The damage caused by hail and extreme weather events on photovoltaic modules is a cause for great concern. Formally, all modules are certified against hail with a specific test required by IEC 61215, however, the technical standards are based on past experience, which hardly ever included exceptional events such as recent hailstorms.
FuturaSun embarked on a path to offer its customers specific PV modules with high hail resistance.
The first step was to obtain the hail resistance class HW4 for the Silk Nova module at the SUPSI PV Lab in Mendrisio, Italy, according to Swiss technical standards VKF.
This test involves hitting the module at 16 different points with 40 mm diameter ice balls prepared at -20 °C. Then the performance of the PV module is checked and an electroluminescence is performed. The results showed no damage of degradation of the FuturaSun module.
In addition to this achievement, FuturaSun is already working on a new, even more hail resistant product: tests conducted at the TuV Nord laboratories demonstrated the resistance of the new FuturaSun module to 45-mm grains launched at 108 km/h.
An increased ability to withstand such shocks is also beneficial in preventing other types of breakage. In fact, glass breakages are sometimes caused by inadequate support structures or clamps (e.g. clamps of too short a length) or on mishaps during installation or maintenance (e.g. a stone being thrown at the modules).
Furthermore, this new product, which will be presented at Key Energy in Rimini at the end of February, will have an additional profile on the back to increase its mechanical stability, particularly in contexts with high snow loads.
