Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm Hardening PV Systems for Resilience
Solar photovoltaic (PV) power has many advantages as a resilient power source, including the ability to provide power after a natural disaster. While solar arrays often survive severe weather events, systems are occasionally compromised and left unable to provide power. For PV systems to act as resilient power providers, they must remain operational. Building a system that is more likely to survive a storm comes at a cost, though. Previous efforts have identified various system measures and practices that can increase the likelihood of a PV system surviving a severe weather event. But what is the cost premium for a storm hardened PV system? This report provides initial estimates for the up-front cost premiums for various methods of storm hardening PV systems.
Citation Formats
TY - DATA
AB - Solar photovoltaic (PV) power has many advantages as a resilient power source, including the ability to provide power after a natural disaster. While solar arrays often survive severe weather events, systems are occasionally compromised and left unable to provide power. For PV systems to act as resilient power providers, they must remain operational. Building a system that is more likely to survive a storm comes at a cost, though. Previous efforts have identified various system measures and practices that can increase the likelihood of a PV system surviving a severe weather event. But what is the cost premium for a storm hardened PV system? This report provides initial estimates for the up-front cost premiums for various methods of storm hardening PV systems.
AU - Elsworth, James
A2 - Van Geet, Otto
DB - C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange
DP - Open EI | National Laboratory of the Rockies
DO -
KW - Solar
KW - Photovoltaics
KW - PV
KW - Battery energy storage
KW - Diesel generators
KW - Other liquid-fuel generators
KW - Wind energy
KW - Resilience
KW - Extreme weather
KW - Financing
KW - Business models
KW - Planning and design
KW - Planning
KW - Design
LA - English
DA - 2020/06/01
PY - 2020
PB - NLR
T1 - Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm
Hardening PV Systems for Resilience
UR - https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37
ER -
Elsworth, James, and Otto Van Geet. Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm
Hardening PV Systems for Resilience. NLR, 1 June, 2020, C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37.
Elsworth, J., & Van Geet, O. (2020). Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm
Hardening PV Systems for Resilience. [Data set]. C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. NLR. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37
Elsworth, James and Otto Van Geet. Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm
Hardening PV Systems for Resilience. NLR, June, 1, 2020. Distributed by C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange. https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37
@misc{CMIX_Dataset_37,
title = {Solar Photovoltaics in Severe Weather: Cost Considerations for Storm
Hardening PV Systems for Resilience},
author = {Elsworth, James and Van Geet, Otto},
abstractNote = { Solar photovoltaic (PV) power has many advantages as a resilient power source, including the ability to provide power after a natural disaster. While solar arrays often survive severe weather events, systems are occasionally compromised and left unable to provide power. For PV systems to act as resilient power providers, they must remain operational. Building a system that is more likely to survive a storm comes at a cost, though. Previous efforts have identified various system measures and practices that can increase the likelihood of a PV system surviving a severe weather event. But what is the cost premium for a storm hardened PV system? This report provides initial estimates for the up-front cost premiums for various methods of storm hardening PV systems.},
url = {https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37},
year = {2020},
howpublished = {C-MIX - Community Microgrid Information Exchange, NLR, https://cmix.openei.org/submissions/37},
note = {Accessed: 2026-06-20}
}
Details
Data from Jun 1, 2020
Last updated Mar 30, 2026
Submitted Jun 2, 2026
Organization
NLR
Contact
James Elsworth
Authors
