VDE Americas is the world's leading expert on solar project hail risk identification, quantification, and mitigation.

We developed our award-winning hail risk assessment capabilities together with Central Michigan University's Dr. John Allen, a leading expert in severe convective storm meteorology. Beneficiaries of these innovative hail risk advisory services include project developers, owners, tax equity investors, lenders, insurers, asset operators, tracker manufacturers, and module companies.

VDE Americas' hail risk advisory services inform insurance prices, terms, and conditions; best practices related to site selection, equipment specification, plant construction, and asset operation; and forensic investigations in the wake of catastrophic loss events.

Probable maximum loss reports

Given that solar projects are a relatively new asset class and market segment, the insurance industry does not have a good way to assess the hail vulnerability of PV power plants. VDE Americas’ probable maximum loss (PML) and average annual loss (AAL) reports address this gap by providing insurance loss estimates based on project location and technical system design details. Our PML reports characterize the return interval of naturally occurring hail at the local scale of a solar asset. Informed by these site-specific meteorological data, we estimate probabilistic financial loss based on comparative project-specific resiliency characteristics, defensive stow capabilities, and emergency response protocols. Insurers, reinsurers, and insurance consultants can use our science- and engineering-based PML and AAL results to set appropriate convective storm premiums and sublimits. Moreover, solar project insurance customers can use our location- and technology-specific AAL estimates to right-size severe convective storm deductibles.

VDE

Pro-forma risk exposure (PRE) reports

While insurers often base coverage terms on a 500-year event, real world investment and lending periods are measured not in centuries but in decades. VDE Americas’ pro-forma risk exposure (PRE) reports address this gap by providing cumulative financial loss estimates over customer-specified hold periods, such as 10 years for tax-equity investors or 40 years for long-term owners. The assessment uses a discrete probability distribution (specifically, a Poisson distribution) to determine how many times an event is likely to occur over a specific period. Our PRE analyses employ more than 10,000 Monte Carlo iterations to characterize discrete event probability over specific financial hold periods. Informed by probabilistic distribution results and naturally occurring hail return interval data, we estimate cumulative financial loss based on the number of events associated with specific hail size ranges, project-specific resiliency characteristics, defensive stow capabilities, and emergency response protocols. Project developers and owners can use these PRE report results to inform insurance coverages and project pro forma. Tax equity investors can use PRE report data to mitigate investment risk. Parametric insurance providers can use our PRE reports to set thresholds for hail-size index coefficients and right-size risk limits.

VDE

PRE report with parametric insurance addendum

Our pro-forma risk exposure for parametric (PREP) insurance evaluation report includes an addendum designed to help project stakeholders assess the potential value of parametric insurance products.

Co-probability of hail with wind report

This report analyzes the co-occurrence probability of hail with wind, providing valuable insights into coincident solar project risk factors. The co-probability of hail with wind report provides a comprehensive understanding of how these two weather phenomena interact, allowing for more accurate risk assessments. Informed by these data, project stakeholders can select products based on the maximum wind speed the tracker must resist during hail stow.

Hail monitoring and tracker stow protocol specification

VDE Americas provides two related services related to hail monitoring and tracker stow. For systems already in service, we can review and improve existing hail monitoring capabilities and defensive stow protocols. For new systems, we can provide pre-written specifications for inclusion in project contracts. Our expertise in hail risk analysis informs best practices for real-time monitoring and defensive stowing strategies, helping to minimize potential damage during severe weather events.

VDE

Hail event forensic investigations

Following a severe storm event, project stakeholders may require or benefit from specialized advisory services investigating the root causes of and contributing factors to large project losses due to hail. As a third-party organization with in-depth hail meteorology and solar technology subject matter expertise, VDE Americas is uniquely qualified to opine on these matters. A cornerstone of these investigations is our proprietary “Run Radar” model, which uses latitude-longitude coordinates and a timestamp to map hail swath location and intensity. The output of this meteorological modeling tool is a GIF animation—like the one shown here—that maps event-specific hailstone size estimates derived from NEXGEN radar reflectivity data relative to solar project site (black dot).

Other hail risk advisory services

We understand that all customers are not created alike and can customize our scope of work to meet customer needs. The following is a partial list of hail risk advisory services VDE Americas can provide either as an addendum to one of our standard reports or as a stand-alone product.