The benefits of hail and wind resistant solar modules

Tuesday, 10. December 2024
11:00 am – 12:00 pm PST, Los Angeles | 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EST, New York City | 8:00 pm – 9:00 pm CET, Berlin, Paris, Madrid

Outlook Apple Google

In this pv magazine Webinar, we will explore what increasing weather events mean for the solar industry including the benefits of hail-and-wind-resistant modules from a utility, C&I, community solar perspective, as well as from a residential homeowner and installer perspective.

Damaging hailstorms are happening with more frequency in the United States with a single day in mid-March of this year breaking the daily record with 106 hail reports. As of May, the country had already seen 317 storms, with spotters reporting hail larger than 2 inches, just over 50 mm, in diameter. These new record-setting events have severe financial consequences for the solar industry. Recent data shows that despite hail damage representing a mere 1.4% of total claims filed, it accounts for 54% of solar’s loss claims, averaging about $58.4 million each.

In this pv magazine Webinar, together with our guest speakers, Billy Christie, director of engineering center, Trinasolar, Tristan Erion-Lorico, vice president, sales and marketing, Kiwa PVEL and Jon Previtali, senior principal engineer, VDE Americas, we will explore what these increasing weather events mean for the solar industry including the benefits of hail-and-wind-resistant modules from a utility, C&I, community solar perspective, as well as from a residential homeowner and installer perspective. Also discussed will be the technical aspects of the hail modules, third-party testing and certification process and the results, and how Trinasolar’s hail-and-wind-resistant modules will impact the U.S. solar market

pv magazine Webinar content:

Advanced solar module technology including 620 W modules for utility-scale, C&I, and community solar applications and 445 W for residential systems
Extensive in-house quality control and mechanical testing, including hail tests.
Third-party hail-impact analysis for PV modules and modeling the expected annual average loss (AAL) for projects in high, medium, and low hail zones with industry standard modules as well as hair-resistant solutions.
The 3.2mm/backsheet module models underwent rigorous third-party mechanical testing by leading global authorities RETC and Kiwa PVEL to analyze the module’s reliability and performance

Key takeaways:

Discover the advantages of 3.2 mm tempered glass and backsheet
Learn about 3.2 mm modules that better withstand wind and snow loads without overbuilt racking
Gain insights into the advantages of lighter weight 3.2 mm modules in terms of logistics and shipping as well as installation
Explore third-party mechanical testing to analyze module reliability and performance
Delve into third-party hail test results for 3.2 mm/backsheet modules

Questions can be submitted beforehand in the comments window when registering or in the chat during the live webinar. Anne Fischer, senior editor at pv magazine USA, will be the moderator of this webinar.

Registration for this pv magazine webinar is free of charge.

Speakers

Billy Christie, Director of Engineering Center, Trinasolar

While pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at SUNY Binghamton, Billy became interested in solar during a sustainable engineering elective. Following graduation, this interest led him to enter the solar industry at Solar City as a residential PV system designer before becoming the Residential Design Team Lead for the San Diego region. He then moved to Borrego Solar, starting as a project engineer and advancing the ranks to Regional Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering (West), and then to Director of Preconstruction Engineering. Billy now brings this deep engineering experience to the Trina team, where he is in charge of developing a US-based engineering center to support module, tracker, and future product sales.

Tristan Erion-Lorico, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Kiwa PVEL

Tristan Erion-Lorico, vice president, sales and marketing, Kiwa PVEL, has over 15 years of solar and electrical industry experience that spans manufacturing, testing, project development and operations and maintenance. Tristan oversees PVEL’s commercial activities including collaborating with PV module buyers, investors and manufacturers to develop innovative test programs for product qualification.

Jon Previtali, Senior Principal Engineer, VDE Americas

Jon Previtali has worked with renewable energy and Internet technologies for over twenty years. As a senior principal engineer for VDE Americas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest technology organizations, Previtali provides critical engineering and commercial advisory services to ensure climate-tech projects and essential enabling technologies are bankable and insurable. Prior to joining VDE Americas, during a nearly decade-long tenure at Wells Fargo, Previtali established the bank’s technical due diligence practice for tax-equity investments in the U.S. renewable energy sector. He was instrumental in scaling the Wells Fargo platform that in 2021 had deployed over $10 billion in support of 12% of the nation’s wind and solar capacity. Widely regarded as a trusted subject matter expert, Previtali has helped promote and standardize many of the technical due diligence and risk mitigation strategies banks use to safeguard solar and energy storage project performance. Jon holds engineering degrees from Stanford University and the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Moderators

Anne Fischer | Senior editor, pv magazine USA

Anne Fischer is a senior editor at pv magazine USA. Anne is a seasoned writer, editor, and journalist. Her career has included writing for leading technology publications, with a focus on renewable energy and sustainability.