Massive Hail Storm Takes On Over 3,000 Solar Panels And Loses

By Chris Spears

DENVER (CBS4) - Monday's severe hail storm destroyed a countless number of roofs, cars and windows as it cut a large swath across the Denver metro area.

One place hit hard was the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden which is home to over 3,000 solar panels.

"Many employees had damage to their vehicles. There was concern about how all of the solar on our campus fared," said NREL's David Glickson.

Hailstones up to 2.75 inches in diameter were reported in the area.

Amazingly, out of 3,168 solar panels on NREL's Research Support Facility, only one sustained damage. It's a true testament to the resilience of renewable energy.

"As the storm hit performance dropped to night-like levels but quickly recovered once the storm passed," said Glickson.

You can read more about solar energy and the work being done at NREL in the links below.

nrel.gov/pv/reliability-engineering.html
nrel.gov/pv/accelerated-testing-analysis.html
nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/58846.pdf
nrel.gov/news/features/2015/16488

Meteorologist Chris Spears writes about stories related to weather and climate in Colorado. Check out his bio, connect with him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @ChrisCBS4.