The hailstones that hit Canberra, in January 2020, were golf ball-sized weighing about 20 grams each. Most panels are tested according to the ‘Moderate Hail Damage Test’, comprising 25mm hailstones that weigh 7.53 grams. There’s a ‘Severe Hail Damage Resistance Test’, which tests panels for cricket ball-sized hailstones. Solar panels are rated using two class systems. Thankfully no-one was injured, but 65 glasshouses and several solar panels were destroyed. This included our Black Mountain Science and Innovation Park. The January hailstorm in Canberra damaged houses, cars and solar panels across the city. “Solar panels are not self-cleaning, but debris will wash off when it rains.” How do hailstorms affect solar panels? “Unless you’re close to fires where embers are falling, ash is just a different type of dust,” Greg says. Image: Andrew Hildebrandt Does ash from bushfires affect solar panel performance? ![]() It deposited fine dust reducing electrical output. ![]() Indeed, solar monitoring company Solar Analytics found rooftop PV systems in Sydney and Canberra plummeted by 15 to 45 per cent on smoky days this summer.Ī dust storm hit Dubbo on 20 January 2020. “Yet at my home 20 kilometres away, with no ocean breeze, I had 80 per cent reduction in energy output.” Our solar panels were down 10 to 30 per cent compared to last year,” Greg says. At our Energy Centre in Newcastle, with an ocean breeze, we still saw significant loss in energy production on hazy days. What happens to photovoltaic (PV) capacity on hazy or dusty days? That’s about three per cent the diameter of a human hair. The NSW Health Department and EPA estimates some particles are <2.5 micron. These particles are so tiny they’re not visible to the naked eye. Smoke from bushfires is made up of gases, water vapour and particles. ![]() “Anything that blocks out the sun will reduce the amount of energy your panels produce.”īushfire smoke and dust storms can cause elevated particle levels in the atmosphere. “Solar panels take in sunlight and material on the panels’ surface converts sunlight to electrons, which become electricity,” Greg explains. What happens to solar panel performance when there’s smoke and dust in the air? So, how do hailstorms, dust storms and smoke affect your solar panel performance? What happens to solar power when you can’t even see the sun? We spoke to our head of Solar Technologies, Dr Greg Wilson, to get some answers. Dust storms descended on western New South Wales with clouds “so thick they blocked out the sun!” In Canberra, hailstorms battered cars, houses, greenhouses and solar panels. This summer, bushfire smoke has blanketed towns and cities across Australia. ABC reporter Jen Browning faces the impending dust storm in rural NSW.
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