Violent hailstorms have decimated solar farms in Texas recently, destroying thousands of solar panels — as Albertans speculate online if the same could happen north of the border. The Houston Chronicle reported there were baseball-sized hailstones coming down overnight on Sunday as well as last weekend. The storms have sparked conversations about the resilience of green infrastructure in extreme weather. .Concern has also been expressed for the toxic chemicals that could leak into the ground from the damaged panels. Solar panels contain toxic substances such as cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide, which can leak out when the panels are being disposed of — or when they become damaged. .Notably, there are currently “seven cloud seeding projects” in Texas, according to the government website, where the weather modification technology is used to “to lessen the impact of periodic, often severe, droughts.”The Texas government says it has been implementing “numerous ‘rainmaking’ efforts” since the 1950s. In 1967, it began “governing the use of weather modification technologies” and “in ensuing years, both the state and federal governments provided funds for both cloud seeding research and assessing the impact of commercial weather modification projects.”.Aerial footage circulating on social media shows rows of damaged solar panels at what is reportedly the Fighting Jays Solar Farm near Needville in Fort Bend County, TX, according to local news channel KTRK. The giant solar project, made up of thousands of solar panels on 3,300 acres of land, has been producing power for the Texas energy grid since 2022, according to Newsweek. It generates 350 megawatts (Mw) and provides electricity to 62,000 homes..The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has claimed solar panels cracked by hail only lose 4% effectiveness — but the Department of Energy noted the baseball-sized hail hits with enough “kinetic energy” to completely break through the glass on the solar panels (the panels are largely made of glass, according to EcoWatch). One of the companies behind the solar farm in question, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), told Newsweek the hailstorm had caused damage on the site. “The silicon-based panels contain no cadmium telluride and we have identified no risk to the local community or the environment.""We are currently assessing the extent of the impact of the storm on the generation of the project, while the plant continues to safely operate at a reduced capacity," a spokesman said. The other company, AP Solar Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment. .A nearby resident, Nick Kaminski, voiced concern about toxic chemicals leaching into the groundwater — that homes in the region, his included, rely on as a water supply. "I have a family—two children and a wife," Kaminski told Fox 13."My neighbours have kids and a lot of other residents in the area who are on wellwater are concerned that the chemicals are now leaking into our water tables."
Violent hailstorms have decimated solar farms in Texas recently, destroying thousands of solar panels — as Albertans speculate online if the same could happen north of the border. The Houston Chronicle reported there were baseball-sized hailstones coming down overnight on Sunday as well as last weekend. The storms have sparked conversations about the resilience of green infrastructure in extreme weather. .Concern has also been expressed for the toxic chemicals that could leak into the ground from the damaged panels. Solar panels contain toxic substances such as cadmium telluride and copper indium gallium diselenide, which can leak out when the panels are being disposed of — or when they become damaged. .Notably, there are currently “seven cloud seeding projects” in Texas, according to the government website, where the weather modification technology is used to “to lessen the impact of periodic, often severe, droughts.”The Texas government says it has been implementing “numerous ‘rainmaking’ efforts” since the 1950s. In 1967, it began “governing the use of weather modification technologies” and “in ensuing years, both the state and federal governments provided funds for both cloud seeding research and assessing the impact of commercial weather modification projects.”.Aerial footage circulating on social media shows rows of damaged solar panels at what is reportedly the Fighting Jays Solar Farm near Needville in Fort Bend County, TX, according to local news channel KTRK. The giant solar project, made up of thousands of solar panels on 3,300 acres of land, has been producing power for the Texas energy grid since 2022, according to Newsweek. It generates 350 megawatts (Mw) and provides electricity to 62,000 homes..The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has claimed solar panels cracked by hail only lose 4% effectiveness — but the Department of Energy noted the baseball-sized hail hits with enough “kinetic energy” to completely break through the glass on the solar panels (the panels are largely made of glass, according to EcoWatch). One of the companies behind the solar farm in question, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), told Newsweek the hailstorm had caused damage on the site. “The silicon-based panels contain no cadmium telluride and we have identified no risk to the local community or the environment.""We are currently assessing the extent of the impact of the storm on the generation of the project, while the plant continues to safely operate at a reduced capacity," a spokesman said. The other company, AP Solar Holdings, did not respond to a request for comment. .A nearby resident, Nick Kaminski, voiced concern about toxic chemicals leaching into the groundwater — that homes in the region, his included, rely on as a water supply. "I have a family—two children and a wife," Kaminski told Fox 13."My neighbours have kids and a lot of other residents in the area who are on wellwater are concerned that the chemicals are now leaking into our water tables."
