VDE Americas, a global leader in solar risk assessment and mitigation, has introduced the VDE Hail Risk Atlas to help predict economic risks from hail damage to solar projects. This tool, available on the Esri ArcGIS platform, is part of VDE’s Hail Risk Intelligence suite, designed to support solar developers, insurers, and investors in making projects more secure and insurable.
Large-scale solar farms in the U.S. often face severe hailstorms, leading to significant financial losses. In response, VDE developed the Hail Risk Atlas using proprietary testing, on-site forensics, and advanced computer modeling. By analyzing solar module resilience and mounting system angles, along with radar and observational data, the Atlas provides detailed hail risk maps for assessing threats across the continental U.S.
Jon Previtali, vice president of digital services at VDE Americas, stated “Despite the growing demand for large deployments of solar power generation infrastructure, when we speak to high-value solar asset owners, it’s clear that the hail risk to these large-area assets is often unknown. With the debut of Hail Risk Atlas, our clients can quickly identify the level of risk associated with hail events, informing key decisions for project locations, equipment selection, insurance coverage and most importantly, effective hail defense protocols for both construction and operations.”
VDE’s Hail Risk Atlas provides critical insights into weather and financial risks, mapping areas from low-risk regions to the most hazardous “known zones.” It includes return interval maps, which estimate the probability of hailstorms based on maximum hailstone sizes. These maps are valuable not only for the solar industry but also for other sectors concerned about hail damage. Additionally, the Atlas offers probable maximum loss (PML) and average annual loss (AAL) estimates, which help inform equipment selection and insurance coverage. By providing this level of intelligence, VDE ensures that both new and operational solar projects, as well as other assets, can accurately assess hail risk and meet the increasingly stringent requirements for investment and insurance.
John Sedgwick, president of VDE Americas, also added, “North America’s solar energy infrastructure is dramatically underprepared for catastrophic events like hail. Our goal with the introduction of the Hail Risk Atlas, as part of our suite of Hail Risk Intelligence solutions, is to solve this problem so that solar power assets remain operational and carry us decades into the future. We believe this level of weather mapping represents a huge step forward in how we can adapt to and mitigate extreme weather losses and gives the energy industry a new tool in its asset protection arsenal.”
For over a decade, VDE Americas, a subsidiary of the European technology organization VDE Group, has been a trusted provider of technical advisory and risk mitigation services for large-scale solar and energy storage projects. In addition to the Hail Risk Atlas, VDE’s Hail Risk Intelligence solutions include an independent consulting service that delivers essential hail intelligence and technical due diligence. This practice helps developers and asset owners make informed decisions on planning and protection strategies, ensuring greater resilience against hail-related risks.
