Trends in Extreme Weather and Their Implications for Solar-Energy Generation

Recording of Wednesday, May 07, 2025 | The smarter E Europe Conferences 2025 | Conference Program | Language: Français | Duration: 18:21 .

International Report Warns of Extreme Weather Threats to Global Climate and Solar PV Resilience.

The presentation focuses on the global impact of extreme weather conditions due to climate change, emphasizing an 80-page report that provides insights into these phenomena. This international effort involves contributors from ten countries across five continents and highlights how climate extremes transcend political boundaries, necessitating collective action. The report projects increased frequency and intensity of storms as indicated by major climate models and discusses economic factors like rising GDP alongside technological innovations aimed at reducing costs while maintaining resilience against adverse weather. Key impacts include reduced performance during severe events such as wildfires or tropical cyclones, affecting solar panels' functionality over time. Design considerations for photovoltaic (PV) systems are crucial in ensuring robustness against environmental stresses with attention given to modular architecture and installation quality. Construction sites, particularly PV plants under construction without protective structures, face vulnerabilities leading to financial implications when drainage systems fail after heavy rainfall. Despite advancements in mitigating risks within hurricane-prone areas in the U.S., slow industry progress persists regarding effective strategies against extreme weather events. Examples illustrate poor engineering practices exacerbating vulnerability during storms—such as inadequate mounting materials—which lead to structural failures upon high wind exposure. There is a call for standardized damage reporting and comprehensive evaluation methodologies for long-term performance impacts along with robust Site Technical Optimization (STO) strategies essential for enhancing resilience. Additionally, challenges related to single-axis solar trackers highlight issues around cost-cutting impacting material quality especially prevalent in America’s context; thus stressing holistic approaches encompassing all components beyond just PV modules ensures durable reliability amidst unfavorable conditions.

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Speaker

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

Talk of session: Utility-Scale Solar Power III: Impacts of Extreme Weather on PV Power Plants

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: