Because many of you have asked what happens to solar panels when it hails, I can now give you a report. We’ve all heard of hail that is golf ball, baseball or softball size and I’m not sure how they will withstand that size hail. What we had was a bit bigger than ping pong ball size hail and we had lots of it coming down steadily for about 10 minutes.
I took this picture this morning (yes, I still had on my pajamas) when I was outside . . to prove that I’m not wearing flip flops but look at the green leaves that the hail knocked out of the trees. As further proof that everything is weird in Texas, our live oak trees drop their leaves in the spring instead of in the fall. The leaves are small and blow away so we never rake (not that we would anyway) but this pile of leaves I’m standing in is all leaves that fell during the hail storm last night.
My first thought upon waking this morning was : Are the solar panels ok? Actually, I wondered about the garden but I figured a few $1 packages of seeds would have the garden back up and running so I was more concerned about the solar panels.
I fully expected that they weren’t producing at 6:32 a.m. . . it was still dark, but I couldn’t help myself from checking. It’s been a bit overcast this morning but the sun is just starting to make its way from behind the clouds and the panels are all producing.
None of them appear to have been damaged. Whew! I feel good knowing they can withstand that amount and size of hail.
Susan says
Thank goodness! That would not be $1 or $10 to fix. =) And the garden?
joan says
I need your opinion…is the cost of the panels worth it? I say yes, hubby says we will never recoop it before it we die. What are your thoughts? The fact that I want to be right should not factor in! LOL!!