As most are aware March 17th is Saint Patrick’s Day, but on 3/17/24 there was no luck of the Irish for the “Fighting Jays” solar farm, which is a massive solar farm near Houston, Texas. On this day the “Fighting Jays”solar farm suffered extensive damage from a hail storm.
Not living in Texas I was not aware of this massive hailstorm, and most of the following comes from Just the News:
“The hailstorm produced 3.5 inches of rain in 15 minutes, as well as a “tremendous amount of hail.” The hailstorm struck the 3,204-acre “Fighting Jays” solar farm — the equivalent of nearly 2,500 football fields.
Some reports measured softball-sized hail.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency hail risk map, Fort Bend County — where the Fighting Jays solar farm is located — is an area of relatively moderate risk. Other areas of Texas, which generated 15 million megawatt hours of solar power in 2021, are rated relatively high or very high for hail risk.”
Unbeknown to most, but very logical when thought about, hail presents a major risk to solar farms, which can add to a growing e-waste problem from the industry.
Solar farms wear out over time. While panels can last 40 years, their production efficiency declines considerably after 25 years. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), after 20 years, a solar cell’s energy production declines 10%. The cumulative waste volumes that will be produced as solar panels reach the end of their useful life, according to NREL, will be as much as 78 million tons by 2050.
That doesn’t include panels destroyed by weather events.
What to do with the damages and thus unusable solar panels?
According to the MIT Technology Review, only about 10% of panels in the U.S. are recycled.
As the waste stream from solar farms swells with the growth of the industry, more recycling facilities will come online to deal with the waste. Whether that will create an economically viable supply chain remains to be seen.
At this time perhaps a more pertinent question needs to be asked … “Will climate change lead to more hail storms, and, if so, is there a plan to deal with damaged and thus unusable solar panels?”
4/2/24