What should I do if a storm damages a solar panel array?

Solar panels are rated for wind and hail loads well beyond what a normal UK storm produces, and outright panel failures are rare. What does happen is mounting failure — a rail pulling free of a roof hook, clamps loosening, or a whole array lifting at the leading edge — plus damage from something else hitting the panels, such as a branch or a neighbour's dislodged tile. What makes it different from any other storm damage is that the array is an energy source that cannot be switched off while the sun is up.

Safety

What you'll need

• The installer's details and the MCS certificate
• Binoculars
• A camera
• Knowledge of where the AC and DC isolators are
• The insurer's claims number

Step by step

1. Keep everyone away from anything that has fallen.A dislodged panel or a trailing DC cable is live in daylight. Rope the area off, keep children and pets away, and do not move anything to tidy up.
2. Switch off the AC isolator, then the DC isolator, if they are safe to reach.Usually near the inverter, in a loft, a garage or a utility area. This makes the wiring inside the house safe. It does not make the array or the roof cabling safe — nothing does, in daylight.
3. Ring 999 for anything smoking, arcing or alight.Tell the call handler it is a rooftop solar installation, because it changes how the fire service approaches it. Get everyone out and do not attempt to fight it.
4. Look at the array from the ground with binoculars.Cracked or shattered glass, a panel out of line with its neighbours, a lifted leading edge, a visible gap under a rail, loose or hanging cable, and any bird mesh or trim that has come off.
5. Check the inverter display and the monitoring app.A fault code, a string reading zero, or generation that has dropped sharply tells you there is real damage even when the array looks intact from below. Photograph the screen.
6. Photograph everything, dated, before anything is touched.The array from several angles, the debris on the ground, the inverter display, and any damage to the roof around the array. Insurers and installers both work from this.
7. Ring the installer, or an MCS-registered PV company.This is not a job for a general roofer or a handyman. It needs someone who works on PV, who will isolate the strings properly and who understands the mounting system.
8. Tell the insurer and check who covers what.Owned panels are normally covered under the buildings policy, but some insurers require them to be declared. Leased or rent-a-roof panels are usually the operator's responsibility — check the lease.
9. Get the roof itself checked at the same time.A mounting failure often means damaged tiles, a compromised roof hook fixing or water getting in around a penetration. The panel and the roof are two separate repairs and both need looking at.
10. Do not reconnect until it has been inspected.A damaged panel or a chafed cable can arc, and DC arcing is a known fire cause on PV installations. It stays isolated until the specialist says otherwise.

Tips

• Have the mounting inspected every few years, especially on an exposed or coastal site. Clamps and fixings loosen over time, and it is the mounting rather than the panels that fails.
• Snow usually slides off panels in one sheet, faster than off the surrounding roof. Keep the ground below clear and never brush snow off panels from a ladder.
• Tell your insurer that you have solar. Some policies require it to be declared, and an undeclared installation is an argument you do not want to have after a storm.
• Keep the MCS certificate, the electrical certificate, the installer's details and the DNO notification together. All four get asked for at some point.
• A drop in generation with no visible damage is worth investigating anyway — a cracked cell or a failed optimiser produces no external sign and quietly costs money.

Common mistakes

• Going onto the roof to look or to secure something — The array is live, the panels are slippery, and mounting rails that have failed will not hold you. Everything you need to see is visible from the ground with binoculars.
• Assuming turning off the inverter makes it safe — The panels generate whenever there is light and the DC side stays live regardless of any switch. Only a specialist working on an isolated string is safe near it.
• Getting a general roofer to refit a panel — Handling live DC and refitting a mounting system are both specialist. A badly refitted panel is both an electrical and a roof leak risk.
• Clearing the debris before photographing it — Fallen components are the evidence for the claim and for the installer's diagnosis. Photograph, then leave it alone until someone qualified attends.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask