Extreme weather poses a challenge to solar installations, particularly in regions like Florida and the U.S. Midwest. Florida brings intense wind loads and coastal flooding, while the Midwest brings hail damage and winter storm risks.
Solar tracker provider PV Hardware released a case study examining how its solar tracker mount systems helped projects avoid damage from weather, keeping assets running.
“PV Hardware’s solar tracker solutions deliver industry-leading resilience against Florida hurricanes, Midwest blizzards, hailstorms, tornadoes, flooding, and extreme temperatures,” said the case study. “By combining reinforced design, fast active stowing, and intelligent automation, PVH safeguards solar assets, reduces weather-related losses, and ensures a rapid return to whole generation after adverse events.”
The company’s HazardPVH protective features include automated wind stow, which moves modules to a flat angle in about three minutes. The trackers are certified to survive 165 mph winds and use anemometers to trigger early stows before wind impacts occur. In Florida, the company’s trackers use forecast data to pre-stow hours before a hurricane makes landfall.
PV Hardware’s trackers have a TotalStow feature that secure the solar project against multi-directional winds from tornadoes and sudden wind gusts. The company said it designs its trackers with shorter row lengths and implements strong clamps to avoid a domino effect with failures.
For flood-prone regions, the company provides elevated foundations. Sensors lock the trackers and alert operators in the event of a flood. The company also designs its trackers with corrosion-resistant coatings to withstand submersion.
For heavy snow and ice, the trackers tilt panels steeply to shed snow. PVHardware offers optional snow sensors that auto-trigger snow shedding, and has components rated for sub-zero temperatures. Its electronics operate from -22 degrees F to 140 degrees F and have UV-stabilized polymers and high-grade lubricants to prevent degradation.
In the case of hailstorms, which remain the costliest weather-related damage risk for solar projects, the trackers tilt panels away from the wind to reduce incoming hail damage. The hail stow feature actuation responds within minutes of hail alerts.
“Automated hail stow has protected panels from golf-ball-sized hail in Oklahoma and Nebraska. In straight-line wind events (derechos), actively stowed trackers experienced markedly lower uplift forces than adjacent fixed-tilt installations,” said the case study.
PVH trackers are : Wind tunnel tested and designed to meet or exceed ASCE 7-16 wind-load requirements, which are about 150 mph in coastal Florida. The trackers are also IEC 62817 & UL 3703/2703 certified n for design qualification, safety, bonding, and grounding.
PVH operates a U.S. manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, which it said “ensures domestic-content compliance and rigorous factory testing and ISO certification.”
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