VDE Americas Protects Solar Power Assets from Catastrophic Weather with New ArcGIS-Based Hail Risk Atlas

Business Wire

Severe hail events have caused hundreds of millions of dollars of damage to US solar energy infrastructure
The majority of utility-scale solar plants exist in high-risk “Hail Alley”
VDE Hail Risk Intelligence—including the new VDE Hail Risk Atlas—ensures that solar projects are protected, financeable and insurable

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
VDE Americas, the global leader in technical advisory and catastrophic risk assessment and mitigation services for solar, today announced the launch of its VDE Hail Risk Atlas. Designed to forecast the economic risk of solar assets due to hail loss, VDE’s suite of Hail Risk Intelligence products and services is a leap forward for solar developers, insurers and investors, paving the way for more defensible, financeable and insurable projects. The VDE Hail Risk Atlas is available for use on the Esri ArcGIS platform.

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The new VDE Hail Risk Atlas allows geographic information system users to evaluate and compare site-specific hail risk on the basis of severe convective storm meteorology or solar project financial risk exposure. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Utility-scale solar facilities are critical sources of domestic power generation in the US. These assets, which can consist of thousands of acres of glass solar modules, are largely sited in the path of severe hailstorms. After a series of such hailstorms caused hundreds of millions in damages to US solar infrastructure, VDE created its Hail Risk Atlas. The new offering uses proprietary test data and on-site forensics to model the hail resiliency of today’s wide range of solar modules and the effect of mounting system tilt angle. Then, through advanced computer modeling coupled with ground-based radar and observational data, Hail Risk Atlas produces a wide range of hail risk maps and intelligence for use in assessing the risk of hail loss across the Continental US.

“Despite the growing demand for large deployments of solar power generation infrastructure, when we speak to high-value solar asset owners, it’s clear that the hail risk to these large-area assets is often unknown,” said Jon Previtali, vice president of digital services at VDE Americas. “With the debut of Hail Risk Atlas, our clients can quickly identify the level of risk associated with hail events, informing key decisions for project locations, equipment selection, insurance coverage and most importantly, effective hail defense protocols for both construction and operations.”

VDE's Hail Risk Atlas consists of proprietary intelligence that charts key weather and financial risk metrics from low-risk regions to the most dangerous “known zones.” Additionally, Hail Risk Atlas includes:

Return intervals maps: Predicts the probability of hailstorms over a range of maximum hailstone sizes. Return Intervals support all commercial sectors concerned about hail risk, not just solar.
Probable maximum loss (PML) and average annual loss (AAL) estimates: Informs equipment selection and sizing insurance coverage. This level of intelligence ensures that hail risk for new and operational solar projects, as well as other assets, is well understood and assets are protected to meet increasingly stringent requirements for investment and insurance.

“North America’s solar energy infrastructure is dramatically underprepared for catastrophic events like hail. Our goal with the introduction of the Hail Risk Atlas, as part of our suite of Hail Risk Intelligence solutions, is to solve this problem so that solar power assets remain operational and carry us decades into the future,” said John Sedgwick, president of VDE Americas. “We believe this level of weather mapping represents a huge step forward in how we can adapt to and mitigate extreme weather losses and gives the energy industry a new tool in its asset protection arsenal.”

For more than a decade, VDE Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of European technology organization VDE Group, has provided technical advisory and risk mitigation services for utility-scale solar and energy storage projects. In addition to its Hail Risk Atlas, VDE Hail Risk Intelligence solutions include an independent consulting practice that provides critical and timely hail intelligence and technical due diligence on planning and asset protection strategies.

About VDE Americas

VDE Americas provides technical advisory and risk mitigation services to equipment manufacturers and those who develop, finance, construct, own, operate, and insure large-scale solar power generation and energy storage facilities. The company’s products and services have facilitated the financing of over $15 billion in operating renewable energy assets. VDE Americas is the world’s leading expert in solar project hail risk intelligence and loss prevention.

About VDE

VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has been regarded as a synonym for innovation and technological progress for more than 130 years. VDE is the only organization in the world that combines science, standardization, testing, certification, and application consulting under one umbrella. The VDE mark has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection for more than 100 years.