Solar Farm Destroyed by ‘Destructive, Baseball-Sized’ Hail

This won’t make ‘green energy’ activists happy.

“Baseball-sized” hail destroyed most of the solar panels on a solar farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.

A destructive hail storm in western Nebraska wreaked havoc on the 5.2-megawatt solar project, forcing the local community to use “traditional power sources.”

It’s the latest example that shows ‘green energy’ infrastructure is vulnerable to the forces of Mother Nature.

The Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), a state-owned public utility, told Fox News Digital the “Community Solar Project” is out of commission until repairs are completed.

NPPD developed the project in 2020 with GenPro Energy Solutions, according to Fox News.

“The solar complex was destroyed by hail,” Scottsbluff City Manager Kevin Spencer said.

“They’re assessing the damage, but it certainly looks destroyed to me,” he added.

Don Day, meteorologist for Cowboy State Daily, said the hail likely hit the panels at 100 to 150 mph.

Solar panels destroyed by large hail north of Scottsbluff, Nebraska last night. #newx Photo Courtesy Matt Larsen #hail pic.twitter.com/2ND7BHmYlB

— Daryl Orr (@WxWyDaryl) June 27, 2023

Cowboy State Daily reports:

The entire region has experienced strong storms the past week, which included tornadoes, hail, heavy rains and wind.

A tornado destroyed at least one home in Scottsbluff. Much of the damage to the area was from high winds and hail, which brought down power lines, damaged trees and shattered windshields.

Kevin Spencer, Scottsbluff city manager, told Cowboy State Daily the Nebraska Public Power District, which owns the solar farm, is still assessing the damage, but it’s going to need some repairs.

“Just by looking at it, it looks destroyed to me,” Spencer said.

Spencer said there’s more to a solar farm than just the panels, and so some of the equipment at the farm might have survived the storm. He said he was previously told the panels were hail proof, but that might have meant hail up to a certain size.

However, Spencer said they’re not ready to give up on solar power.

“It was our understanding that these solar panels were at least hail resistant. This hail was extreme, you know, the size and probably the speed of it. So, I don’t know that we would give up on it just yet,” he said.

Fox News added:

GenPro Energy Solutions CEO Dwight Patterson said leaders from his company were planning to meet with the owners and insurance adjusters of the solar farm later Thursday to assess the extent of the damage the storm had on the project.

“Severe weather, like the storm that struck Scottsbluff, is a good example of why renewable energy providers and local electric utilities benefit from strong partnerships,” Patterson told Fox News Digital. “Forces that are sometimes out of our control could impact critical electric power delivery to homes, hospitals and critical infrastructure.”

“We believe in an all-of-the-above approach to energy production in the U.S. as the best path forward, with smart collaboration with all energy providers and an eye on emerging technologies that will lead to resilient, secure and efficient electricity for everyone,” he said.

Patterson added that the Scottsbluff Community Solar Project used top-tier solar panels that are able to withstand most hail storms. However, he said, while it is unlikely that hail storms will damage the panels, it always remains possible.

Jeremy Anderson, the chief construction officer of GenPro Energy Solutions, said the hail storm did considerable damage to the solar panels but that other components of the system “may be only superficially damaged or not damaged at all.”