Present guidelines and regulations are insufficient to ensure the building of commercial solar farms that can withstand powerful cyclones, mutual insurer FM Global says.

It calls for stronger standards amid a rise in major solar investments, particularly in cyclone-prone northern Queensland. Mandating wind resilience testing is one option.

“Australia is a global leader in renewable energy and we’re seeing the largest growth of large-scale solar projects in the north of the country,” Operations Manager Australia Lynette Schultheis said.

“This area also happens to have the highest exposure to cyclonic winds.

“It’s imperative for solar users and key players in the power generation industry to understand and mitigate the risks these solar farms face.

“FM Global hopes the Government and insurance industry will get on board to standardise the resilience testing of solar panels and future-proof our country’s renewable energy investments.”

The insurer found current guidelines offer little clarity when it asked for a resilience test on a potential client’s $200 million solar farm in Townsville, the largest project in in the country.

It was FM Global’s first Australian solar project in a cyclone-prone area.

“This is something that we have learned… within the Australian codes and standards, there is actually not much guidance,” Senior Account Engineer Terence Lee told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “Australian Standards does reference them, but they don’t actually make clear guidance on how you should design the solar farm to withstand the impact of a one-in-500-year wind event.

“So in the absence of that, what we were worried about was that designers and installers may misinterpret or misunderstand the standards and then design something less than what the owner and insurer would like to see.

“Until our standards get better, I think the insurer, the owner, the designer and installer need to work more closely together to make sure that what is being built is cyclone resilient.”