Hail damage is one of the most significant threats to utility-scale solar installations, particularly in regions prone to severe weather. As hail risk gains greater attention from developers, investors, and insurers, solar tracker systems have become essential tools for reducing PV module hail damage through intelligent hail stow strategies.

GameChange Solar’s white paper, “Reliable Hail Mitigation,” outlines how sound engineering design and risk-based decision-making can dramatically improve solar project resilience. The paper details how GameChange Solar (GCS) developed a reliable, bankable hail stow procedure for its Genius Tracker™ system, incorporating best practices to address a wide range of conditions.

Key insights include:
• How hail stow strategies can minimize module damage when properly designed for multiple weather scenarios.
• The importance of accurate hail identification systems, optimal stow angles, and robust system reliability.
• Considerations for concurrent hail and wind events, a critical factor in tracker system safety.
• How GCS and VDE Americas combine engineering analysis and economic hail risk modeling to design site-specific, cost-effective hail mitigation plans.
• A framework for evaluating the relative economic benefits of PV module selection, stow activation strategy, stow angle, and stow direction.

The white paper demonstrates how GCS’s reliable Genius Tracker™ system, paired with VDE America’s advanced hail risk assessments, delivers bankable, data-driven solutions that enhance hail protection while optimizing system costs.