Can Solar Panels Withstand Hurricane Dorian?
It’s been a long and tragic week as Hurricane Dorian continues to make its destructive path up the East Coast, leaving behind a battered Bahamas, now in “survival mode,” and pounding Florida, the Carolinas and threatening the U.S. coast – causing massive power outages throughout its path. However, the homes powered by solar energy are predicted to stay lit as evidenced by how solar panels withstood Hurricane Maria and its winds that exceeded 150 miles per hour, including a Veterans Affairs hospital in San Juan with a large 645-kw solar system, which remained operating at 100 percent during and after the hurricane.
Here in the Northeast, we also face some very damaging weather including strong winds, heavy rain, sleet, snow and even hail. But, a National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) report on 50,000 solar energy systems installed between 2009 and 2013 indicated that only 0.1% of all PV systems have been reported as affected by damaged or underperforming modules each year.
Solar panels undergo rigorous testing to ensure that they are capable of withstanding inclement weather, including hurricanes and hailstorms. They are continuously tested to withstand the devastating effects of wind and pounding rain in a hurricane, with most panels certified to stand up to wind gusts of 140mph. And, for hail — the standard for panels is that they must be able to withstand hail of up to one inch falling at approximately 50 miles per hour in order to ensure that the panels can accept a strong fall of hail and not break or become less effective. Solar panels are among the most reliable and durable of all energy technologies.
At Sunrise Solar Solutions, we are completely confident in the ability of our solar panels to stand up to almost any weather condition. That’s why we offer impressive guarantees for all of our solar panels. In fact, through our partnership with SunPower, a global leader in solar innovation and sustainability, we exclusively offer all of our residential customers SunPower’s premium solar panel technology, which features a full system 25-year wrap-around warranty.
For more information and a free assessment for your home or business, please call 914-762-7622, or visit our website sunrisesolarllc.com for more details.
