New Solar Panel Hail Resiliency Curve Test - CleanTechnica

The article discusses the introduction of the Hail Resiliency Curve (HRC) Test, a new rigorous protocol developed by VDE Americas and the Renewable Energy Test Center (RETC) to evaluate solar panel durability against real-world hailstorm conditions. Unlike existing hail certification tests, the HRC Test subjects solar panels to multiple impacts from varying hailstone sizes and speeds until glass fracture occurs, providing detailed data on a panel’s breaking point. This approach offers more accurate and statistically representative information on hail damage resistance, enabling manufacturers to optimize hail-hardened designs, project developers to assess cost-benefit trade-offs, and insurers to set coverage and premiums based on empirical evidence rather than estimates. The test results reveal a significant difference in performance between standard bifacial solar panels and hail-hardened panels. Standard panels tend to fail rapidly at impact energies between 40-80 joules, whereas hail-hardened panels maintain low failure rates up to 120+ joules, making them more suitable for installations