Trina Solar has unveiled its extreme weather solutions aimed at maximizing the safety of photovoltaic (PV) assets against severe weather conditions such as hail, strong winds, and snowstorms. This announcement was made on March 26 during the “2025 Photovoltaic Market Development Forum” organized by the China Photovoltaic Industry Association.
Zhang Yingbin, the head of strategy, products, and markets at Trina Solar, explained that their extreme weather solutions utilize high-performance modules and a smart tracking system to effectively guard against frequent extreme weather incidents. The new high-performance modules feature a glass thickness increase of 25%, resulting in a 2.5 times enhancement in energy impact resistance compared to traditional modules of the same type. Additionally, the innovative frame design reinforces the load-bearing capacity of the modules, ensuring the stability and reliability of the solution.
According to statistics from GCube Insurance, from 2018 to 2023, claims related to hail damage accounted for a staggering 54% of PV asset losses. The extreme weather solutions are designed with a robust hardware structure, an automatic early warning protection mechanism, and authoritative risk assessments to safeguard PV assets effectively. The solution can withstand hailstones with a maximum diameter of 55 mm, and under a 60° tilt protection angle, it can resist hail up to 75 mm in diameter. Furthermore, it offers short-term hail weather forecasts and automatically instructs tracking systems to adopt a protective angle to mitigate hail impacts.
For instance, in Texas, where hailstorms frequently occur, a 100 MW PV project faces an average annual asset loss of $4.69 million due to hail damage. However, by employing the extreme weather solution, this loss could be reduced by 94%.
To tackle strong wind threats, PV assets must possess more robust hardware designs and agile wind warning tracking mechanisms. In fixed mount installations, the extreme weather solution features dual fastening and a three-beam installation design, along with the high-strength structural innovations of the high-performance modules, ensuring resistance against wind forces. In tracking mount scenarios, Trina’s tracking systems, combined with high-strength module designs, utilize a smart cloud platform that not only monitors wind speeds in real-time but also adjusts to protective angles when wind speeds reach a critical threshold, maximizing power generation while minimizing risk.
In the case of snowstorms, PV assets require enhanced hardware design and intelligent snow removal solutions. For fixed mounts, the extreme weather solution can withstand uneven snow loads of up to 2.2 meters. In tracking mount scenarios, the smart cloud platform continuously monitors snow thickness, allowing operators to remove snow with a single click. This effectively prevents snow loads from threatening the quality of the modules and structures, while also improving operational efficiency and avoiding power generation losses caused by snow cover, thus ensuring stable system operation.
