Gone With the Wind(Storm): Keeping Your PV Systems Grounded in Extreme Weather

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Recording of Wednesday, May 07, 2025 | The smarter E Europe | Conference Program | Language: English | Duration: 15:53 .

Experts Analyze the Impact of Weather Conditions on Photovoltaic Systems During Transition Phase

The content explores the impact of various weather conditions, with a focus on definitions from the USA National Weather Service. It examines severe weather phenomena like tornadoes and thunderstorms, discussing their varying intensity and frequency. Insights from Dirk Jordan at NREL highlight how climate patterns in regions such as the USA affect photovoltaic systems' performance. Lori's observations emphasize potential catastrophic effects these climatic changes could have on solar energy infrastructure. The text addresses managing electrical system failures due to environmental factors impacting photovoltaics' efficiency, suggesting strategies like regular testing and maintenance recommended by experts including Maugieri from RSC and Joshua Stein from Sandia National Lab. Emphasis is placed on understanding location-specific risks for optimizing operational strategies while considering economic parameters for sustainable energy solutions amidst adverse weather conditions. Additionally, it discusses challenges in organizing schedules or arrangements, stressing that superficial planning can lead to complications. A report by Peter Bostock highlights thorough preparation needs in scheduling tasks using mechanical organization methods for highway processes under changing conditions without major disruptions—advocating simplified protocols amid political implications to achieve better outcomes despite inherent risks involved.

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Prof. Leonardo Micheli
Associate Professor
Sapienza University of Rome
Italy

The increase in frequency and intensity of severe weather events associated with global climate change poses a growing risk to PV systems worldwide. These local and global risks range from outright destruction of power plants to long-term performance losses due to accelerated component and system degradation. Without concerted and event-specific resilience strategies, severe weather increasingly threatens the robustness and availability of PV generation worldwide. This session will: Raise awareness of climate change and its implications for a solar-intensive energy economy Present a range of extreme-weather events that can impact PV power plants and identify/quantify the risks Share strategies for designing and siting storm-resilient PV systems Provide information on failure mechanisms and their root causes.

Further Talks of this session:

Speaker

Ulrike Jahn
Senior Scientist
Fraunhofer Center for Silicon-Photovoltaics CSP
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Dr. Laurie Burnham
Principal Member of the Technical Staff
Sandia National Laboratories
United States

To Talk

Speaker

Thore Müller
CEO
PVRADAR Labs GmbH
Germany

To Talk

Speaker

Giosue Maugeri
Researcher
Ricerca sul sistema Energetico - RSE SpA
Italy

To Talk

Speaker

Jonathan Leloux
Managing Director
LuciSun
Belgium

To Talk

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