Extreme weather events are increasingly impacting the solar energy sector, and proactive end-of-life solar management strategies for solar panels and projects is more important than ever.
As U.S. solar capacity rapidly grows alongside increased weather risks, the best way to protect your environmental commitments, community, and peace of mind is to secure an end-of-life recycling solution—ideally before commissioning. Choose a partner that guarantees zero waste and zero landfill, provides industrial-scale experience from decommissioning to safe, certified destruction, and ensures maximum recovery of clean, reusable materials while fully eliminating liability risks of heavy metal contamination. The coming wave of end-of-life panels from maintenance replacement, upgrades, or unpredictable weather can be managed reliably and proactively. Here's why.
The solar industry has worked together for decades to ensure a rapid expansion of solar energy in the United States, and it is accelerating the nation's transition toward a more sustainable energy future. In 2024, the U.S. solar industry installed a record-breaking 50 gigawatts (GW) of new capacity, marking a 21% increase from the previous year and accounting for 66% of all new electricity-generating capacity added to the grid. Looking ahead in 2025, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects the total installed capacity in the U.S. to be approximately 260-270 GW by year's end.
However, this rapid growth coincides with an increase in extreme weather events, particularly in key solar growth states. In early April 2025, a severe storm system resulted in 152 confirmed tornadoes and catastrophic flooding across the Southern and Midwestern United States, leading to 25 fatalities and over 318,000 power outages.
Meanwhile, California experienced devastating wildfires exacerbated by climate-induced "hydroclimate whiplash," where periods of intense rainfall foster vegetation growth that subsequently dries out during droughts, creating ample fuel for fires. These events underscore the growing need for resilient energy infrastructure capable of withstanding the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather patterns.
Weather trends of the last decade do suggest that extreme weather patterns will continue to shift upward and unpredictably. And while solar developers and engineers devise new technical ways to mitigate these impacts, in the meantime as a utility-scale project manager you can take a best-practice approach to managing the reality of a weather-impacted world when it comes to your solar supply chain.
Courtesy: (Cowboy State Daily Staff). Hail Map. US.
A few states have more exposure than others. Take Texas an example. As of early 2025, Texas has added approximately 24 gigawatts (GW) of new utility-scale solar capacity during 2024 and 2025, bringing the state's total installed solar capacity to about 40.5 GW. This expansion underscores Texas's position as a national leader in solar energy development.
Great for taking fossil fuels out of the energy generation equation, and adding reliability to the grid, but it is also adding tens of millions of new exposed solar panels to the mix in an extreme weather state.
As of May 2024, the National Weather Service had documented over 1,332 hail, wind, and tornado events in Texas. Notable extreme weather events included:
A derecho on May 16, 2024, which brought wind gusts up to 100 mph in the Houston area, resulting in eight fatalities and widespread damage.
The May 19–27 tornado outbreak, featuring a deadly EF3 tornado that caused seven deaths and over $19 million in damages.
Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, which led to severe flooding and wind damage in Texas, with 42 fatalities reported in the Houston region.
A late-December tornado outbreak that resulted in at least one death in the Houston area and significant property damage.
In March of 2024, Fox 26 Houston reported “Thousands of solar panels in the Needville area were destroyed in a heavy hailstorm on March 16 and residents are concerned about possible chemical contamination.”
And in other states like Nebraska, in June of 2023, a 5.2-megawatt solar farm in Scottsbluff, Nebraska destroyed more than 14,000 solar panels. The weather event saw large hail stones and high winds, part of supercell thunderhead that moved from eastern Wyoming into Nebraska. The area has some of the highest frequencies of hailstorms in the country, averaging seven to nine hailstorms per year.
Anecdotally, we continue to hear from industrial-scale developers that approximately 2-3% of installed panels are expected to turn over annually for maintenance or "normal" damage, depending on the geographic location, but these new and recurring weather patterns (high heat versus frozen hail and tornadoes) make the likelihood of higher panel replacement likely. It is better to be prepared.
Because solar panels contain various hazardous materials, including cadmium, lead, and other heavy metals, which can leach into the soil and water if not responsibly managed, the best plan is to eliminate the concern or risk of environmental heavy metal contamination throughout the project lifecycle before it becomes a liability. Especially for end-of-life.
Our largest customers increasingly seek to define their catastrophic damage and end-of-life solution at the point of project permitting and commissioning, and we are seeing more permitting authorities moving to require it. This can increase real comfort for communities where large solar projects operate so that the solar in their backyards does not pose environmental risks while decreasing liability for their projects.
Source: Renewable Energy World, June 30, 2023, Nebraska Public Power District)
In 2024, while precise figures for all storm-related damages to solar projects in the U.S. are not comprehensively reported, a few key indicators do paint the picture of the extreme need for end-of-life panel planning at the permitting stage and an increasing volume of end-of-life panels from these events.
Underestimated Losses: A report from kWh Analytics revealed that weather-related damages to solar assets exceeded modeling expectations by 300%, particularly in states like California, Texas, and Arizona.
Hail Damage: VDE Americas reported that severe hail events caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to U.S. solar infrastructure, with many utility-scale solar plants located in high-risk areas.
Global Revenue Losses: According to Raptor Maps, the global solar sector lost a record $10 billion in revenue in 2024 due to asset underperformance, with extreme weather events being a significant contributing factor.
Fox 26 Houston. YouTube. https://youtu.be/rVaq3a-z9iU?si=dRLtums40r_5nHVA
NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2024).
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/billions/, DOI: 10.25921/stkw-7w73
PV Magazine. (2025, April 14). "U.S. total solar capacity to reach 182 GW by end of 2026." Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/04/14/u-s-total-solar-capacity-to-reach-182-gw-by-end-of-2026/
PV Magazine USA. (2024, June 11). Weather-related damage to solar assets exceed modeling expectations by 300%. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2024/06/11/weather-related-damage-to-solar-assets-exceed-modeling-expectations-by-300/
PV Magazine. (2025, February 12). Atlas details economic risks of hail damage to U.S. solar sites. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.pv-magazine.com/2025/02/12/atlas-details-economic-risks-of-hail-damage-to-us-solar-sites/
Renewable Energy World, John Engel, June 30, 2023.
San Francisco Chronicle. (2025, April 14). "How California’s climate-fueled 'hydroclimate whiplash' is driving extreme wildfire risk." Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://www.sfchronicle.com/weather/article/hydroclimate-whiplash-wildfire-california-20034331.php
Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA). U.S. Solar Market Insight 2024 Year in Review. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://seia.org/research-resources/us-solar-market-insight/
Solar Storage Xtra. (2024, December 28). Solar losses hit $10B in 2024 due to weather and other challenges. Retrieved April 18, 2025, from https://solarstoragextra.com/solar-losses-hit-10b-in-2024-due-to-weather-and-other-challenges/
United States Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (NREL). "1 GW = 1.887 million solar panels representative of bifacial modules (average industrial size) of 530 watts."
United States Energy Information Agency (EIA).
U.S. EIA, Electric Power Monthly (February 2024), Tables 1.17.B, 6.2.B.
U.S. EIA, Electricity Data Browser, Net generation for all sectors, Texas, All fuels, Annual, 2021-23.
U.S. EIA, “Solar capacity additions are changing the shape of daily electricity supply in Texas,” Today in Energy (April 9, 2024).