A cutting-edge solar company is partnering with a burgeoning Australian energy retailer to boost climate resilience in communities impacted by extreme weather.
Canadian Solar Inc. announced at the beginning of April that its subsidiary in Australia would be bringing its anti-hail technology to the country through a collaboration with Flow Power, a fast-growing retailer focused on bringing clean, affordable energy to homes and businesses.
Solar panels can help keep the electricity on even during weather-fueled grid outages, making them a potentially life-saving addition. They can also result in significant savings on energy bills.
However, they are vulnerable to damage from hail. In Australia, that is a major concern.
While a study in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science suggests that rising global temperatures have caused the number of hail-prone days to decrease in some regions over the past 40 years, Sydney and Perth — Australia's largest cities on the East and West coasts — experienced around a 40% increase in the annual number of such days.
Canadian Solar's anti-hail technology helps boost the durability of solar panels during hail storms and other extreme weather events, which have become more frequent and intense as our atmosphere has warmed, allowing it to retain more moisture.
According to the release, the first project in Australia to use the anti-hail technology will be a Flow Power-run solar farm in the Coonawarra wine region.
The partners are also pairing the solar farm with a battery energy storage system. The DC-coupled BESS can store solar energy for use when the sun isn't shining.
The companies will begin Phase 1 of installing solar modules for the Coonawarra Energy Project over the coming months, and the project won't be the last of its kind. Canadian Solar and Flow Power envision bringing the technology to other parts of Australia.
"We are committed to innovation, and we always work to make each new project better than the last. That includes building smarter, more resilient energy solutions," said Tom Harrison, Flow Power's general manager of energy projects. "By integrating anti-hail technology into our solar farms, we are not only enhancing the durability of our assets, but also ensuring greater reliability for our customers, even in extreme weather conditions."
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The cost of installation 💵 "We are proud to partner with Flow Power to bring our advanced anti-hail solar panels to Australian energy projects," added Canadian Solar chairman and CEO Shawn Qu. "This first project highlights our commitment to providing innovative solutions that enhance the durability and performance of solar energy systems in Australia."Â
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