The solar industry has a wind problem
How to protect projects from the growing frequency of sudden wind gusts.

Believe it or not, the solar industry has a wind problem.

Designed to harness the sun, solar panels are increasingly at the mercy of sudden, high-velocity wind gusts that can devastate equipment and halt operations. Troublingly, a recent Vaisala study found that more than two-thirds of operational and planned large-scale solar plants (larger than 300 MW) analyzed worldwide fall into medium or high-risk categories for wind damage, an issue worsened by the rising volatility of global weather patterns.

The problem goes beyond just wind and weather for solar project owners — it’s a resilience challenge that ultimately results in lost revenue.

The high cost of inadequate monitoring

Wind-induced damage is fast becoming a leading source of insured losses for solar developers and operators. Take Storm Darragh as an example. In 2024, it pummeled the 190-acre Porth Wen Solar Farm in North Wales with gusts reaching 96 miles per hour, destroying hundreds of panels and causing significant financial setbacks.

Physical damage inevitably leads to repair and replacement (read: downtime). However, the problem extends beyond physical damage to missed wind mitigation opportunities. Traditional wind protection strategies for solar installations typically involve fixed anemometers that trigger trackers to move into a stow position. While this method offers some level of protection, it lacks predictive capability, leaving operators in the difficult position of relying on guesswork.

Without accurate wind forecasting, operators face two costly scenarios: failing to stow tracking systems before damaging gusts arrive or stowing them too frequently based on overly cautious predictions, resulting in unnecessary downtime and revenue loss.

With single-axis trackers and heliostats showing particular sensitivity to wind-related risks, the financial detriment can be substantial, but their ability to react and move to stow position also offers an opportunity to mitigate risk.

Enter remote sensing technology

Fortunately, advanced remote sensing technologies, particularly scanning wind lidar systems like Vaisala’s WindCube Scan, can enhance how the solar industry prepares for and responds to extreme wind events.

Unlike traditional anemometers that provide fixed-point measurements within the power plant area, scanning lidar captures comprehensive wind fields across entire solar power plant facilities and, more importantly, in the surrounding areas — about 11 miles at its maximum acquisition range. Lidar systems emit invisible laser pulses that measure the movement of aerosols and particulates flying in the air, creating detailed wind profiles that reveal speed, direction and turbulence patterns.

Exceptionally accurate remote wind measurement data allows operators to detect approaching gusts up to 20 minutes before they hit, opening an early warning window that provides enough time to safely stow heliostats or adjust tracker positions without compromising uptime in an avoidable way.

At its core, remote sensing technology like lidar transforms how decision-makers manage wind risk — from reactive to proactive. Solar farms can maximize annual energy production while maintaining safety margins by setting stow thresholds based on comprehensive data rather than conservative estimates.

Real-world application: RayGen’s Carwarp plant

Consider Australian technology company RayGen as a case for remote wind monitoring implementation. Specializing in utility-scale solar and long-duration energy storage, RayGen operates a solar power plant in Carwarp, Australia, that uses large heliostat mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto its proprietary high-efficiency PV modules.

RayGen’s heliostats require several minutes to adjust to a safe horizontal position when threatened by high winds. Consequently, RayGen needed a wind-alerting solution to anticipate threats with enough lead time.

To solve this challenge, RayGen deployed the Vaisala WindCube Scan Doppler wind lidar system, which provides real-time, site-specific wind maps of surrounding airflows. The lidar system’s ability to detect wind ramps — defined here as sudden changes in wind speed — equips operators with advanced warning. By applying proprietary data processing, WindCube Scan remotely captures potentially dangerous gusts several minutes before they hit the plant.

Characterizing gust events equips RayGen’s operators to better determine when and how to stow mirrors, reducing the chance of damage and maximizing uptime. This success story underscores a broader industry need: evolving beyond forecasts to site-specific, real-time insights.

Big data, bigger picture

The Vaisala study analyzed data from approximately 1,000 solar plants across diverse geographies, topographies and system designs. Using historical gust data from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts datasets, overlaid with site-specific plant information, the study assessed the likelihood of each site experiencing wind events above operational safety thresholds, revealing the following solar industry takeaways:

• More than 30% of analyzed sites fall into high-risk categories for wind exposure.
• Coastal and desert regions — often prized for their solar potential — are disproportionately affected.
• Larger plants with single-axis trackers or heliostats exhibit higher vulnerability to wind-related risks but also enable trigger actions to protect the power plant.

The study didn’t stop at classification. By estimating financial impacts based on the frequency and intensity of threshold-exceeding gusts, Vaisala also introduced a framework for understanding the economic risk of wind damage, which is vital for long-term planning and insurance considerations.

Building resilience into your project

The challenge is more than one devastating storm or eye-opening study. The solar industry is entering an era where climate-related disruptions are not outliers but trends.

As climate change intensifies, weather intelligence is becoming a strategic differentiator. Plants equipped with advanced monitoring solutions will likely show improved performance metrics, lower insurance premiums, extended equipment lifespans and higher revenues. More importantly, they help protect the billions of dollars already invested in clean energy infrastructure.

Incorporating lidar into the initial design and commissioning phases better equips sites for future wind events. Combining wind lidar data with automated tracker control systems can optimize automated stowing actions. Better data on wind exposure and response capabilities can reduce risk premiums and boost investor confidence, so use it to reframe those conversations. Finally, the cost of downtime, repairs and lost energy must be considered alongside capital expenditures.

With advanced weather intelligence, such as Vaisala WindCube Scan, the industry now has the tools to see those storms coming — and the lead time to act.

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Lamia Fejjari is the Market Development Manager for the solar sector at Vaisala. With a strong focus on renewable energy, she leverages her expertise in high-precision weather and environmental measurements to support customers in mitigating project risks, optimizing performance, and maximizing ROI in solar energy applications.