The Resilience of PV during Natural Disasters: The Hurricane Sandy Case

This paper will present data on the resilience of typical PV systems following natural disasters, and provide recommendations for integrating PV into emergency response systems. Information from multiple sources shows that during the October 29, 2012 hurricane Sandy, virtually all PV systems received no damage by the storm and, if not disconnected, they produced electricity following the storm. The same was observed in previous disasters. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, PV systems were used to support the Gulf States' disaster response efforts. The Fukushima earthquake and tsunami destroyed three nuclear reactors causing "meltdown" and radiation releases, whereas the many thousands of PV roof-top arrays were left undamaged. These experiences show that PV systems, in addition to being environmentally benign, can also sustain extreme weather conditions like hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.