We've long known hurricanes can wreak havoc on critical infrastructure, and a study has shown just how damaging they can be to the development and continued success of renewable energy.
As global temperatures rise and extreme weather pummels more people, citizens around the world are turning to solar energy and other clean sources of power to reduce their polluting impact on the planet. Cloudy, rainy days can reduce the efficiency of those products, but major storms can be really damaging, potentially tearing apart solar panels and their supporting pieces, especially for cheaply made or poorly installed systems in major hurricane-prone nations.
A study by the University of California, Berkeley, in 2023 showed that the essential equipment is vulnerable to extreme storms and hurricanes with high winds especially, as Inside Climate News reported.
The paper focused on Caribbean nations and the aftermaths of Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and Dorian in 2017 and 2019. The panels did not hold up to their specifications, and residential ones were particularly susceptible.
"Reported failures were often due to installation issues such as clamp failures, racking fractures and buckling, bolt shear failure and bolt loosening, according to the study," ICN stated.
The outlet talked to lead author Luis Ceferino of UC Berkeley, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, to get a handle on the issue and similar problems in Florida.
"It seems like the problem is there, but the scale of it, I don't think we know yet," Ceferino told ICN. "People are working mostly on strengthening the panel itself so that it can sustain higher winds. I haven't seen as many people working on new designs for the structure that supports the panel."
ICN noted recent solar projects in Barbuda and Puerto Rico — the latter of which was hammered by Hurricane Maria in 2017 and lost power for months — are supposed to withstand winds of at least 165 mph. But Category 5 winds can exceed that threshold, and even if they don't, the panels may be torn asunder anyway.
"Hurricanes can bring strong winds, and those winds can damage a lot of infrastructure," Ceferino told ICN. "We're still understanding what impact these high winds bring on solar panels."
Despite these issues, though, there are outliers. Florida's Babcock Ranch, which has hundreds of thousands of solar panels, may provide a blueprint. In 2022, the small town, built to be solely powered by solar energy, was nearly unaffected by Hurricane Ian and its 150 mph winds.
Another potential solution is a "super grid" with undersea cables connecting solar installations in the Caribbean to those in the United States and South America to not only mitigate the effects of hurricanes but also keep the lights on when the sun doesn't poke through the clouds. The project is in its infancy, though, and not close to the planning phase, as ICN reported.
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