Tornado damages solar farm near Wheatfield, Indiana

What happened

Reporting says an EF1 tornado struck Wheatfield in Jasper County, Indiana, and also hit a solar farm a few miles east of the town, on North County Road 300 East, east of State Road 10. A field there was reported filled with scraps of metal and dented panels, and a sheriff's official said the path went through the solar field and ripped out a lot of the panels. Downed power lines and fallen trees were reported in the surrounding area, where the utility was working.

Three minor injuries were reported in the wider storm area, not as injuries at the solar farm. The extent of panel loss, any outage at the farm, and how long repairs will take have not been reported.

Contributing factors

The article attributes the damage to a severe storm and an EF1 tornado. No equipment fault is reported.

Lessons learned

1. Ground-mounted solar farms can be in the path of the same severe weather that damages nearby homes and lines, so storm plans should cover array debris as well as grid equipment.
2. Downed lines, trees and blocked roads can delay access, so operators should expect restricted entry after a tornado.
3. Public reports should keep injuries and damage in the surrounding community separate from what is known about the energy asset itself.

Source

wsbt.com