13 May Solar Panels vs. Natural Disasters

One of the biggest concerns for every homeowner is if their home is fully prepared against emergencies, such as natural disasters. Investing in fully protecting your home is a top priority. And if you are also looking into investing in a solar system to power your home, you may be asking yourself, can solar panels survive extreme weather conditions?

The Breakdown

Solar Panels vs. Thunderstorms

Thunderstorms are concerning because they can include, lightning, tornados, and hail, but how exactly does this affect solar panels? 

 First to address is the fact that solar panels DO NOT attract lightning and neither does it put your home more at risk because of the metal racking. Lightning is a risk to homeowners, however, adding solar panels to your home doesn’t change that risk. Whether or not lightning is a concern will be determined by other factors.

 Solar panels are manufactured to withstand strong winds, the average panel can take up to 140mph wind gusts! The average tornado is 40-100mph and in hurricane-prone states like Florida, the solar panels are made even stronger. If your solar panels are installed correctly, a tornado should not blow them off the racking.

Solar panel manufacturers take into consideration natural hazards, like hail, and test panels to see if they could withstand a hail storm. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory was hit by a massive hail storm in 2017. They reported out of the 30,000 panels on their building, only a single panel was broken due to a concentrated blow of several hailstones. Solar panels are well-equipped to withstand impacts even from large hailstones

Solar Panels vs. Hurricanes & Earthquakes

Solar Panels in places that are hurricane prone are made even stronger! An example of this is Florida. Florida has strict wind codes in place to ensure manufacturers’ installations withstand 160 mph minimum winds.  This makes it sturdy enough to withstand category 4 and 5 hurricanes! 

California is the U.S. superstar state in Solar Energy and they are also the state most at risk for Earthquakes. Fortunately, buildings and homes in places that are earthquake-prone are made to withstand shaking. Solar Panels are not affected if they are installed properly and the roof is in good shape. 

Solar Panels vs. IceStorms & SandStorms

Good news! Solar panels are not affected by ice, if it’s opaque ice then melt it off to avoid a minimal shadow effect. Ice is none of your worries. 

After a sandstorm, make sure to clean your solar panels by dusting all the sand to avoid losing energy. You have nothing to worry about if you are cleaning your panels regularly.

In conclusion, Solar Panels are strong enough withstand any type of natural disaster and come out with MINIMAL to NO DAMAGE! They do so well in all weather conditions that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory report showed that of 50,000 solar systems installed between 2009-2013, only 0.1% suffered damage.

Therefore, Solar Panels for the WIN!