NORWALK, Conn., Jan. 8, 2026 — GameChange Solar (GCS), a leading global supplier of single-axis solar trackers, has announced the launch of an updated version of its white paper titled “Reliable Hail Mitigation: Technical and Economic Optimization for Solar Trackers”. This document provides a thorough overview of hail mitigation, covering topics such as appropriate triggers for hail stowage, optimal tilt angles during stowage, wind patterns coinciding with hail events, and a case study identifying the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) linked to different mitigation approaches.
The updated edition integrates findings from a new study by CPP Wind Engineering Consultants focused on wind direction during hail events. The CPP study—summarized in the memo “Wind Directionality During Hail Events”—analyzes wind directions within a ±30-minute window of 137 hail events at an East Texas, U.S., site and 48 events at a separate location in Queensland, Australia. CPP determined that over 75% of hailstorms generate winds from both eastern and western sectors. The study concluded: “The storm’s direction of travel or ground-level wind direction before hail onset are not reliable predictors of hail direction, as conditions change rapidly.”
Drawing on this analysis, GameChange advises solar asset owners to invest in trackers engineered to withstand wind loads on both the front and rear sides of the module. Additionally, neither owners nor insurers should assume modules will always face away from the wind during a hailstorm—even for trackers capable of stowing east or west based on individual storms.
“We’re concerned that some tracker OEMs in the industry are pushing solar asset owners to overemphasize the direction a tracker stows during a hailstorm,” says Scott Van Pelt, Chief Engineer at GameChange. “From our conversations with CPP and multiple insurers, we understand it’s far more critical to rotate trackers to a steep tilt angle of at least 60 degrees and regularly test the system to ensure trackers reliably move to stow position when hail is forecasted.”
The white paper is available upon request via GameChange’s website and was discussed at the Solar Insights event hosted by GameChange Solar in New York City last month.
About GameChange Solar
GameChange ranks among the world’s top three providers of solar tracker solutions for utility-scale and ground-mounted distributed generation solar projects globally. The company has delivered over 53 GW of solar tracker and fixed-tilt systems that combine fast installation, bankable quality, and unbeatable value through superior engineering, innovative design and software, and high-volume manufacturing. Its products enable solar panels at power plants to follow the sun’s movement across the sky, optimizing performance while protecting arrays from damaging weather.
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Lisa Andrews
Director of Marketing
GameChange Solar
SOURCE GameChange Solar