TÜV Rheinland confirms increased hail impact resistance of WINAICO solar modules
TÜV Rheinland has tested the solar modules of the current WST-NGX-D3 series of the Taiwanese module manufacturer WINAICO to a demanding hailstorm test. The modules were exposed to larger hailstones at higher impact speeds than is customary in the industry.
TÜV Rheinland has now confirmed that the WINAICO modules can withstand hailstones with a diameter of 35 mm and a speed of approx. 100 km/h (27.2 m/s). In contrast, the hailstones used in the standard hail test are only 25 millimetres in diameter and hit the modules at a speed of 82.8 km/h (23 m/s).
Due to the violent hail events in the recent past, pv magazine recently reported on the research results of the Dutch Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VUA). In their study "The vulnerability of solar panels to hail" from 2019, the researchers had documented, among other things, that larger hailstones cause considerable damage.
"The increased hail resistance shows that our products can withstand increasingly harsh weather conditions. Successfully passing this hailstorm test is an important competitive advantage and confirms the high reliability of our glass-glass solar modules," says Marc Ortmanns, Director Operations at WINAICO Deutschland GmbH.
