The Resilience of PV during Natural Disasters: The Hurricane

Sandy Case
Vasilis Fthenakis1,2
1
Photovoltaics Environmental Research Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
2
Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, New York, NY

Abstract — 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 Before storm
environmentally benign, can also sustain extreme weather
conditions like hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.

Index Terms –PV, storms, resiliency

I. THE HURRICANE SANDY EXPERIENCE

On Monday, October 29, 2012, coastal areas in the North
East were hit hard by the tropical storm Sandy. Flooding and
fallen trees caused power black outs in large parts of NY and
NJ. About 90% of Long Island, NY lost power and it took
from 30 hours to 18 days for the power to be restored [1].
Although precautionary measures were taken, for example,
sandbagging to protect substations against flooding, ground
level power generators and substations were affected [2]. At
the same time, according to multiple sources, most of the
photovoltaic systems were left untouched by the storm [3, 4,
5].
However, there was at least one case reported of a roof-top
system that apparently due to installation design or
construction issue, did not survive Sandy intact. The
Gloucester Marine Terminal at New Jersey, across the
Delaware River from Philadelphia and home to the largest
rooftop solar installation in the country, saw some of its 27
528 panels blow off in the storm (Fig. 1) [3]. Dr. Kwasinski,
University of Texas at Austin, who flew over some of the
affected areas reported that it was the first time he saw such
damage in any PV farm after any hurricane he studied. In
addition to Sandy he has perform damage assessments after
hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Ike (2008).
After storm
Fig. 1. Before and After: A large rooftop solar installation in
Gloucester, New Jersey, lost some panels during Hurricane Sandy.
Photos: Left, Riverside Renewable Energy; Right, Dr. Alexis
Kwasinski
As it frequently happens, a calm came after the storm, and.
PV systems powered by the sun were on line on October 30.
Utility systems were generating power right away, while
residential grid-connected systems were coming on line to
provide power as their local grid was restored; (utility grid
interconnect rules had shut-them off at the inverter during
black-outs). Fig. 2 shows the active power (kW) output from
a 1 MW segment of a ground-mount utility solar farm and
Fig.3 shows the energy output (kWh) per 5-min intervals from
a roof-top 8 KW residential system in the same region. The
first follows the local irradiation levels; very low irradiation
on October 28 and 29, the day before and during the storm and
sunny to partially cloudy days from October 30 on. The
residential system did not produce any power on October 30
as the local grid failure had imposed a disconnect on the
system.

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 Fig. 2. Large Solar Farm in the NorthEast, power output (kW) before and after Sandy
Inverter_A Active Power: 10/22/2012-11/5/2012

Fig. 3. Roof-top residential PV system in East Setauket, Long Island, NY.

Electricity output (kWh -5-min intervals) before and after Sandy - 10/23/2012-11/5/2012

Evacuations after the storm are often a necessity as people’s
house may not have electricity and/or are flooded or otherwise
affected. However, the stop-lights that would have made it
easier for people to evacuate did not operate because the grid
lost power. For days, motorists, already under great stress, had
to endure the inconvenience of severely compromised and
delayed travel. After Sandy, NJ assembly leaders and mayors
have called on FEMA to fund solar-powered stop signals in
the region, highlighting the cost savings from preventing not
uncommon failures of grid connected traffic lights [6].
New Yorkers showed a lot of empathy to the ones hit by
Sandy. Volunteers were working for days delivering goods,
cleaning debris and continue helping with repairs. Local
students participated in this mission. A case that reached the
limelight involved two Columbia students who have made a 7
kW portable PV system to power a plug-in electric vehicle
(PHEV) for a Solar Journey across the U.S. After Sandy hit,
the students brought their solar array to Rockaway, NY where
90% of the buildings had lost electricity, and provided much
needed power to local residents. With their help, the solar
array powered a community center, a youth center, an electric
vehicle to carry supplies, and enabled a Thanksgiving dinner
for 200 people [7]. Similarly, on the East River in Manhattan,
Solar One was producing power from its rooftop solar array
for the neighbors to charge their telephones and other
essentials [4]. Solar arrays and a diesel generator at Midtown
Community School in Bayonne, N.J., allowed it to operate as
an overnight shelter after Hurricane Sandy knocked out power
from the grid. More than 50 residents spent the night that
Sandy hit on cots in a heated, dry and well-lighted community
room [5]. This is an example of hybrid PV systems serving as
a reliable source of emergency power for buildings. When
coupled with a battery, PV systems can be configured to
provide an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to homes,
businesses, and Government agencies. A case in point is a
region in Montana served by Northwestern Energy where PV-
based emergency power systems are installed at local fire
stations. These are small size systems (<= 4 KW) with battery
back-up for supporting primarily the lighting and
telecommunication needs of the fire stations [8].
II. OTHER EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS
The Fukushima earthquake and tsunami in March 2011,
destroyed three nuclear reactors causing “meltdown” and
radiation releases, whereas the many thousands of PV roof-
top arrays were left undamaged. Their resilience has been
captured in photographs posted by prof. Kusoke Kurokawa,
Tokyo Tech (Fig. 4, [9]). After Fukushima, Japan followed
with plans for hundreds of megawatts of new solar and wind
power projects, and a new feed-in tariff for distributed PV and
wind operations.

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 Fig. 4. Roof-top PV Systems structurely in tact after earthquake and tsunumi, Fukushima, March 2011.
(photographs courtesy of Prof. Kosuke Kurokawa, Tokyo Tech)
III. DISCUSSION
It appears that power outages have become more frequent
in the U.S. In 2010, there were 17 disruptions that affected
250,000 or more customers, with the largest outage affecting
nearly 1.3 million customers [5]. In 2011, there were 30
disruptions affecting at least 250,000 customers, with five
outages affecting more than 1.5 million electricity customers.
Twenty-nine of the 30 significant outages in 2011 were caused
by severe weather episodes [10].
These experiences show that PV systems can be an
important tool for recovering from electrical disruptions by
providing backup power for buildings as a means of
establishing disaster resistant communities. New
developments in smart inverters and storage-integrated
inverters can provide emergency power, while microgrids can
be autonomous systmems that enable a more reliable power
supply than single conventional fuel or RE generators.
Inverter companies have started offering residentia inverters
which can be switched to stand-alone operation during
prolonged grid outages and provide up to 1,500 W of power
via a separate socket as long as the sun shines. Also the
industry plans offerings of storage-integrated inverters that
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would provide both power during grid outages and grid load
relief [12].
Microgrids comprising PV and/or wind turbines, batteries
and a fuel generator are reliable power systems that can
sustain operation even in extreme conditions.
REFERENCES
[1] Bryan Walsh, Time Science and Space, Hurricane Sandy Will Put
a Rickety Power Grid to the Test.
http://science.time.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-will-put-a-
rickety-power-grid-to-the-test/#ixzz2JwPY4wjl
[2] Jim Polson, Julie Johnson and Mark Chediak Super Storm’s
Record U.S. Flooding Lands Blackout Blow: Energy Washington
Post October 30, 2013.
http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376MCOIS86K50
YO01-2110D5KC2SBGNIAKCOBQS15E68
[3] Dave Levitan, Rooftop Solar Stood Up to Sandy: Big solar
installers report almost no damage, even in hardest hit areas.
Posted 16 Nov 2012.
http://spectrum.ieee.org/green-tech/solar/rooftop-solar-stood-up-
to-sandy
[4] Ben Jervey, Blackouts Show the Bright Side of Rooftop Solar, On
Earth, November 26, 2012.
http://www.onearth.org/blog/blackouts-show-the-bright-side-of-
rooftop-solar
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[5] Dianne Cardwell, the NY Times, Green Blog, In a Blackout,
Solar Exceptions, November 21, 2012.
http://green.blogs. nytimes. com /2012/11/21/after-the-storm-a-
solar-reckoning/
[6] http://www.sccleanenergy.com/nj-assemblywoman-calls-on-
fema-to-install-pv-powered-stop-lights/
[7] "Solar Journey" Photovoltaic Array-on-Wheels Provided Power
to Rockaways After Hurricane Sandy Inhabitant New York City;
http://inhabitat.com/nyc/mobile-solar-journey-photovoltaic-array-
provided-power-to-rockaways-after-hurricane-sandy/
[8] Christopher Colson, Wilson Rickerson, Montana firefighters use
Photovoltaics (PV) technology for emergency response,
Renewable Energy Focus;
http://www.renewableenergyfocus.com/view/3681/montana-
978-1-4799-3299-3/13/$31.00 ©2013 IEEE
firefighters-use-photovoltaics-pv-technology-for-emergency-
response/
[9] Kurokawa Kusoke, presentation at AFORE-1, 1at Asia-Pacific
Forum in Renewable Energy, 16-19 Nov. 2011, Busan, Korea.
[10] Mark Clayton, Christian Science Monitor, Hurricane Sandy
blackouts hit millions. Can power companies cope,
http://www.minnpost.com/christian-science-
monitor/2012/10/hurricane-sandy-blackouts-hit-millions-can-
power-companies-cope
[11] Mark Shields, installation wind speed and panel standard
reliability consultant, ShieldTech Support Group, Santa Clara
CA, USA.
[12] 7th Annual CUNY NYC Solar Summit, June 4, 2013
http://www.cuny.edu/about/resources/sustainability/solar-
summit/agenda2013.html
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