We all know, but some won't admit, that solar and wind generated power is much more costly, not as efficient, and not as environmentally friendly as is claimed by its proponents. Large scale wind and solar farms face several challenges that are rarely discussed. We all know that weather conditions dictate when such installations can provide electricity, wind for windmills and sun for solar arrays. Obviously when the wind doesn't blow or the sun doesn't shine, electricity isn't generated. But there's another aspect to weather that threatens solar arrays even more.
The Fighting Jay solar facility near Houston TX went online in 2022. The 3000-acre complex was designed to produce between 350-440 MW of electricity to 62,000 homes. The project cost around $350 million to build. The expected life of the facility was 35 years. That seems to be a short life span for such a large investment but that's a story for another day.
On March 15, a not so infrequent occurrence hit the Fighting Jay solar array. A hail storm. Baseball sized hail destroyed the entire facility. If there is a panel left untouched, it will be as lonely as Kamala Harris at a MENSA meeting. Two years after ramping up production, the facility is a total loss. APSolar, the parent company, has completely wiped its website and changed its phone number, according to multiple new sources. What will happen and who will pay for it is a mystery at this point.
This is not an uncommon occurrence. A similarly sized plant in Nebraska was hit by a hailstorm earlier this year. GCube Insurance is a major underwriter of renewable energy projects. According to their statistics, weather related claims for solar energy facilities are becoming more frequent and more expensive.
The company's report, Hail No! Defending Solar from Nature's Cold Assault, was based on data collected by GCube over five years. It shows that hail claims now average around $58.4 million per claim and account for 54.21% of incurred costs of total solar loss claims attributable to hail. That is unsustainable.
The report identifies several key factors contributing to solar project vulnerability, including inadequate hail risk models, ineffective mitigation strategies, limited and costly insurance coverage, and an uncertain funding landscape.
It also highlights how solar manufacturers, in their pursuit of reducing the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE), have introduced larger solar panels with thinner, more fragile glass and have chosen locations more susceptible to hail risk, threatening the financial viability of future projects. But these are the things that happen when governments push 'solutions' that are not yet technologically advanced to satisfy political agendas.
Do you know what is not susceptible to significant damage from hailstorms? Coal and natural gas-fired generating plants, nuclear power plants, hydroelectric power plants, geothermal power plants, and any other source of electricity that is not being promoted by politicians or those who make money off the so-called renewable energy industrial complex. Solar and wind energy have their uses and place in the overall scheme of electrical generation. But who am I to think common sense would be part of the equation?