This news is classified in: Sustainable Energy Solar
Apr 29, 2020
Solar modules from aleo solar are certified with hail class 4
With rising temperatures hailstorms will occur also in this summer. A hailstorm can have serious consequences for your photovoltaic system. On the one hand, there may be visible damage, in the worst case a breakage of glass. On the other hand, there are also those damages that cannot be detected by a simple visual inspection, which however, in the long run, will strongly reduce the performance of your system.
When choosing a photovoltaic system, you should therefore pay attention to the hail resistance class.
From a diameter of 5 mm, solid precipitation is referred to as hail. Underneath this, it is called a shower of sleet, which is harmless for your photovoltaic system. Due to climate change, both the number of hailstorms occurring during summer in Europe and the extent of these storms are increasing. Together with heavy rain and storms, hailstorms cause severe damage to agricultural crops, buildings and vehicles every year.
What to be aware of when choosing a PV system
Most photovoltaic modules are certified according to the IEC 61215 standard. This standard requires a hail test with 25 mm hailstones.
In our opinion, this standard is not sufficient: hailstorms with larger grains are frequently recorded. This is why aleo modules of the X- and P series are certified within hail class 4. This means that you will not suffer significant damage when hailstones of up to 40 mm are struck.
How is a hail test carried out on PV modules
The test is not an easy task for a module. The module is bombarded with 40 mm hailstones at eleven different locations using a specially developed hail cannon. The 29 gram balls reach a speed of 27.5 m/s. Fragile areas, such as the module corners and the area at the edge, are not cut out.
In addition to the optical condition of the module, the loss of power and electrical safety are also evaluated. In order to obtain the hail class 4 certification, a power loss of 5% of the output power is permitted. Aleo had a power loss of 1.03% in the test.
It is therefore worthwhile to focus on quality when choosing your photovoltaic system and to select modules that will not suffer any significant damage even in adverse weather conditions.
