurance policies are in place to cover catastrophic events such as a huge hailstorm. The CIP spokesperson didn’t answer questions about expected insurance losses. For context, a severe hailstorm in Pecos County that damaged more than 400,000 panels at the 178-megawatt Midway Solar project in 2019 resulted in insurance losses exceeding $75 million.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/large-houston-solar-farm-suffers-extensive-hail-19371591.php

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[Think. Again.]

1. I know human-error and mechanical accidents cause damages at fossil fuel plants all the time...

...but now it seems like the climate chaos we are workng to reduce is the second most effective culprit against those efforts.

[2naSalit]

2. Another case for...

Consideration of point source power generation.

[Shermann]

3. Recyclability and repairability are always a challenge with manufactured equipment.

We'll see how repairable these are. That certainly does not look promising.

[True Dough]

4. I saw someone in the comments

suggest retractable covers for the panels. Increased expense, yes, but if it could save an entire solar array during a storm like this, money well invested!

[Shermann]

5. Maybe instead they could close up like clamshells. nt

[patphil]

6. That should work, and wouldn't cost that much to implement.

[TheBlackAdder]

11. They don't have to close, just rotate upside down, or place sheets of Lexan on top of them.

[JCMach1]

7. Never experienced proper hail until I moved to DFW area

I think it has always been a thing here, but we literally have a hail season here now largely due to global warming.

My wife had her car totalled while driving a few years back.

[TexasBushwhacker]

8. Yup. It can make a car look like

someone beat it with a sledge hammer.

[Wonder Why]

9. That's what happens when you don't keep solar panels indoors!

[republianmushroom]

10. Maybe "God" is a little PO at texans for their behavior ?