Community Solar Project in Nebraska Offline After Major Hailstorm Damage

A recent extreme weather event in the Great Plains has rendered a large solar farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska inoperable. Last week a tornado and a powerful storm accompanied by baseball-sized hail struck the region, causing extensive damage.

The area around southeast Wyoming experiences a high frequency of hailstorms, varying in size from pea-sized to baseball-sized hail.

The affected facility, known as the Community Solar Project, is a solar field consisting of 14,000 solar panels located in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Developed by NPPD (the state-owned public utility) and energy firm GenPro Energy Solutions in 2020, the solar farm is currently offline and will remain so until repairs are completed.

Although the solar panels are designed to withstand hail, the unprecedented size and speed of the hailstones during the recent storm proved detrimental. Insurance adjusters visited the site to assess the extent of the damage.

Implementing mitigation measures, such as transitioning panels into "hail stow mode," where trackers are tilted to a high degree to minimize the impact of hailstones, has proven to be an effective technique. This approach can not only reduce the energy transmitted by hailstones but also lower property insurance premiums. The severe damage to the face of the modules appears to indicate the hail stow mode was not activated.

The focus now remains on repairing the solar farm and restoring its operations to resume renewable energy generation for the community. The incident highlights the importance of weather resilience strategies and advanced mitigation techniques in ensuring the reliability and sustainability of energy infrastructure in the face of severe weather events.