SOLAR UNDER STORM FOR POLICYMAKERS

This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative and UN-OHRLLS, provides policymakers in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with best practices to increase the resilience of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems against extreme wind events. Based on field evaluations of failures and successes following hurricanes in the Caribbean and Pacific, the document outlines technical specifications for ground-mount and rooftop systems and emphasizes the need for multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure infrastructure survives Category 5 storms.

• Solar PV systems in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) can survive extreme wind events, including gusts exceeding 190 miles per hour (306 kilometers per hour), provided they utilize specific engineering and construction practices. Systems that survived in the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Puerto Rico, and Sint Eustatius continued producing power the day after such events.
• The most frequent cause of solar PV system failure is the use of shared top-down clips, which can lead to cascading failures where the loosening of one module causes others to become loose. Other common failure modes include debris impact, incorrect wind loading calculations leading to corner overturning in rooftop systems, and the use of self-tapping screws instead of through bolting in ground-mount systems.
• Resilient systems typically share several attributes: ground-mount systems often use dual post piers, lateral racking supports, and through bolting of modules; rooftop systems rely on a combination of ballast and mechanical attachments. Both types benefit from vibration-resistant bolted connections (such as Nylocs), structural calculations on record, and a QA/QC program managed by an owner's engineer.
• Increasing solar PV resilience to Category 5 standards typically adds approximately 5% to 5.5% to the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) costs compared to Category 3 or 4 standards. These costs are attributed to additional labor for fastening, higher-rated materials (modules, racking, and fasteners), and increased engineering oversight.
• Policymakers are encouraged to implement specific technical regulations: prohibiting trackers in Category 4 or higher wind zones for ground-mount systems, and requiring that pitched-roof systems have no overhanging modules and be limited to wind zones one and two. Additionally, ballasted-only rooftop systems should be prohibited in favor of positive mechanical attachments.
• To ensure long-term resilience, the report recommends a multi-stakeholder collaboration approach. This includes working with module suppliers for Category 5 static and dynamic load tests, collaborating with racking suppliers for wind tunnel testing and rigidity assessments, and establishing regional knowledge-sharing networks, such as the CARILEC solar PV Resilience working group on the Caribbean Renewable Energy Community (CAREC) platform.

APA

BURGESS, C., LOCKE, J., & STONE, L. (2020). SOLAR UNDER STORM FOR POLICYMAKERS. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Solar_Under_Storm_for_Policymakers.pdf

Chicago

BURGESS, CHRISTOPHER, JUSTIN LOCKE, and LAURIE STONE. SOLAR UNDER STORM FOR POLICYMAKERS. RMI, 2020. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Solar_Under_Storm_for_Policymakers.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=BURGESS |first1=CHRISTOPHER |last2=LOCKE |first2=JUSTIN |last3=STONE |first3=LAURIE |title=SOLAR UNDER STORM FOR POLICYMAKERS |publisher=RMI |date=July 2020 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Solar_Under_Storm_for_Policymakers.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{burgess2020solar, author = {BURGESS, CHRISTOPHER and LOCKE, JUSTIN and STONE, LAURIE}, title = {{SOLAR UNDER STORM FOR POLICYMAKERS}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2026/05/Solar_Under_Storm_for_Policymakers.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }