A new technological advancement in solar panels could save owners thousands of dollars in repair costs.
According to Electrek, Terrasmart has released a new stow feature for its single-axis panels called TerraTrak. It can protect the panels from one of the most damaging natural weather occurrences: hail.Â
Terrasmart's panels already feature PeakYield, a cloud-based tracker control and monitoring software, which allows the panels to move with the sun and avoid clouds to maximize their energy output.
Now, with the TerraTrak feature, the panels will be alerted when a storm is coming and move themselves to a 50- or 60-degree angle to protect themselves from hail or wind damage. The system is fully autonomous, meaning the panels will move without any human prompting, as Electrek detailed.
"Our motto at Terrasmart is to stow early and stow often," Terrasmart's Ashton Vandemark told Electrek.
According to Electrek, while hail damage only accounts for 2% of insurance claims, it accounts for about half of the financial payouts from those claims. Based on a 40-year analysis from VDE Americas, panels resting at a flat, zero-degree tilt could require $13 million in repairs, but panels stowed at a 60-degree angle would require just $620,000 in repairs from storm damage.Â
Saving that amount of money would be a massive boon for solar farms around the world and further incentivize power companies to make the switch to cleaner forms of energy production.
Solar energy is a booming industry — from motorsports parks to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, locations worldwide have started using solar energy for their power needs.
Even electric vehicles have started to have attachments developed to allow you to power them via solar energy. Germany has seen a significant boom in small-scale solar projects, after a new law allowed for the purchase of easily hangable panels that cost around $200 and can power a laptop or small fridge.
If you're looking to make the switch to solar, there are incentives available and tools to help make the transition easy and affordable.Â
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