Yes, the weather conditions that we have been seeing in the UK in recent weeks have been very severe at times but wind, rain or a covering of snow don’t result in the solar panels that we have installed on the roofs of homes in the UK suffering material damage. That is, of course, unless a tall tree in close proximity to a property is blown down and hits the roof smashing the solar panels but that is a rare occurrence.
However, there are a number of locations around the world where it would prove problematic to install solar panels due to the extreme freezing weather conditions causing the solar panels to crack. For instance in certain parts of Russia such as Siberia where, back in 1933, the temperature fell to -71.2C and Antarctica where, in August 2010, the temperature dropped to a record -94.7C.
So, you may be interested to read that research has been carried out into producing solar panels that can withstand very cold temperatures. Of course, it is not just the solar panels that could be affected by the cold. Other products that are used in connection with a solar panel system installation such as cabling could be affected.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin –Madison that is a research university in the United States of America have done some testing on double glass solar panels produced by Sunpreme Inc that are also based in the USA as well as the likes of cabling and junction boxes. The tests were carried out at up to -60C for a lengthy period of time and proved to be a success.
This is another bit of good news for the industry as it means that, at some point in the future, solar photovoltaic panels could be installed on research buildings in the likes of Antarctica where it currently costs a significant amount of money in transporting fuel for the generators.
