VDE Americas, a provider of technical advisory and risk mitigation for the solar power industry, has partnered with climate insurance provider kWh Analytics to launch a new assessment form that evaluates solar site hail vulnerability and protective measures.
The insurance industry has been driven to adopt resilience measures due to the multiple, high-profile hail losses impacting solar assets – examples include the use of thicker glass solar panels that are less prone to cracking.
To provide meaningful hail risk evaluation data, VDE Americas and kWh Analytics have jointly developed the Hail Stow and Risk Evaluation form.
This user-friendly evaluation tool enables insurance underwriters and financiers to confirm and monitor hail protection performance. The form also includes an option for insurers to directly contact tracker manufacturers and independent engineers for project-specific details.
“Ultimately, projects that use this form and demonstrate the effectiveness of their resiliency efforts should receive insurance credits for doing so,” the firms stated. “The form and recommendations are informed by VDE’s comprehensive best practices for hail defense, which include proactive solar panel stowing—tilting solar panels at extreme angles to minimize hail impact damage—sector-specific hail forecasting, and alert-based hail stow.”
In North America, the hail season spans from April through September. With this form, solar developers and operators will have a new tool that will help them to timely safeguard their assets during these high-risk months, VDE Americas and kWh Analytics highlighted.
The data-driven risk model created by both firms uses radar-based weather data and equipment-specific hail resiliency characteristics to incentivise resilient design and operational excellence.
By incorporating reliable, site-specific hail risk data and equipment performance metrics, this approach creates a more precise risk assessment framework that benefits proactive solar owners and operators, VDE Americas and kWh Analytics explained.
“Our evidence-based premium differentiation rewards projects with proven hail defense strategies, sending an insurance price signal to the industry and incentivizing the design, construction, and operation of more resilient solar assets,” said Nicole Thompson, Senior Manager of Data Science at kWh Analytics.
This form complements VDE Americas’ Hail Risk Intelligence suite, which provides tools like risk reports and mapping to help solar projects address hail vulnerability.
The form offers insurers standardised readiness evaluations, while the suite equips operators with practical tools – including hail risk engineering reports, a Hail Risk Atlas with ArcGIS mapping, technical guidance for stow procedures, and forensic analysis capabilities.
“Safeguarding energy assets against severe weather risk is critical to maintaining grid stability across the United States,” said Brian Grenko, CEO and President of VDE Americas. “This collaboration transforms how the industry approaches hail risk by establishing clear, actionable guidelines for resilient design and operations, plus an incentive to demonstrate hail defenses are in place and working as expected.”
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