Hail Risk Advisory Products
VDE Hail Risk Intelligence
VDE Events
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VDE Americas is the world's leading expert on solar project hail risk identification, quantification, and mitigation.

We offer innovative hail risk intelligence based on capabilities developed in collaboration with Central Michigan University's Applied Technology in Meteorology Lab. Our comprehensive suite of products and services caters to a wide range of stakeholders in the solar energy industry, including project developers, owners, operators, financiers, insurers, reinsurers, equipment suppliers, and manufacturers. Our standard hail risk intelligence products and solutions include:

Hail risk analysis reports

Probable maximum loss/average annual loss (PML/AAL) report

  • PML, AAL, and downside PML financial loss estimates
  • Business interruption (BI) loss estimates
  • Historical hail observations within 50 km of the project site
  • Return interval curves of naturally occurring hail (NOH)
  • Annual and diurnal hail event frequency
  • NOH size for fixed return intervals (e.g., 500 years)
  • Results across multiple PV tracker tilt angles

Tiered pricing based on project capacity (<20 MWdc, ≥20 MWdc, ≥100 MWdc)


Pro-forma risk exposure (PRE) report

  • P50, P90, P95 cumulative total hail losses in client-specified hold periods
  • Average annual loss (AAL) estimate
  • Sample outcome distributions
  • Medians, standard deviations, and 95% confidence interval ranges
  • Analysis across multiple tilt angles

Tiered pricing based on project capacity (<20 MWdc, ≥20 MWdc, ≥100 MWdc)

Combination financial risk exposure report

Combined probable maximum loss/average annual loss (PML/AAL) and pro-forma risk exposure (PRE) report package, providing comprehensive hail risk analysis with both reports above at a discount:

  • PML, AAL, and downside PML financial loss estimates
  • P50, P90, P95 cumulative total hail losses in client-specified hold periods
  • Sample outcome distributions
  • Medians, standard deviations, and 95% confidence interval ranges
  • Business interruption (BI) loss estimates
  • Historical hail observations within 50 km of the project site
  • Return interval curves of naturally occurring hail (NOH)
  • Annual and diurnal hail event frequency
  • NOH size for fixed return intervals (e.g., 500 years)
  • Results across multiple PV tracker tilt angles

Tiered pricing based on project capacity (<20 MWdc, ≥20 MWdc, ≥100 MWdc)

Co-probability of hail with wind report

  • Co-occurring gust velocity with naturally occurring hail (NOH) size
  • Return interval of NOH size with wind speed
  • Wind rose charts showing probability of wind speed and direction during hail events

Tiered pricing based on project capacity (<20 MWdc, ≥20 MWdc, ≥100 MWdc)

Pro-forma risk exposure for parametric insurance (PREP) report

Same metrics as Pro-Forma Risk Exposure (PRE) Report but focuses on parametric insurance trigger points/parameters. 

Tiered pricing based on project capacity (<20 MWdc, ≥20 MWdc, ≥100 MWdc)

Optional hail risk report addenda

Client-specified report add-ons to allow for comparative risk assessment based on:

  • Module type
    • Additional PV module modeling in separate reports
  • Financial hold period
    • Additional PRE or PREP report hold periods beyond standard offerings

ArcGIS-based hail risk atlas products

Naturally occurring hail return interval maps (basic subscription)

Contour maps showing:

  • 8 return interval ranges for naturally occurring hail bins, ranging from ≥25 mm to ≥95 mm
  • Maximum diameter hailstone sizes for fixed return interval periods
  • Delivered online via Esri's ArcGIS platform

Pricing includes a one-time setup fee plus a yearly subscription fee

Naturally occurring hail return interval maps (premium subscription)

Enhanced contour maps with:

  • 16 return interval ranges for naturally occurring hail bins, ranging from ≥25 mm to ≥95 mm
  • More granular maximum diameter hailstone size data
  • Additional fixed return interval periods

Pricing includes a one-time setup fee plus a yearly subscription fee

Solar project financial risk exposure maps (basic subscription)

Contour maps showing probable maximum loss (PML) and average annual loss (AAL) ranges for a 1 MWdc reference project based on varying tilt angles that include:

  • Coverage for 0° to 45° tilts, facing into and away from wind
  • Analysis for select PV module constructions 
  • Up to 9 PML and AAL ranges displayed in easy-to-interpret visual format
  • Results that can be scaled according to actual project capacity
  • Geographic analysis covering the continental United States (CONUS)
  • Interactive mapping capabilities via ESRI's ArcGIS platform

Pricing includes a one-time setup fee plus a yearly subscription fee

Solar project financial risk exposure maps (premium subscription)

Comprehensive contour maps for larger projects with extensive customization including:

  • Analysis for 100 MWdc projects scalable to your specific project size
  • Coverage for an expanded range of tilt angles (0°–75°), facing into and away from wind
  • Comprehensive evaluation of all major PV module constructions and technologies
  • Detailed visualization of up to 9 PML and AAL risk ranges
  • Geographic coverage of the entire continental United States (CONUS)
  • Integration with insurance and financial planning tools
  • Enhanced data visualization for stakeholder presentations
  • Full compatibility with other ArcGIS mapping products

Pricing includes a one-time setup fee plus a yearly subscription fee

Custom map memo generation tool

Online tool for generating memos from templates with site-specific maps.

Priced on an hourly basis based and billed based on actual hours worked.

Additional hail risk advisory services

Hail monitoring and tracker stow protocol

  • Protocol specification for operation and project agreements
  • Review or creation of monitoring and stow protocols
  • Gap analysis and recommended improvements
  • Includes up to 14 hours of review

Pricing: flat fee per project or portfolio

Portfolio-level hail risk assessment

Pricing: base fee plus per-project fee

Hail event forensic investigation

  • Comprehensive analysis of hail loss events
  • Construction status review and weather data analysis
  • Damage assessment and spatial damage analysis
  • Comparison to similar hail loss events
  • Mitigation strategies and recommendations

Pricing: Flat fee per event

VDE Americas' advisory services

Hail Risk Intelligence and Mitigation

VDE Americas' provides solar project hail risk assessments based on site-specific meteorological data and product-specific technical details. Our science- and engineering-based hail risk reports provide solar project stakeholders with financial loss and risk exposure estimates based on project-specific lat-long coordinates and fielded PV module and tracker technologies.

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Neighborhood Hail

Independent Engineering

VDE Americas specializes in providing transaction-level due diligence related to utility-scale solar photovoltaics (PV), battery energy storage systems (BESS), and hybrid solar-plus-storage applications. We also offer portfolio-level due diligence to support the deployment of commercial and industrial (C&I) distributed generation (DG) and community solar projects.

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Engineer who works in the solar power plant and who checks something with his tablet

Owner's Engineering

VDE Americas work with investors and lenders to ensure the long-term success of a clean energy venture by reviewing and validating technical feasibility, regulatory compliance, and project execution. We do so by acting a concierge-style extension of our client's deal teams to provide on-demand critical engineering analysis, oversight, and support.

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Ingenieur mit Schutzhelm, der mit Blaupausen auf einem Solarkraftwerk steht

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